Last week, a fellow colleague wrote an article debating on whether or not Ben Roethlisberger is an elite quarterback in the NFL. A war of words ensued, as Pittsburgh’s faithful came to the defense of their quarterback. In the article, a couple of interesting facts were pointed out:
- Roethlisberger has zero MVP awards;
- In the three Super Bowl appearances, he’s never been crowned Super Bowl MVP;
- Ben has never been named All-Pro;
- He’s had only one season where he was in the top five in touchdowns;
- He’s never ranked in the top five in yards.
Roethlisberger sees it differently, and has been quoted as saying that if you want to measure the greatness of a quarterback, you just need to look at the success of his team. For the Steelers, it’s never been about personal achievements, it’s always been about championships. Roethlisberger is having a career year in Pittsburgh, however, the Steelers are 2-6. So in the eyes of Roethlisberger, he is having a down year for the simple fact that in Pittsburgh because it’s all about championships. Furthermore, Steeler fans simply don’t care about personal achievement awards. The Steelers are not built on one player leading them to victory, it’s never been that way.
The Steelers have the NFL’s third-best winning percentage since 2003. However, those numbers are fading fast and their quarterback, even though he’s having a career year, has not been the same quarterback who has lead this team in the one category that matters most, winning.
- Trailing Tennessee 10-2 in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger was unable to convert on a pivotal third-and-five from midfield Tennessee clinched the game;
- Trailing Cincinnati 17-10 in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger threw three consecutive incomplete passes and Cincinnati clinched the game with a field goal;
- Trailing Chicago 34-23 with 4:09 left, Roethlisberger was leading the Steelers down the field only to be sacked, and his fumble was returned for a touchdown;
- Trailing Minnesota 34-27 at the Minnesota six-yard-line, Roethlisberger was sacked and the Vikings recovered the fumble;
- Trailing Oakland 21-10, Roethlisberger brought the Steelers within three, but wasted a valuable timeout. It forced the Steelers to kick onsides and Oakland recovered.
Elite does not mean doing one thing great and doing other things average. In the eyes of Big Ben, who speaks off championships and team success, he has not been elite in leading the Steelers to the one thing that really matters to Steelers Nation: Championships.
