Big Ben is an elite QB

Ben Roethlisberger is an elite quarterback in the NFL. I've hard plenty of people say, he's just not that great of a QB, he just manages the game, and let's his run game and his defense win the games for him. This is all non-sense. Ben has established himself as an elite QB in the league in his short career so far, and can only go up from here. This is his sixth year in the league, and has already had the most wins of ANY QB in the league in his first five years in the league, and has won 2 Super Bowls. He was the youngest QB to EVER win a Lombardi Trophy. Granted he didn't win MVP in the two games he played, but the fact is he was the winning Quarterback in both games.

His first year in the league, he lead the Steelers to 14 straight victories, home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and to an AFC Championship appearance. Yes thinking back to his rookie season he barely snuck by the Jets. It was two missed field goals later that the Steelers advanced to the AFC Championship to play the Pats. Ben played horrid that game, but who can blame him, he was only a rookie. AFC Championship came, and he played horrible in the game. I remember the game being REALLY cold. The play that sticks out most in my mind is when Ben threw an INT when they were inside the 5 yard line right to Rodney Harrison, who ran the ball back like 100 yards for a touchdown. It was then revealed later that the Patriots were involved in "Spygate", which they were accused of taping practices and figuring out play calling schemes of other teams. The Steelers were included in those games. I'm convinced, had the Pats not cheated the Steelers would've won the Super Bowl

Ok enough of the scandal part, let's get back to why I think Ben is an elite QB. I mean the most wins in his first 5 years in the league. That's beating the likes of Marino, Elway, Farve, Brady, and Steve Young. That's a heck of an accomplishment. To be the youngest person ever to win a Super Bowl, that's another remarkable accomplishment as well.

Since coming into the league, Ben has been the most sacked quarterback in the league. He gets hounded every game, takes shots left and right from defensive players, but yet gets right back up and plays the game. Ben has missed some games due to injury, which makes his most wins accomplishment all the more impressive. The Steelers offensive line has been notoriously bad, and therefore Ben takes the effect of that. Ben is a big guy and take a hit no doubt, but if you take any other quarterback in the league, they are not going to survive. Our offensive line is too bad, and quarterbacks these days do not fight against injury. Any little thing that is wrong with them, they don"t play in the games. The only other quarterbacks that defeat what I'm saying are the Ironman Brett Favre, and Mcnabb. Those are two tough dude. But stick Brady or Manning back behind our offensive line, they'll be like sitting ducks and just get hammered. They will not be able to survive the whole season.

Also what makes Ben great, is it is so hard to sack the man. I mean yes he has been sacked a bunch, but man can he escape the pocket. If you watch any of the games, you will hear the commentators mention how well Ben can escape the pocket. This makes Ben so great. If you think you have Ben one second, the other second he'll be gone out of the pocket. Ever since he's come into the league, Ben has had a knack for being able to throw the ball accurately on the run. Ben has always been at or near the top of the league when it comes to passer rating on the move out of the pocket. This makes Ben a great QB, because not only can he throw the ball while he's in the pocket, but can throw it on the move.

The sign of a great QB is maturity as well. The first time Ben was in the playoffs was in 2004, and he sucked the entire way through. He was lucky to advance past the divisional round game against the Jets. It was two missed field goals, that got them through to the Pats. He sucked in that game as well. 2005 comes, and midway through the season, basically their was no hope of making the playoffs. The team got themselves together, and had the hope of getting Jerome home, and playing in his hometown of Detroit for the Super Bowl. They had to win 3 games on the road to get to Detroit. They destroyed Cincinnati, baffled the Colts, and rolled over the Broncos, and got Jerome home to Detroit. The Super bowl game against the Seahawks, was one of the worst Super Bowls, I've ever seen. Ben played awful and was bailed out by a 75 yard run by Willie Parker, which is the longest run in Super Bowl history. Also on what they referred to as a gadget play, Randle El threw a pass to Hines Ward. Ben had the lowest QB rating ever to win the Super Bowl, but the fact is that he won.

Last year comes around. The Steelers had probably the greatest defense ever assembled. We had the hardest schedule ever produced. On it were 6 of the 8 division winners from the previous year. Man what a schedule. The Steelers fought and crawled through the games, won the division and made it to the playoffs. We manhandled the Chargers, and won a war of a game against the Ravens. Now comes Ben's 2nd time in the playoffs. The second time around Ben always does things better. Ben's 2nd time in the playoffs, he learned his mistakes and played amazing, leading his team to the Super Bowl. Well its Ben's 2nd time in the Super Bowl. The Steelers and their amazing defense were HEAVY favorites against the Cardinals. The game was great. Steelers lead for most of the game, but the Cardinals hung in the game, and took the lead with 2:20 to go. Man what shock this way, the Steelers may lose the Super Bowl. I remember saying to myself, their's a reason the Rooney's dished out 100 million dollars on this QB. He's gonna lead the drive of a lifetime. He lead the team down the field, with a number of passes to Holmes. The throw and catch that some consider the best sports moment in Pittsburgh history, happened when Ben from the 20 yard line, went through about 3 of his reads, saw Holmes in the back of the end zone, and fired the ball. After the game, Ben said he thought the ball was going to be intercepted. Holmes somehow pulled it out of the air, tip toed the sideline, and caught the game winning TD.

Ben learned his 2nd time around in the Super Bowl how to play. The maturation and growth of Ben makes him an elite QB. All his stats and achievements make him an elite QB as well. The thing that makes him one of the top 3 QB's in the league is he's a winner. I don't care what people say about our defense and about the team around him, he'e the QB, and the play caller of the team. Its him who makes the team go. So with Ben's ability to escape, his winning mantra, his savvy feel for the game, its all these intangibles, which make me say I would not want any other QB on my team then Big Ben