NFL Week 14: Where have you gone Neil O'Donnell?

In 2005 - if Big Ben wasn't an elite quarterback for three games, they don't get to the Super Bowl to beat up a weak ass Seahawks team.

And again, if Brady didn't play big-time football in the Super Bowl against the Rams - like an elite quarterback should - they don't win that game, either.

 

Nice bit of picking and choosing there, Zag. Roethlisberger was not an elite quarterback in 2005. He wasn't used like one during the 2005 regular season and he was horrible in the Super Bowl. Yes, he was great in the other three playoff games, but no way was he in the elite category yet at that point.

The same goes for Brady during his first Super Bowl season. He came up big in the Super Bowl, but he was not an elite quarterback yet. Not even close.

 

Steelers coaches called a QB sneak on a fourth and plus-one.
No one in the league makes that call.
It's a fourth-and-inches call, not a fourth-and-plus-one.
Coaches called for a 53-yard FG try into the open end of Heinz Field, and were so not on top of things they neglected to call a TO inside the final 10 seconds for Reed to kick into the closed end. If a FG were the choice, there HAD to be a timeout. And it was a dumb choice, anyway, given that their defense had already given away fourth-quarter leads in five previous games. Baseball managers are always playing the percentages, and football coaches can just ignore them? Why are they watching all that film and losing all that sleep if not to find out what trends exist in their team and their opponents?
Of course, they were only in line for a 53-yard field goal because they called two worthless running plays after passes of 42 yards to Holmes and 14 yards to Ward had gotten them to the O29.

 

Huh?

Took the points, in that Super. A great play . . . WITH the bulk of the Steelers,
and AGAINST idiot Switzer.

 

Amen. I wouldn't say the coaches are completely without blame, but to try to hang that ugly loss Sunday on them is ridiculous.

 

Don't forget the chickenshit playcalling that turned an 80-yard opening kick-off return into a field goal.

 

No -- you are picking and choosing -- elite quarterbacks are seperated by the fact that when their team needs carried, they carry them.

Ben Carried the Steelers last year and he carried them through the 2005 playoffs - they didn't need his help in the Super Bowl -- "OF COURSE NOT THEY HAD THE HELP OF THE REFS" [\Angola and the rest of the Seahawks whiners --- because the Seahawks suck.

It is that old John Facenda (sp?) line from NFL films (which was probably written by Ray Didinger anyway...) "great players aren't always great, they are just great when they need to be...."

The difference between elite quarterbacks and good or mediocre quarterbacks is that when all else fails they have the ability to make big-time pressure throws in big spots to carry the team and do it often or regularly.

That doesn't mean they win every game or championship, but it means their team has a chance and that is why without one, your team is doomed.

 

No, they were kicking the 53-yard field goal because the interior of the offensive like executed like crap and let a Raider come charging in untouched at the snap on third down. I do think they should have gone for it or punted, but running the ball there was not the problem.

That fourth down was not a full yard and the Steelers have been very successful with sneaks in short yardage this year. I understand not wanting to hand off because the Raiders lead the league in tackles for losses against the run. It's not the coaches fault that the field was a mess an Roethlisberger slipped.

Again, coaches don't drop easy interceptions. Burnett did that. They don't injure teammates and take stupid penalties by head-hunting with the game on the line. Ryan Mundy did that. They don't blow one coverage to give up a long touchdown and then misplay a ball that should at least be knocked away. Ike Taylor did that (though a safety also screwed up on the deep ball).

I know it is nice and convenient to blame playcalling for a lost season, but piss-poor execution on the field is the real culprit. If you want to blame the coaches for that and question their preparation, fine. But to say it is all playcalling is just another example of kidding yourself.

 

Trent Dilfer made plays for the Ravens when they needed them, too. Doesn't make him elite. But you keep on reaching until that shoulder joint pops.

 

Really - he carried that team even for one quarter in those playoffs? Seriously, don't be stupid. I know that is against your nature but try for once not to be the overbearing bore that you are.

He was the ultimate along for the ride quarterback and you know it - and how many other seasons in other games in his career did he do it?

All the guys I am talking about have done it time and time again for their teams in regular season games and playoff games.

And if you can't understand what makes an elite quarterback elite - well, then it wouldn't surprise me because day after day you demonstrate your lack of understanding of football -- and everything else for that matter.

At some point, there is a place where a quarterback makes a run that puts him in the category of the elite. It has to start somewhere - for Brady it was that Super Bowl, for Big Ben it was the win against the Colts.

 

Ben Roethlisberger -- 39-14 career record entering the playoffs before his first Super Bowl win.

Not yet elite my ass. You could wallpaper Heinz Field with articles praising him before those playoffs even began.

 

All I know is, I'm glad I didn't hit the Steelers bar Sunday to watch that game. Saved myself a lot of frustration.