Is Big Ben Elite? If So, Where Does He Rank Among NFL Quarterbacks?

To analyze this properly, I´ll compare his whole career since college with that of the two quarterbacks people tend to regard as the elite class of the NFL: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

I´ll only use these two because they are the only ones that can be considered better by some. Not Drew Brees, not Eli Manning, not Phillip Rivers, not McNabb, not Tony Romo. Maybe Kurt Warner could be in the conversation, but his career has not been consistent enough, and he just lost a Super Bowl to Big Ben.

First of all, I want to clarify something to people who always say: Championships don´t matter that much, teams win championship, not individual players.

The quarterback position is perhaps the most important position in all of professional team sports. Some people could point out to pitchers, but let´s analyze that for a bit. Pitchers rarely ever pitch complete games, and they basically just start in about 20% of their teams´ games, so that´s pretty much a slam dunk tie breaker. Rarely does a team without a great quarterback wins a Super Bowl, and never do they win more than one. That being said, let´s continue.

College

Myth #1: Peyton Manning led his team to amazing success.

Manning became Tennessee's all-time leading passer with 11,201 yards and 89 touchdowns and won 39 of 45 games as a starter, breaking the SEC record for career wins. He led the Volunteers to end the 1995 year as the No. 3 team in the nation. In 1997 he led his No. 3 Volunteers against the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers, with a chance to win the national championship if they won and first No. 1 Michigan lost. Well, the result was a 42-17 loss, crushing all hopes for a national championship. Pretty impressive resume huh? Well, it´s not as impressive when we consider that just one year later they finally defeated Florida (which Peyton Manning could never beat), and little known Tee Martin led that same team to a 13-0 record and the national championship. By the way, notable teammates in 1997 included Pro Bowl RB Jamal Lewis, Pro Bowl DE Leonard Little, Pro Bowl DE Shaun Ellis, Pro Bowl receiver Peerless Price, so saying he didn´t have the team the 1998 Volunteers had is not a valid point.

As for Brady, he started every game in 1998 and 1999, after the Wolverines led by Brian Griese won the national championship in 1997. During his first full year as a starter, he set Michigan records for most pass attempts and completions in a season (214). His record as a starter was 20-5. In the 2000 draft 5 of his teammates were also drafted to the NFL.

As a college quarterback Ben Roethlisberger broke basically every important passing record in his university and several MAC records as well. Granted; it´s not that impressive since he comes from Miami Ohio, a small school from the MAC Conference. What is impressive is that he led that team to a 13-1 season (winning 13 straight after losing their first game), and a no.10 national ranking during his last year there. His career stats were 10,829 yards and 84 touchdowns in three years. The only other Red hawk drafted in the same year as him was G Jacob Bell.

Rookie Year

Myth: Peyton Manning was one of the best rookies ever.

I wonder why people think this. Well, he did throw for an NFL rookie record 3,739 yards. Impressive once again huh? Think again, he also threw a rookie record 575 passes for a meager 56.7% completion percentage, and a record 28 interceptions and a ridiculous 71.2 quarterback rating. His team record by the way, 3-13.

Well, we can´t really say much here about Brady, considering he only threw three passes, completing just one for six yards.

Myth: Ben had an awesome team, anyone could've taken that team and finished 13-0 in the regular season.

As for Ben Roethlisberger, he was given the chance to start during the third quarter of the second game of the 2004 season after Tommy Maddox left the game vs. Baltimore with an injury. The team was down, and little was there to do for rookie Ben. He picked it up quite nicely afterwards, winning the next thirteen games (his first 13 starts as a pro) to lead his team to the No.1 seed in the AFC. Not only that, Ben Roethlisberger led his team to cut the Patriots NFL record 21 game winning streak, and one game later defeated their eventual opponent in the Super Bowl, which also happened to be undefeated at 7-0 at the time; the Philadelphia Eagles. But sure, with that team, anyone could've pulled that off. He was the second rookie quarterback in NFL history to win his first ever playoff game against the Jets, although truth be told he didn´t play the best of games in the Divisional playoffs. He did lead them to a fourth quarter/OT comeback, although considering that the Jets kicker missed two field goals right at the end of regulation for the win, they probably didn´t deserve it. But well, luck´s part of the game. Nobody takes away Manning´s or Brady´s achievements when luck is involved, so let´s not take this one away from Ben. In his next game to be fair he did completely crumble against a dynasty on its way to win their third ring in four years. That same year, not only had the Colts lost to the Patriots in the regular season, but they were held to only 3 points on a 20-3 loss in the Divisional playoffs. At least the Steelers put up some points in the 41-27 defeat. And by the way, that Steelers team was 6-10 the previous season.

Myth: Peyton Manning and Tom Brady led their teams to their first Super Bowl win (only appearance in Manning´s resume); heck, they both got named Super Bowl MVP.  On the other hand the Steelers won in spite of Ben Roethlisberger, who was carried by his defense.

Manning finally got his shot in the 2006 season; the ninth season of his career. After a 12-4 season the Colts dreadful run defense faced the Chiefs and the NFL´s top running back Larry Johnson. So what happened? Despite three interceptions thrown by Peyton Manning (two of them to Ty Law, whom we will mention again later), the Chiefs only managed to score 8 points, and didn´t gain a single first down until late in the third quarter. The Colts defense forced three turnovers and four sacks. Larry Johnson was held to 32 rush yards, and the whole team only gained 126 total yards.

Next stop: Baltimore. Manning threw for 170 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 15-6 win over the Ravens. The Colts defense provided with 4 turnovers to help their cause. As well as keeping the Ravens run game at 83 total yards.

I´m not going to get too deep into the Patriots game, because Manning did a great job of creating a fourth quarter comeback. So for that I give him credit, although he did throw a pick six to Asante Samuel.

So, the Super Bowl finally arrived against the Chicago Bears. Manning played amazing and deserved to be named Super Bowl MVP, right? Wrong again. His 81.8 passer rating was the worst of any Super Bowl MVP ever. He threw an interception, and a TD pass that my mom could´ve made to Reggie Wayne who had no defenders whatsoever within a 15 yard radius, thanks to an error in coverage. The Colts third down efficiency was 44% (8-18). The defense on the other hand recovered 5 turnovers (2 interceptions, 3 fumbles). That MVP award was given to Manning because of his “leadership”. The real MVP of that Super Bowl should´ve been Dominic Rhodes, who rushed for 113 yards, and 1 touchdown, and several key first downs. Considering the last touchdown was a pick six, the Colts scored a total of 22 points on offense. Manning´s stats for that whole postseason: 1,034 yards, 3 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and a passer rating of 70.5.

Brady is another story worth telling.

Their first playoff game was the divisional playoff game at Foxboro vs. the Oakland Raiders. Down 13-10 with 1:47 left, former Michigan teammate Charles Woodson sacked Brady for a fumble that the Raiders recovered to win the game. After review though, the famous “tuck rule”, which is widely viewed as one of the most stupid rules in football, and one that not many people knew about before that game was invoked. The Patriots got back the ball on what was clearly not the arm moving forward to make a pass. Still, it all came down to Adam Vinatieri attempting a 45 yard field goal in a heavy snowstorm to tie the game. He miraculously made the kick, and later made another one in overtime to win it.

Next stop Pittsburgh, which was regarded by many as the favorite to win it all after a 14-2 regular season record. Well, in this game Brady came out in the second quarter, and it was Bledsoe who took the team to victory. Before going out, the only score the Patriots had was a punt return by Troy Brown. Next stop: Superbowl.

Again the same question arises: Tom Brady obviously should´ve been named the MVP since he led the 14 point underdog to the Super Bowl win, right? Well, let´s look at the facts. The Patriots first score came courtesy of Ty Law, who intercepted a Kurt Warner pass and went the distance. Then right before halftime a fumble recovery returned to the Rams 39, set up a TD. The score at halftime: 14-3.

The second half came and the only score in the third quarter was an Adam Vinatieri field goal after Warner´s second interception was returned to the Rams 34. In the fourth quarter the Rams finally rallied back, and tied it all at 17. With 1:21 left Brady drove his team to the Rams 31 for Adam Vinatieri to try a 48 yard game winning field goal, which he made. So, Tom Brady´s stats: 16 of 27 for 145 yards and a touchdown and an 86.2 rating. Except for the last drive, Brady did basically nothing in terms of scoring, considering all previous scores were due to great field position because of turnovers or a defensive score. But let´s look at other lovely stats, such as third down efficiency: 2/11 (18%).

Bottom line; it was the defense that won this game for the Patriots. They held the greatest show on turf (NFL record three straight seasons with 500+ points) to just 17 points (we could count it as 10 if we subtract the 7 from the interception TD). The real MVP should´ve been Ty Law who returned an INT for 6 points and led the team in tackles with 7. But I guess a game winning drive in the last two minutes wins you an automatic MVP…or does it? By the way, Tom Brady´s numbers for the whole playoff run: 572 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, and a 77.3 passer rating.

Finally we get to Big Ben, who was carried by his defense into winning a Superbowl according to ignorant/haters.

During the Regular Season Ben played only 12 games due to a knee injury, with a 9-3 record. The team had a 2-2 record without him. In fact, once he came back he was massacred by the seemingly invincible Indianapolis Colts led by the perfect quarterback Peyton Manning. From then on they had to win four straight games just to make it as a #6 seed, which they did. So, the playoffs arrived. The Steelers faced (in order) the #3, #1, #2 seeds in the AFC, and then the #1 seed in the AFC in the Super Bowl.

First the Steelers visited #3 seed Cincinnati that had won their division. Ben threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns on the 31-17 road victory. People will always point to Carson Palmer being out as the main reason they won, but hey, Ben came out to play, and did the hell of a job. It´s hard to think the Bengals would´ve scored over 31 points.

Next stop was against the invincible Colts that had already humiliated them in the regular season. Nobody gave them a chance. This game would come down to become one of the greatest postseason games in NFL history. The Steelers came out dominating the Colts in every category, including offense, where Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 21-3 lead entering the fourth quarter. At the start of that quarter Manning threw a 50 yard TD pass to TE Dallas Clark (to all those who bash Ben Roethlisberger for getting tons of yardage from what his receivers do after the catch, they should watch what Dallas Clark does in this play). What did the Steelers do? They responded with an 8 minute drive, converting two fourth downs, finally giving back the ball with 6 minutes left.

Here´s where all the madness started.

In the ensuing possession Manning was intercepted by Troy Polamalu, who rolled over, and fumbled the ball, recovering it himself. The Colts made what can only be considered as a hail mary challenge, and to the complete shock of anyone who has ever watched a football game, the call was overturned, and ruled an incomplete pass (The NFL admitted the next week indicating that it should´ve been ruled an interception). Soon after that, the Colts scored and converted a 2 pt conversion to make the game 21-18. After a quick three and out the Steelers punted with just over two minutes remaining in the game to the Colts 18 yard line. They came up with a crucial stop, sacking Manning on second and fourth down to recover the ball with about 80 seconds left on the two yard line.

Game over, right? Not in a million years. On the next play (one of the most unlikely in NFL history) Jerome Bettis fumbled the ball and safety Nick Harper recovered it with no one on his way except Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben ended up making an impressive open field tackle on the Colts 42 yard line, saving the touchdown. Long story short, after that, the Colts got into field goal range and Mike Vanderjagt missed. I´d like to see either Brady or Manning make that tackle. I know what you´re thinking: What does making a tackle have to do with being a great QB. Well, guess what, you´re s in there to help your team win in whatever way you can, and if that means making the tackle of the century, well, by all means that´s what you have to do.

Fact: That year the Colts sent a league high, 8 players to the Pro Bowl, while the Steelers sent 5.

Before continuing I´d like to clarify another myth about this game, so here it goes…

Myth: The Steelers won that game because their defense was so superior to the Colts´ defense. Anyone could´ve won that game with that defense.

Well, let´s take a look at the regular season stats for both defenses.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 284 Yds/G- Fourth in the NFL.

Indianapolis Colts: 307.1 Yds/G- 11th in the NFL.

Wow, 23.1 more yards per game, that´s a mindboggling difference. Let´s look at another stat now, the most important one of all when evaluating a defense.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 16.1 Pts/G- Third in the NFL

Indianapolis Colts: 15.4 Pts/G- Second in the NFL

And another really important one.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 40% - third down percentage.

Indianapolis Colts: 37% - third down percentage.

Yeah, that´s a pretty lopsided advantage for the Steelers D, huh?

The next week in the AFC championship game the Steelers dominated the Broncos to easily advance to the Super Bowl. Roethlisberger threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for one more.

Semi-myth: Ben Roethlisberger was completely useless during Super Bowl XL.

I´m not saying he was great, because we all know he wasn´t. But people tend to exaggerate his 22.6 passer rating during that game, and say his team won the game in spite of him. So let´s look at the facts. The Steelers had a third down efficiency of 53% (8-15). He did start 2-8 with an interception, but with the Steelers trailing 3-0 before halftime Ben threw a perfect pass to Hines Ward in the end zone, which he failed to catch. After a penalty he was left with a third and 28 and after scrambling like he always does completed a pass to Hines Ward at the 3. Three plays later he scored himself (yes, he was in). After Willie Parker scored on a 75 yard run, Ben did throw his second interception which was returned to the Steelers´ 20, leading to Seattle´s only touchdown.

After that came the famous gadget play in which Antwaan Randle El threw a 43 yard TD pass to Hines Ward. What everyone seems to forget is that Big Ben managed to block blitzing strong safety (who used to be a linebacker) Michael Boulware who had already penetrated the line of scrimmage, enabling the play to take place. Without that block, no way Randle El makes that pass. There was still 8:56 to play, and the Steelers got the ball back with 4:15 on the clock. What does Ben do? He hits Randle El with a 7 yard completion on third and 6, and then runs for 3 on a third and 3. Clock ticks and he gets the bus his ring (come on people, this has to win him a lot of sympathy points).

So, just to recap…Stats on Super Bowl run:

Tom Brady: 572 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (1 rush TD), and a 77.3 passer rating.

Peyton Manning: 1,034 yards, 3 TD, 7 INT, and a 70.5 passer rating.

Ben Roethlisberger: 803 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT (1 rush TD), and a 101.7 passer rating.

But yeah, it´s perfectly obvious that the Steelers won in spite of Ben, while the Colts and Patriots rode Brady and Manning´s arms to the Super Bowl.

Now let´s go to their next Super Bowl victories:

Brady went on to win two more Super Bowls, in which he did deserve to be the MVP, and also achieved the NFL record for longest win streak, and was minutes away from leading his team to a perfect season. So yeah, Brady didn´t do badly after that.

As for Manning, well, he hasn´t been back to a Super Bowl since (who knows if he ever will). He has however won 3 league MVP´s if that´s any consolation.

As for Ben Roethlisberger, he did lead his team to a second Super Bowl (XLIII) win against the Cardinals in a drive for the ages, leading his team on an 88 yard drive starting with 1st and 20 at his own 12 yard line with just 2:30 on the clock, and ending with a majestic TD to Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone with just 35 seconds left on the clock. By the way, he had already secured his team´s win by completing a first down on third and long from the end zone that would´ve run down the clock, but instead was turned into a safety because of a holding call. But that didn´t stop Roethlisberger from coming back and proving he is as clutch as they come with a Super Bowl winning drive for the ages.

Not to take any credit away from Santonio Holmes who played great, but by the standard which the NFL had been using to give out  Super Bowl MVP´s (Tom Brady in 2001, the Mannings) Big Ben should´ve been given that award. I´ve already made my case for Peyton Manning´s and Tom Brady´s first MVP, but in that category we should include Manning who was greatly helped by an amazing defense and won the MVP due to a game winning drive in the 4^th quarter. Let´s face it, that drive would´ve never ended up being a TD had it not been for the ridiculous catch David Tyree made (he also had a TD catch). The true MVP should´ve been David Tyree (if not a defensive player). But it´s the story of Ben´s career, he´ll never get the credit he deserves for playing on a good team.

By the way, in 2008 the Steelers offensive line was (and I´m going on a limb here), probably the worse in the league, and the run game nonexistent, and still Ben was able to lead the Steelers to a championship. No way either Brady or Manning would´ve even lasted the entire season behind that offensive line.

Many people point to Manning as being a tough quarterback because he´s never missed a start. But it´s not hard to see why based on the way he plays. Besides having a way superior O line than Roethlisberger´s, whenever he gets any defensive player near him, instead of trying to avoid him like Roethlisberger or Brady do, he just goes down to prevent a hit.

While on this subject there´s another point to be made: sportsmanship, and being a good teammate. While Brady and Ben take credit for the wins, they also admit their fault in the losses. That´s not the case with Peyton Manning who blames his receivers whenever he throws an interception or an overthrown pass, and worst of all, calls out his offensive line when they are not the perfect protecting machine Manning wants them to be. To quote Peyton “Terrell Owens” Manning after the 2005 Divisional Playoff loss vs. the Steelers, “You know, I´m trying to be a good teammate here. Let´s just say we had some problems with protection.”

Another example would be if you watch America´s Game 2006 the Colts, there is a game where he starts to yell at Jeff Saturday saying “he is trying to call plays”, where you can just sense his amazing arrogance. If you ever watch it pay attention to that scene. Peyton Manning comes out as a nice guy, but in reality he is as phony as they come. Imagine Manning having the 08´ Steelers offensive line, it would´ve been a media frenzy every weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1piy8Zxddw

Myth: Big Ben has always had a great team, while Brady and Manning had won despite what they have.

The New England Patriots have had (and still have) several probable Hall of Famers in their roster, countless Pro Bowlers, and an immense amount of talent that I think is universally accepted. But apparently everyone thinks Peyton Manning has all his amazing seasons despite a talentless team, so let´s see how many of his teammates have been Pro Bowlers wearing a Colts uniform.

Colts players who´ve been to the Pro Bowl with Manning as QB: Marshall Faulk (1), Edgerrin James (4), Marvin Harrison (8), Reggie Wayne (3), Jeff Saturday (3), Bob Sanders (2) + Defensive Player of the Year in 2007, Dwight Freeney (4), Robert Mathis (1), Mike Vanderjagt (1), Tarik Glenn (3), Cato June (1), Joseph Addai (1), Antoine Bethea (1),

Well, I´d say 13 Pro Bowlers (most of them multiple times) is pretty good company. And by the way, Dallas Clark could´ve probably been in there as well had it not been for the total domination of Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates during the past decade.

Now let´s talk winning:

Tom Brady: He´s been in the league for 9 years. He has an 87 – 24 (78%) record as a starter. He has appeared in 5 AFC championship games, 4 Super Bowls, and won 3 championships.

Postseason Record: 14-3 (82%)

Peyton Manning: He´s been in the league for 11 years. He has a 117-59 (66%) record as a starter. He has appeared in 2 AFC championship games, 1 Super Bowl, and won 1 championship.

Postseason Record: 7-8 (46%)

Ben Roethlisberger: He´s been in the league for 5 years. He has a 51 – 20 (70%) record as a starter. He has appeared in 3 AFC championship games, 2 Super Bowls, and won 2 championships.

Postseason Record: 8-2 (80%)

By the way, since Big Ben came into the league no one has more 4^th quarter/OT comebacks (19), or won more Super Bowls than he has.

Last but not least, it´s important to address the matter of regular season performance (stats). Tom Brady actually never had spectacular stats until Randy Moss (arguably the second best receiver all time) and Wes Welker arrived. I´d like to point out however, that much of Tom Brady´s success is due to the system in which he is in. Most of his passes in the Super Bowl winning years were on short routes, and screen passes. In fact it was demonstrated this season that anyone can win in the Patriots´ scheme when Matt Cassel who hadn´t been a starter since high school ended up with an 11-5 record with NE. Mark my words, Cassel will be a huge bust in KC, but that´s another story.

Peyton has consistently put up ridiculous stats and perhaps will break many of the records that Brett Favre now holds.

Ben Roethlisberger has never had spectacular years regarding stats, but that´s because Pittsburgh is a run oriented team. It´s the style of football they play. The TD difference between himself and Brady and Manning is also greater than it should be because the Steelers tend to run the ball in the end zone, as opposed to the Colts and Patriots. I´m not saying if given the chance he would throw 50 TD´s in a season, but seriously, does he really need to? All the guy does is win. He holds the record for most wins as a starter in the first 5 years of his career, and the sky is the limit for him.

I´d still say however, that he has to at least win another ring in order to earn the right to be placed up there with Tom Brady. But regarding Peyton Manning, he not only is at the same level as him. He is already above him, because he is a proven winner, and in half the years as Manning already has more Super Bowl victories, more AFC championship appearances, and more postseason wins.

If you don´t agree with me I just leave you one question, food for thought if you will. What would you rather brag about to fans of another team? My quarterback passed for like a gazillion yards and a gazillion TDs and was named league MVP but lost in the playoffs, or… My quarterback led my team to a Super Bowl victory last season?

I´m just saying…