Big Ben is a good quarterback, not a great one

After leading the Steelers to their sixth title , many think that Ben Roethlisberger should be considered a great quarterback, one of the best in the NFL, and some even think he is one of the best ever. Yes he has won two Super Bowl titles, but it took more then him to win them both. Right now he is a good quarterback but hey he could take that next step to greatness next year.

When I think of great quaterbacks guys like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb, and Brett Favre(Before the last five games of this year). A great quartback is someone who is a leader, make big plays when they count, put up big numbers, compete for MVP, and put a game on their shoulders and win it on their own. Yes Big Ben may have done this in the Super Bowl, however, he has not throughout a whole season or on a consistant basis. Ben's Super Bowl was very similar to another quarterback named Eli Manning. Eli led the the Giants to victory last year in one of the biggest upsets in sports history and in one of the best games ever played! Is Eli Manning a great quarteback? NO, in fact I think he no more then an average quaarterback who is way over hyped. The point is players can have their one shinning moment and ocasionally make incredable plays.

Big Ben I feel is a product of the Steelers offensive system which takes pressure off him by being a running, or run first team. The goal for their team on offense is to control the clock and posses the ball more then the other team while mixes in a few pass plays to keep the opposing defenses honest. In Ben's first two years he only threw the ball about 21 times a games which is not a whole lot for the average NFL quarterback proving that they are a running team. In those years he did have a high QB Rating around 98.5. In his third year, with injuries around him to players like Willy Parker and after loosing Jerome "The Bus" Bettis to retirement, he had to play a bigger role in the offense and carry more of a load on offense. Intead of averaging 21 throws a game it became nearly 32. His rating dropped significantly to 75.4, and turned the ball over 24 times. This proving that he can't literally carry a team on his own compared to what Peyton Manning did with the Colts this year. Peyton had injuries to lineman, wide recievers, and running backs and still managed to go 12-4 with even more hurt players on defense. He did have one great year last year in the regular season but took a step back to only have a decent season.

Finally Big Ben did not carry this team, it was the "Steel Curtain" defense. Pittsburgh had the number one defense and James Harrison's interception return for a touchdown might have been a bigger play then Holmes catch at the end. This Steelers team reminds me a lot of the Ravens Super Bowl team from seven years ago. The Ravens had a lights out defense led by Ray Lewis. The quartback was Trent Dilfer, one whom you may have never heard of. The offense was a run first team led by star rookie running back Jamal Lewis and a great line that included future Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogdan. Trent was just supposed to throw the ball, like Ben to keep defenses honest.

Ben will be 27 at the start of next year and will most likely conitue to improve. If he is able to be more consistant and have more big games like he did in the Super Bowl, even if it was against a mediocre Arizona defense, then he can join the group of great NFL players. I think head coach Mike Tomlin said it best by describing him and a "Franchise Quarterback". Who knows with Ben and his future, he might even end up in Canton one day.