Saturday, September 12, 2009

Magic 30

Big Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball 43 times against the Titans with 33 completions and we won the game. This tidbit of information doesn't seem all that shocking considering he threw for 363 yards.

Just a few years ago however, most sports critics judged Big Ben by one specific stat.

The magic number 30.

Almost every sports commentators talked about it before last year. And it was true. Any time Ben threw more than 30 passes, the Steelers were likely to lose the game. It meant the running game had failed, the coach had put the game in Roethlisberger's arm (quite literally), and he wasn't up to the challenge to deliver the win.

In Ben's rookie season, he never threw the ball more than 28 times in a regular-season game. He went undefeated until he faced the Pats in the playoffs and the Steelers finished 15-1. We also had the number one rushing offense that year, and as great as the rookie Ben did, some critics chucked up the wins to our dominant D and our powerful running game.

The pattern of "the magic 30" began in 2005, when finally Ben had to keep up with high-powered offenses that put some numbers on the Steelers. It started against the Bengals at home, when for the first time in the NFL Ben lobbed the ball 41 times. Roethlisberger threw three TDs, but also three picks. The Steelers lost 31-38.

The next year, in 2006 (the year of the motorcycle crash), Ben played eight games where he had more than 30 passing attempts.

His record... 1-7.

That one win as against the Browns, so it barely counted toward anything. Suddenly the critics noticed. They pounced. Big Ben was overrated. He can't win without a running game to hold him over his opponents. He was a game manager. Not a game winner.

In 2007, Ben did slightly better, going 3-4, but again those three wins were against Buffalo, Cincinnati and Cleveland. And besides, Ben threw only 34, 34 and 32 passes in each game respectively. He sure was not Tom Brady. The critics were further reinforced of their argument when Ben threw the ball 42 times against the Jaguars at home in the playoffs and lost.

Overall, Ben was now looking at a 3-13 record overall for the 16 games in which he'd passed the ball more than 30 times. Not exactly the QB you want to rely on to win a game for you...

Then, in 2008, things changed. Not because the Steelers would eventually win the Superbowl. Something changed even before then. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road, a team that had embarrassed the Steelers twice at home the year before, Big Ben threw the ball 41 times (26 completions)... and won. Not only that, but he was playing with a slightly-separated shoulder, and one pass to Heath Miller for 17 yards was a thing of beauty. Ben was getting dragged to the ground by two defenders.

As the season wore on, Ben's accomplishments took second place to the number one defense that terrorized just about every team it faced. But by the time Ben had won his second Superbowl in five years, he would finish the 2008 season 6-2 in games he had to throw the ball more than 30 times. One of those wins was against Baltimore in the playoffs. All of this while the Steelers' running game boasted a ranking of 23rd out of 32 teams. Not exactly a helpful hand to an "overrated quarterback."

Suddenly, a QB everyone said could win only with a good running game, was doing it without one. For the first time ever, some commentators started to use phrases like "elite" and "one of the best" but still it was because of his overall winning record and two rings. Nobody really took notice of his passing attempts in relation to his wins.

This past Thursday night, Big Ben won the game for us once again with zero help from the running game. He also tallied his 18th win when he had to bring the offense with a tied score or coming from behind. Now, in his sixth year, Big Ben still "holds on to the ball too long" and is (admittedly) a "slow starter." The critics are still out there, but it's obvious that Ben has shed the curse of 30. He's a guy you can rely on to win the clutch. He's confident enough that when facing overtime he'll tell the ball boy to get him his hat, because he's confident he can drive his team down the field, win, put on his hat and give a post-game interview.

With an offensive line that gets mauled like crazy in the running game, there is no other quarterback I'd rather have than Big Ben.

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