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Ben Roethlisberger officially retires


Greg S

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20 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Honestly, the longer he lingered in the NFL as their starting QB, the better it was for the Bills and anyone else vying for power in the AFC.

 

The Steelers have been in need for a re-boot for several years now.

 

I wish he had dragged his career out another year or 2.

 

I suspect the team told him he was finished so that was not an option--hence the retirement announcement a few games ago.

 

 

 

 

Clearly he was still good enough to beat us this year. Hopefully Josh plays to 40.

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I grew to have a lot of respect for Ben.   Talented, tough as nails.  

 

In a way, he was a lot like Kelly - something of a wild man, on and off the field, when he came into the league.  His experiences in the league and his experience meeting and marrying his wife and starting a family help him grow up.  

 

Congrats to Ben on a fabulous career.  

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11 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Just a gut feeling. I think Mariota is going to be a hot name in FA with the way he looked filling in for Carr a while back. He would add a nice dimension for their run game and a lot of the underneath passing game that the Steelers have run with Ben the last 2 years. 

 

I'm confused.  When was this?  Mariota threw 2 attempts for 1 completion this year.  He played like 3/4 of 1 game last season, and looked OK.

But he also washed out of Tennessee in favor of Tannehill. 

 

Judging by the contract he signed, he was brought in to compete with Carr for the Raiders job and that just didn't happen.

 

What has he shown that you feel would persuade a 3rd team to take a shot on him as a starter?  It's not like he was horrid in Tennessee as a starter - he would definitely give a team a chance to win with a strong defense and run game - but I think he's the dreaded "not quite good enough" guy, and it's telling that Tennessee benched Mariota for the oft-criticized "not quite good enough" Tannehill and promptly went to the playoffs 3 years on a row.

 

I think another interesting question is whether Tennessee stays with Tannehill - who I think is pretty clearly a better QB than Mariota, but is also looking like That NQGE Guy.  Right now, he's got 2 years left on his contract at $38.6M and $37.6M, with $57.4M of dead cap if they cut him, and Vrabel came out post-season and emphatically said that both Downing (OC) and Tannehill are staying.  But that kind of leaves them in the position of trying to improve by keeping things the same.

 

 

11 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Trubisky would be a more traditional fit for them IMO, but (again, my gut tells me) he's going to have a few places to choose from to compete for a staring spot.

 

IMHO, Trubisky deserves to.  Nagy kind of had a chance to answer the "was it you, or was it me?" question this season and the answer rather pointed at himself.

16 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Clearly he was still good enough to beat us this year. Hopefully Josh plays to 40.

 

IIRC, the Steelers beat us on a blocked punt returned for 7 points.

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7 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'm confused.  When was this?  Mariota threw 2 attempts for 1 completion this year.  He played like 3/4 of 1 game last season, and looked OK.

But he also washed out of Tennessee in favor of Tannehill. 

 

Judging by the contract he signed, he was brought in to compete with Carr for the Raiders job and that just didn't happen.

 

What has he shown that you feel would persuade a 3rd team to take a shot on him as a starter?  It's not like he was horrid in Tennessee as a starter - he would definitely give a team a chance to win with a strong defense and run game - but I think he's the dreaded "not quite good enough" guy, and it's telling that Tennessee benched Mariota for the oft-criticized "not quite good enough" Tannehill and promptly went to the playoffs 3 years on a row.

 

I think another interesting question is whether Tennessee stays with Tannehill - who I think is pretty clearly a better QB than Mariota, but is also looking like That NQGE Guy.  Right now, he's got 2 years left on his contract at $38.6M and $37.6M, with $57.4M of dead cap if they cut him, and Vrabel came out post-season and emphatically said that both Downing (OC) and Tannehill are staying.  But that kind of leaves them in the position of trying to improve by keeping things the same.

 

 

 

IMHO, Trubisky deserves to.  Nagy kind of had a chance to answer the "was it you, or was it me?" question this season and the answer rather pointed at himself.

 

IIRC, the Steelers beat us on a blocked punt returned for 7 points.

With the amount of teams that may be looking for an upgrade at QB, mixed with the expected lack of talent on the FA market at QB and a projected "bad QB draft" (however we won't truly know that for a couple years) I believe you kind of answered your own question in why he may be a hot commodity. 

 

Some coaches have the idea that "Yea, he's broken...but in MY system I can make him better" when it comes to former high draft picks. I would say that as it sits right now there are 3-4 teams he may be an upgrade on as starter. As you say, him with a stronger defense and run game (which Pittsburgh has both imo) and you may have a recipe for some wins. 

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2 hours ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said:

Assuming sarcasm, but I think I would literally crap my pants if this happened. Colbert is retiring, but for them to make that move is so against everything they have ever done I would be shocked. Plus, I assume their cap is not in good enough shape for that.

 

 

Why?

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24 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Some coaches have the idea that "Yea, he's broken...but in MY system I can make him better" when it comes to former high draft picks. I would say that as it sits right now there are 3-4 teams he may be an upgrade on as starter. As you say, him with a stronger defense and run game (which Pittsburgh has both imo) and you may have a recipe for some wins. 

 

That first sentence has a lot of truth to it.

 

But who are those 3-4 teams for whom Mariota is an upgrade at starter?

 

Pittsburgh having a strong run game is News to most, I think. Pittsburgh traditionally had a strong run game, but it was AWOL in 2020 where they were 28th in attempts and 32nd in yards.  2021 only marginally better, 28th in attempts and 29th in yards.

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15 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That first sentence has a lot of truth to it.

 

But who are those 3-4 teams for whom Mariota is an upgrade at starter?

 

Pittsburgh having a strong run game is News to most, I think. Pittsburgh traditionally had a strong run game, but it was AWOL in 2020 where they were 28th in attempts and 32nd in yards.  2021 only marginally better, 28th in attempts and 29th in yards.

In my opinion the teams that would be a marked improvement with Mariota:

 

1. Steelers

2. Saints

3. Panthers

 

Places he could go and be a bridge guy/Compete

 

1. Giants

2. Texans 

3. Browns

4. Jets

5. WFT

6. Colts

 

Again, just an opinion.

 

When I look at the Steelers run game from last year a few things stand out beyond the rankings.

 

They used the passing game as an extension of the run game many times. Harris had 74 catches out of the backfield and ended the season with 1,200 rushing yards. That's pretty impressive for a rookie behind a young line IMO. Had over 1,600 yards total. 4th in the NFL in yards from scrimmage. 

 

Steelers didn't even have another guy with 100 rushing yards on the team last year. Adding Mariota adds to their ability to add rushing yards much like the Bills and Raven are routinely top ruahing offenses thanks on part to QB rush yards. 

 

Let's say Mariota joins the Steelers and goes for 500 rush yards. That rushing offense moves from 29ish into the top 10.

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3 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

Congrats on a great HOF career! 
 

A mixed legacy, for sure, but from all accounts, he also found faith and family and turned around his life after his early career off-field issues. 


That certainly was the narrative pushed by the team and league.  

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