ADN

Drew wrote:Okay, so I know I would probably get killed for even mentioning this....I didn't see the whole game, I didn't even see the whole drive..... but where does Big Ben rank in the top QB's right now?

I have had him on my fantasy team all year (despite him going super low in relation to other QB's) and he's been great. Not to mention he's got some rings and as of late (or at least two games in recent memory) he's fitting clutch balls RIGHT where they need to be to win big games. I have a feeling he can't be above Peyton....but is he better than Brady now? Is he same, higher, or lower than Brees? Where you guys got him?

I wanted to comment earlier on this, but, I agree with you, Drew. (I think there was one comma too many in there, somewhere)

I stated your opinion some 3 months earlier about Big Ben, and when I learned he had a 32 TD season in either 2006 or 2007, I thought he might be able to duplicate it again this year, so i took a chance on him in the 11th round of one of my fantasy drafts this year. He has gone so above and beyond what was expected and what we have seen from him in the past two seasons (hover around 3000, barely above 20 TDs) that we forget how good of a playmaker he is.

But... I still think it was a miraculous win he had against Green Bay, and I hate the fact that announcers and analysts are patting Aaron Rodgers on the back for "matching Ben throw for throw". What?! Rodgers was dictating that game for 50+ minutes, and he had the better all-around game from a QB that one could ever hope for: 3 passing TDs, 1 rushing TD, 375+ passing yards. It was Roethlisberger who had to panic and play catch up to the brilliant play of Rodgers, and that led to his obscene 500+ passing yards in that game, and the last second toe-touch touchdown he seems to have a penchant for locating.

I'll give Roethlisberger credit for keeping plays alive and perhaps having 25% more luck than the average man should have. But he does make some errant throws every 5 times, he holds onto the ball way too long sometimes looking for plays downfield when his TE or RB is open just six yards ahead of him, and if he perhaps is able to correct those little miscues, I see no reason he doesn't win an MVP sometime in the near-future.

Though, I do think he should have at least won the Super Bowl MVP (what is it about Steelers' SB winners where they think the WR deserves the credit for "saving" the game, where without them, the game would be lost? Bradshaw should have had at least 1 more SB MVP honor, if not more, and Santonio was all but absent for half of the game up until the final last minute drive; I give Roethlisberger the due praise for having such keen vision).

But... I'll say it again... he had a miraculous win against Green Bay last week, and an even more miraculous win (with heaps of help from the biased officials) when he won this past year's Super Bowl against Arizona. (I'm still salty about it, don't think I'm not).

Oh, and in case you wanted to know here's how I rank the QBs in the league right now, as I see them:

Peyton
Brees
Rodgers
Rivers
Brady
Schaub (he should be higher, but he still needs to get over that sub .500 hump, and actually pull through in the clutch)
Roethlisberger (just on the cusp of top-5 stardom)
McNabb
Romo (the NFC East QBs are interchangeable at this point; all of their RBs stink, so they have to shoulder the burden)
Eli
Ryan and Flacco (both are numbers 11 and 12, respectively... very high for sophomore QBs, well done)


** Favre and Warner are wild cards for me because I don't see them playing much longer, maybe each of them has a playing shelf-life of two more seasons, maximum. At this point, they are both top-10 options.

And, last of all, my funniest article find of this week, courtesy of Shutdown Corner:

Saints owner Tom Benson prematurely celebrates Saints win
[iframe]http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdo ... nfl,210928[/iframe]

¡ñ±£¿®∆L Ф¶†ïς@п wrote:Oh, and in case you wanted to know here's how I rank the QBs in the league right now, as I see them:

Peyton
Brees
Rodgers
Rivers
Brady
Schaub (he should be higher, but he still needs to get over that sub .500 hump, and actually pull through in the clutch)
Roethlisberger (just on the cusp of top-5 stardom)
McNabb
Romo (the NFC East QBs are interchangeable at this point; all of their RBs stink, so they have to shoulder the burden)
Eli
Ryan and Flacco (both are numbers 11 and 12, respectively... very high for sophomore QBs, well done)


** Favre and Warner are wild cards for me because I don't see them playing much longer, maybe each of them has a playing shelf-life of two more seasons, maximum. At this point, they are both top-10 options.

The following is my opinion. Matt is playing with one of the best receivers in the league. Romo is playing with a bust, a undrafted unproven star and a guy with no breakaway speed. Matt Shaub should be in the same spot as Romo. Eli has won a championship and was having a good year. And Donovan has been consistant in one of the worse cities in america as far as fans go. If anyone should be higher it should Eli and Donovan over Matt Shaub.

Okay, I can see pulling the history card is an easy tactic to use in a debate, but at this moment, in the NFL, 2009, I'd like to hear why you think both Eli and McNabb should be "rated" (which is subjective in all cases) above Matt Schaub.

The way I see it: yes, Eli has a Super Bowl ring, and yes, Donovan McNabb has been to 5 NFC championships in a single decade and also to one Super Bowl (in which his team did not prevail). They are both, arguably, having career years in 2009, and have shown major progression in play from just a season or two ago. I can also see someone stating that both QBs have excelled despite having mostly young, raw receivers (less than 3 years in the league) and rookie wideouts. They both have had little support from their running game, so that is both a pro and a con in determing whether this should be seen as a "standard" season to expect from either of them.

And the argument for Matt Schaub, is, to say the least, quite flimsy. Until this year, his, I think, third year (maybe fourth year?) as the starter in Houston, he has never played more than 12 full games in a season, and has acquired the title, "injury-prone" because of it. He's also never been able to lead his team to a winning record, and sometimes it seems he is not a quarterback who has it in him to lead a fourth quarter rally if the game is on the line. But what people forget that from week 13 of last season up 'til last week of this season, do you happen to know who leads the league in passing yards per game with a 302 yards, on average? It is indeed Matt Schaub.
Yes, he does possess the best receiver in the game in Andre Johnson, and others will still claim that Owen Daniels is a great asset for Schaub, but I think it's foolhardy to say that any one receiver makes his QB shine. It's a synchronization, a tandem effort between passer and catcher. Also to note: Schaub at this point, ahead of this year's top two bids for NFL MVP in Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, leads the league in passing yards with 4467 yards, and is within 6-7 passing touchdowns of both. And he is seond in yards per attempt behind Philip Rivers for the second straight season. (No, Brees a passing cannon last year, so Matt might have been 3rd) The one shot in the leg Matt Schaub possesses is that he is in a niche market like Houston, which has never had a winning season since its inception. It also hurts that he seemingly has only played for half-a-season for the last several years, so that, too, limits his exposure.

Alll I'm saying is that his progression is at the same pace as Romo. And at this point in their careers you can't put them over Eli and Donovan Career-wise. I measure things over career more-so than one good week or one good year. Once again I'm not saying hes bad but I would just put the other two higher than him and Romo at this point. And I say this as a Cowboys fan.

Romo right now has to be perfect for the cowboys to have a chance they way the team is now. I think if he and shaub can consistently win big games in decemeber then you can move them up pass people who have done it.

My God! Was that the best playoff game of this week or what? It almost had the hallmark of the other three blowout wins, but, phew, it got hot fast in Arizona.

Dude, so emotionally-charged in the first half (for a Cards fan), and then the second half it slowly drains you away at the spectacle of how elite a QB Aaaron Rodgers truly is. He's gonna get his someday, but today, man, am I glad the Cardinals are flying high! Dansby and Warner were that game's MVP on both sides of the ball.

Frickin' wow.

I didn't watch the game, did see the highlights tho and man...it seemed like there was some shady no-calls in that contest.

More on the admiration of this league's best new elite QB: Aaron Rodgers.

By MJD:
"I don't necessarily want to commend these gentlemen for what they did for their teams, enormous as those contributions may have been. I'd like to commend them for what they did for us.

Before they showed up, we he had a weekend full of butt-ugly football. I'm talking McQuistan brother-ugly. But these two stepped in and saved it with a game that all but erases the memory of the other three games this weekend.

While we're here, I want to pass along a quote from Cardinals defensive back Antrel Rolle about Aaron Rodgers, from Michael Silver's column Monday. Antrel, how good is Rodgers?

“Let me tell you something, that dude is scary. We have a great defense, and we were up on him and ready to pounce, and he found ways to tear us apart.

“I don’t ever want to face him again in my life. I am dead serious. I’ll face Drew Brees any day of the week before I face him again.”

-- courtesy of: Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner, Quarterbacks, Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals.

When I heard that Rolle comment, I started buying into it. That's some huge praise for a fellow player on the other side of the ball on the opposing team.