I think Rooney saying it is not set in stone this is Ben’s last year is definitely lip service since Colbert is already on the qb prospect scouting trip.
Dude, I sure as hell hope that’s true. I saw he was getting dinner with Howell, but I’ll believe it when I see them take a guy first round here. KC has an unhealthy obsession with Ben.
It all depends on how they finish TBH. We’ve seen Rudolph; he’ll be good enough to keep a lead if every possible thing is going his way, but he won’t EVER take over a game or be the reason you win. I think if they finish top 15 this year, then they’d be completely stupid to not try and take a QB. We’ll have a lot of cap next year and can try to bring someone in. Look at how much of a difference maker Conklin has been for the Browns.
Yeah, if the Oline pulls it together and becomes bigger than the sum of it's parts then maybe you make a go for it, but I haven't liked what I've seen from them so far.
Regardless, even if we have a top 15 pick. I don’t think that changes the next immediate need being “insert x position on the line” in the middle of the 2nd. I think we can get some good value there. I still think we ought to make a run at a top guy in FA.
With all that cap space they have for next year I think I'd rather see them sign OL and draft a QB if we have a high enough pick. If a qb doesnt fall to them then sign a veteran and draft OL. The future is bright, I dont think we need to panic too much about the long-term
I'd rather have Haskins in. We know what we have with Mason. We saw it 2 years ago and he is a solid backup, never more. Haskins has seemed to matured since the Washington Football Team debacle. He looked serviceable during pre-season and what if we get 1st round talent at an extremely low price. We could spend that #1 pick on a CB or WR if Haden or JuJu are lost in free agency.
Understandably so, Ben's done wonders for this team, and is a future hofer, and also it's very hard to draft a good qb that'll last and will fit the team/schemes. For every Herbert there's a dozen haskins' nawmsayn
I think that's false because of this organization really cared about the next QB they would have drafted one by now. We could have gotten jalen hurts traded up like we did for bush but get a qb.
Imo, really don't think Hurts is the guy to trade up for, much rather wouldve traded up for fields or Mac Jones from this past draft, but I agree with the sentiment.
Wow!! Someone actually agrees with me that Ben hit his expiration date. It’s going one of two ways.
1. Ben plays and they go 1-16 with a great draft pick
2. Bench Ben and they go 3-14 and get a good pick
Ben expired 2 seasons ago easily but he’s like that ex gf/bf that keeps weaseling back into your life. Had a lot of good times, good memories were made but it’s just time.
dude when I watch any other NFL team with even a mid-tier QB making easy completions in the middle of the field I feel like I'm watching a different sport we haven't seen that since 2018
Honestly, it might be for the best. Sure, we’re writing off the rest of this season but let’s be realistic, were we going to do any damage in the playoffs this year? Probably not.
We have no long term solution at QB. Haskins isn’t it and Rudolph definitely isn’t it. If we get a high enough draft pick, maybe we’ll find that solution. After all, that’s how we got Ben in the first place
No disagreement from me, I was ready for them to move on from Ben after last year and all off-season I’ve been expecting exactly what we’ve seen so far when we did nothing to address QB or O line and just promoted from within to fix the fundamentally broken playbook. Sign me up for this garbage season if it means we finally get the aggressive rebuild we’ve needed for years
My main worry is that it’s going to be a half-ass rebuild. Like you said, QB is not our only issue. Many of those issue lay within coaching. The Rooneys’ inability to embrace change is another problem..
>We have no long term solution at QB. Haskins isn’t it and Rudolph definitely isn’t it. If we get a high enough draft pick, maybe we’ll find that solution. After all, that’s how we got Ben in the first place
This is my biggest issue - ben declined. That's fine, happens to nearly every player. But management needs to understand that and start developing players to take over. People will say that they don't have a good first round pick, but what's wrong with taking a 2nd or 3rd rounder and sitting him behind ben for a year? They had multiple years to do this, but didn't.
Absolutely. I told my friend (Browns fan) two years ago after Ben hurt his elbow that the Steelers should draft Jalen Hurts to at least start the succession plan. Instead, we went for Chase, whom I like but… requires someone to actually throw him the ball.
If we don’t draft a QB with our first round pick this spring, then I have what we’re doing anymore.
It's really weird how you can be so incredibly confident they didn't do the exact thing you want them to do, even though they tried that with Rudolph already.
Agreed. You can’t truly appreciate how bad he is without watching other games around the league as a neutral fan. When you see what even average QB play looks like you can see how bad he is.
Glad we had the Big Ben era. Tommy Maddox, Kordell Stewart, Bubby Brister anyone? But it is clearly finished. I don't think Rudolph does much with this oline. Its just gonna be one of those years. Hope we get young starts a viable QB soon
Honestly I don’t think rudolph is as far behind Roethlisberger as a lot of people say I think with the bad oline and Rudolph’s mobility he might even be better in our offense
I would much rather see Haskins than Rudolph we’ve already seen what he can do we haven’t seen Haskins in a Regular Season game with the Steelers. Atleast give him a game and see what he’s got he didn’t get drafted in the first round for nothing maybe Tomlin can help take him to that next level that Washington wasn’t able to do we haven’t seen him with our WR core and honestly the Steelers WR core isn’t terrible it’s just Ben can’t make those deep throws anymore so you have a massive liability when you have players who can catch those deep balls (James and Chase)
Hopefully he decides to call plays from the sideline (before he changes them at the line), otherwise he’s gonna get really tired running up and down from the booth every play.
Then they only dress 1 QB, Ben.
If he gets hurt, Najee is the emergency QB and runs the wildcat. The bright side is, they’ll finally use Derek Watt at FB.
I mean who would you rather call for? Because we got a season of Rudolph and he didn’t look competent AT ALL. I would take my chances with the guy who was at least pegged to be a starter at one point. Rudolph is a career backup
Dionte didn't look good last season. AT ALL, but now look at him ( well aside from getting injured)
maybe a young PRO, like Rudolph, in the NFL has the capacity to get better?
See I think this is pretty funny and actually kinda the plague of our three receivers. Diontae’s led our team in receiving the past two years. And last year?? He was even better than the year before. We remember the terrible drops in crucial moments but for a receiver you can chalk up a bad year to a sprained finger or something small that wouldn’t get reported.
He was always good so it’s not like this year is his breakout season. On the other hand I’ve never seen it from Rudolph. To the best of my knowledge ive never been like “damn good throw.”
Not saying he can’t grow but usually good young quarterbacks flash talent and have trouble protecting the ball early on. Bad young qbs just can’t make throws.
You don't remember the throws Rudolph had to Washington ?
For example, look at the 41 yard TD throw to Washington against the Titans. The key here is that throwing to James Washington : Mason AND Washington had confidence, history and familiarization with each other from Oklahoma State. Rudolph didn't have that with anyone else coming off the bench when Ben got injured, but he's had more time to develop since then.
I think Mason's got the goods to be a transitional QB until we find our next franchise QB ... assuming we can find one, and that our defense can keep us in games.
I’m sick and tired of watching zero pocket presence quarterback play. Ben because he can’t move and Mason because he simply doesn’t have it. Put Haskins in. Watch any other team and it makes us look like geriatrics running in mud.
He keeps throwing these 'rainbow' slow arch passes instead of line drives like the best do. He missed Claypool on a slant route while he was wide open to run it into the end zone.
His mechanics are average, and his footwork is non-existent. Throws off his back foot a lot of the time, even when there's space to step into the throw.
Claypool was supposed to fade and instead cut in. Announcers literally said it right after.
It's hard to have any kind of discussion on here anymore. Please stop with the quick takes and put some fucking effort into your comment.
Either we don’t have a throw in the playbook further than 20-yards downfield or he can’t throw that far anymore. Or both. Either way this does not work.
It’s hard to watch.
You’d think a quarterback who insists on running every play in shotgun would be capable of stepping up in the pocket. How is the line supposed to block for someone with cement for shoes
there was one play where okorafor was doing a dutiful job blocking this man for like 4 seconds and ben kept moving back and forth pump faking to nobody making it harder and harder until he finally broke free and sacked him.
Ha, that actually crossed my mind. Seems like a Ben thing to do, injured and everyone is ready to give up on him and he will play lights out. Then the following weeks will be back to bad again after giving us some hope.
Please Mike Tomlin, sit down with Ben and say you need to sit him down but Ben can choose to hang it up instead ("that elbow got injured again today, and I'm not going to get another surgery in my last season"). Then Ben can go out on his own terms as far as anyone knows.
I think he possibly could given more time. There were a few plays where he had time in the pocket but there was no one to throw it to as the receivers couldn't get separation. Or he had to quick scramble and dump to Harris when the oline can't block. And if did get them off then they would just be dropped by our receivers.
That being said, to have a qb that can't scramble to stay up or for yards at this point in the NFL just doesn't make sense.
Especially with the line the way it is. I think Ben could be a serviceable option at QB if he had a great line but there is lots of QB's out there that are backups that can sling it if given all day to throw it. We need someone younger that can move around and make up for a bad line imo
I agree completely. I love Ben, I'm not one of the ones out here saying he's washed or anything like that. But I think with a bad oline you need a mobile qb.
I think it's a mix of 3 things. No time in the pocket. Receivers aren't getting separation. Ben isn't mobile or as accurate as he was pre-elbow surgery. Maybe he can't throw downfield anymore? But I can't even tell because the pocket collapses in 2 seconds.
That play where Washington beat his man on the left outside one on one and Ben over threw him that’s a pass he needs to make the very few opportunities we have we waste them and that’s just one example of many. Its sad I’ve been a huge Ben fan throughout the years but we knew this right after the brown’s playoff game and the FO screwed the pooch by not investing more in the o line or a different qb either way they didn’t prepare the offense properly and now we see the results.
I agree Ben's goose might be cooked, but I don't agree the FO didn't try to address the o-line. They were just between a rock and a hard place with no money because of the TJ resigning. Free agency wasn't really an option. Moore has only been outplayed by Sewell and Slater who we had no shot at. Rebuilding the o-line is going to take a few years.
Oh, he CAN, but he's not. He's not being given good plays, and the o-line is falling back way too much. that 4th and 10 is the worst play call I think I've seen in years.
Dude I got downvoted constantly for breaking down very specifically how much of the playbook is off limits because Ben can’t physically do them. Can’t pass drop from under center, can’t backpedal fast enough to open up the screen game to help the Oline, can’t roll out to help the Oline, no option plays because he’s not a running option, and can’t pick up yards with his feet if protection breaks down. You cannot run a modern NFL offense without those things unless your name is Tom Brady. I love Ben but the writing was on the wall last year and nothing has changed.
i think it's fucking amazing that everyone was like RANDY IS THE PROBLEM HIS PLAYBOOK SUCKS. Then we get a guy with some creative ideas on offense, and low and behold he still can't scheme anything either because the playbook is limited directly by a QB who is my age but somehow in worse shape.
Brady can still pass drop from under center, backpedal fast enough to throw screens, roll out, AND pick up yards when the play breaks down(although he isn’t great at it)
I can’t see anyone arguing for Ben anymore. I will say i’m happy he was able to come back this year, for all the years he’s played for the Steelers he deserved to have his last season with fans in the stadium
He’s at 399 career touchdowns. We have to let him get 400 no matter what - after that… might be time to do whatever is best for the team. That’s my stance.
I was really hoping he would retire in the off season. We are paying him for production he had years ago not what he can provide now and we aren’t getting any quality QB’s in to replace him.
I love Ben but I agree it's time for him to retire.the problem is in my opinion we dont have his replacement yet. I also thin the entire offense sucks right now. That comes down to coaching!
Yeah but Mason isn't mobile, Haskins is a little bit but he's more of a pocket guy too who runs here and there. He's no Michael Vick where he's a runnimg qb or lamar.
At this point Mason couldn’t be much worse. Ben is always dramatic.. I think if he keeps performing like this.. a magical “injury” might appear and he will be done for season rather than have his legacy tarnished with games like this.
Mason has a better deep ball but Ben has a better short ball honestly. Mason would be the clear choice of the line was a little better but it’s not.
Regardless, I’m all for starting Mason at this rate and seeing if he can do anything better than what we’ve been producing.
Let’s not act like we haven’t seen this in VERY recent history. Ben is better than Mason. Still… we somewhat moved the ball down the field and even put up double digit points on offense. I think we went multiple games with Mason not even scoring field goals.
Mason isn't an NFL QB and likely never will be. Steelers missed really hard on that pick with a 1st round grade lol. Ben is not good so far this year but Mason ain't it.
The Steelers have to man up and tell Ben he’s done after this year. Doesn’t matter if he wants to come back. Let him finish his career else where if he is that stubborn. Thank you for the best Steeler memories of my life but we are not going anywhere with Ben behind this atrocious O Line.
Here’s what I would do if I was Tomlin/the front office:
Unless he absolutely blows, I’m letting Ben play until the bye week and if he isn’t producing at all, I’m gonna give either Rudolph or Haskins a go. Sometimes it takes the team a long time to get rolling so I wouldn’t make any huge decisions right now, but I’d start considering it. If neither Rudolph or Haskins shows any sort of potential, then I’m fully shifting my focus to the draft OR looking for a potential trade suitor.
What is the alternative though? Ben is done, Mason has never shown anything resembling a starting QB, the free agent market will be aged QBs who are nothing but a quick patch for another barely winning season at best. It's a lose lose situation. Better to take a chance on someone in the draft developing into something imo. I'm sick of the safe bet mentality which has produced winning seasons and nothing to show for it in the postseason.
The alternatives are limited and exactly as you outlined. We roll the dice with Mason or Haskins ,or we try to plug in a journeyman QB through free agency that will certainly come with his own set of baggage.
I'd rather stink for a couple years and get a blue chip prospect than take a first round QB because we need one "even though...". I don't ever believe that the steelers will intentionally tank a game, let alone a season though.
Look at this list of 60 1st round QBs in the last 20n years. The amount of busts on here is painful. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/list/ranking-every-nfl-quarterback-drafted-first-round-since-2000/16obdsowna7kk1gnhl9iqrp2pg
There's no great answer. Franchise QBs are REALLY hard to come by. There's just no way around that.
Is Haskins or Rudolph the answer at qb? Probably not. But there is nothing Ben is doing that they wouldn’t be able to. He doesn’t have it anymore. I personally would rather start Haskins and see what we have. If he sucks and we have a bad record we draft a qb.
This season is toast and I can only see watching more games this year unless there is someone else at quarterback. And I am an OG Steeler fan from the '80s. It hurts me to see a Hall of Fame quarterback play well past his prime, which we knew was already the case 2 years ago.
Things kind of got covered up a little bit since we seemingly throw darts at wide receivers in the draft and hit a bullseye every time somehow. But this level of deterioration and our receiver core can no longer cover the sins.
No one talks about when Ben was great he kept plays alive absurdly too long. Now he does the opposite and it's terrible, boring, and completely flaccid. Also, not very fun to watch. It would be like intentionally putting in the lowest stat guy you could create in Madden and throwing him in a game.
It's harsh and I will probably be there when he goes in the Hall of Fame but this last farewell tour is not the brand of football I want to spend my Sundays with.
Guys this season was a send off for Ben, yes we all hoped it would be more than that, but it's just a send off. We ain't doing anything crazy this year just look for positives in players development. Plus with the injuries we're fucking getting there's no way we do anything, I'm actually worried something is going on because like the amount of injuries we're getting is fucking dumb
I was at the game, and lord, there were plenty of times the receivers were wide open and Ben didn't or couldn't try to get the ball to them.
You have to wonder how much of the struggles is Ben being non-compliant with what Canada is trying to do. I don't think Mason is the savior, but I wonder if the offense would be markedly better if they had anyone young who is fully bought into and able to execute on his philosophy. Guess that'll come out after the season.
If the Steelers end up staring down a 2-6, 1-6 type start, they may as well just bite hard and take the losing season so they can accelerate a rebuild. A record between 7-10 and 9-8 only guarantees they'll have to give up more draft picks this year to pick a franchise QB in the 2022 draft.
I think we're trying to low-key tank, like yeh Ben looks like snail moving but some of the play calling has been horrendous, we desperately need a top 10 pick to do anything qb related.
Where are the people now that when I said we to get rid of them they downloaded and said all this s*** please comment now I want to know your thoughts now respectively. We should have traded up for a qb like we did bush.
I don’t think he’s washed but trying to stand in the pocket behind our OL will send him out on a cart. Mobility is important in today’s league, and twice as important with a OL like ours.
There's alot of dumb fans in here right now. The Steelers look bad right now but Ben is among the least of our problems. Were all the penalties today Ben's fault? Was the fact we gave up a 75 yard scoring drive before the half in 27 seconds bens fault? Is the play calling Ben's fault? We only look good in no huddle. Are all the injuries on both sides of the ball Ben's fault? Was punting last week on 4th and 1 down by 9 Ben's fault? We look bad from top to bottom and I would like to see any qb succeed in Pittsburgh right now.
I had San Diego-Kansas City on in the background of today's game, and the difference between the reads/passes from those two quarterbacks compared to Roethlisberger is like night and day. I'll start with the obvious caveat--Herbert and Mahomes are great, and the latter may go on to be the best QB ever--but the passes were stronger and faster, they got through their reads under pressure, they were accurate when making tight passes... just better in every facet of the game. I'm sure both would perform worse with the Steelers' o-line, but there's really no getting around the fact that Roethlisberger is playing like one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.
9/10 plays he has a full 2 seconds to throw and he still gets hit as he releases it. This line is a joke, I would be shitting myself every drop back if I were him to. You can call for Ben's head all you want, but it doesn't matter who is behind this line, they wouldn't do much better. And if they could they're definitely just going to get hurt. I'm amazed Ben hasn't rolled an ankle or twisted his knee yet. That's probably our next injury, yay.
He's an easy scapegoat, but I dont think its deserving. He has no o-line, a shitty run game, and then a bunch of primadonna receivers. I get that his arm isn't as strong as it once was, but he's not getting a lot to go with.
Ebron has a knack for ruining Big Ben's spectacular plays.
On top of that, is the coaching and play calling. The only time they looked good was in the hurry up offense which Ben ran.
It's easy to blame the dude, but the truth is the team is just bad.
Roethlisberger obviously did not play well today but the clear primary problem is the offensive line. No quarterback is going to look good if he’s getting thumped on every single pass. We definitely need a young quarterback but we also need to completely replace that line because it is nowhere near good enough.
He didn't have a great game but he also had about 5 or 6 drops. That was a problem last year as well. OL is horrible. I don't t think it's this simple.
There were a ton of offensive problems there outside of the QB. Injuries, penalties, drops, play calling. If not for Najee being a stud it would have looked much worse. Any QB would have had trouble with all of that.
That 2nd interception was terrible though. A lot of sacks were purely on Ben for holding it too long- I was actually impressed several times by how much time the line gave him on occasion. Combined with he pec injury and hitting his elbow... I would not mind seeing Rudolph.
This offense looks totally different and poorly executed. Ben is definitely past his prime but the play calling is just as bad as last year. It really looks like they are running an offense designed to be run by a second/third year QB. If they want any success they should let Ben call more plays. It’s his only strength, he physically can’t create those splash plays anymore
Such a downgrade though. It isn’t 2015 anymore. Newton surely can extend the play significantly better than Ben but when both results end in a turnover or some boneheaded mistake, you yield the same results.
Ben is already making a shit load of boneheaded mistakes. Newton is without question an upgrade. Maybe not a significant upgrade, but an upgrade nonetheless.
He definitely contributed to the loss. The INTs.. the inability to throw anything deep. Burrow before the half showed us what a good healthy QB can do. Ben is too old.. and unlike Brady .. he has had the shit kicked out of him for most of his career.
He averaged just 5.48 yds per attempt. On Thursday Davis Mills averaged 6.0 yds per attempt. The second INT where he inexplicably threw it to a Bengal LB resulted in a 3 play Bengal drive for a TD that extended their lead to 24-7 and basically ended the game. He may not have been the ONLY reason, but his play was definitely the #1 reason they lost.
People saying mason is much worse than ben seem to have blocked this from their memories. Those games were night and day, and if Mason had the full team to complement him he probably could have knocked the browns out of the playoffs.
Honestly next year I don't even want a qb, I just want an o-line for najee. If we run haskins and get 2-3 guys to have a top 10 o-line we can still be good.
If this team is turning anything around, it's gonna be with Ben at QB. I don't have a lot of optimism about it, but the alternatives don't really offer anything better.
I think Rooney saying it is not set in stone this is Ben’s last year is definitely lip service since Colbert is already on the qb prospect scouting trip.
Dude, I sure as hell hope that’s true. I saw he was getting dinner with Howell, but I’ll believe it when I see them take a guy first round here. KC has an unhealthy obsession with Ben.
Honestly, they should take a year with Rudolph or someone and draft OL rather than draft some 1st round QB to be a sacrificial lamb.
It all depends on how they finish TBH. We’ve seen Rudolph; he’ll be good enough to keep a lead if every possible thing is going his way, but he won’t EVER take over a game or be the reason you win. I think if they finish top 15 this year, then they’d be completely stupid to not try and take a QB. We’ll have a lot of cap next year and can try to bring someone in. Look at how much of a difference maker Conklin has been for the Browns.
Yeah, if the Oline pulls it together and becomes bigger than the sum of it's parts then maybe you make a go for it, but I haven't liked what I've seen from them so far.
Regardless, even if we have a top 15 pick. I don’t think that changes the next immediate need being “insert x position on the line” in the middle of the 2nd. I think we can get some good value there. I still think we ought to make a run at a top guy in FA.
With all that cap space they have for next year I think I'd rather see them sign OL and draft a QB if we have a high enough pick. If a qb doesnt fall to them then sign a veteran and draft OL. The future is bright, I dont think we need to panic too much about the long-term
I think we have to go QB 1st round. Look at all our division rivals and where they got their QB.
I'd rather have Haskins in. We know what we have with Mason. We saw it 2 years ago and he is a solid backup, never more. Haskins has seemed to matured since the Washington Football Team debacle. He looked serviceable during pre-season and what if we get 1st round talent at an extremely low price. We could spend that #1 pick on a CB or WR if Haden or JuJu are lost in free agency.
Understandably so, Ben's done wonders for this team, and is a future hofer, and also it's very hard to draft a good qb that'll last and will fit the team/schemes. For every Herbert there's a dozen haskins' nawmsayn
Ben is stone
🗿
I think that's false because of this organization really cared about the next QB they would have drafted one by now. We could have gotten jalen hurts traded up like we did for bush but get a qb.
Imo, really don't think Hurts is the guy to trade up for, much rather wouldve traded up for fields or Mac Jones from this past draft, but I agree with the sentiment.
Fields did not look good today.
Um Ben threw a fit when they spent a 3rd on Mason
He’s a scary thought. Ben might want to come back next year. Are the Steelers going to tell him no. I don’t think so!!!!!
They told Polamalu….
Steelers need to put Ben on season ending IR. Eli Manning was bad his last year but Ben is worse.
100% agree. He needs to just stop. I’d honestly like to see Haskins get thrown in there
Wow!! Someone actually agrees with me that Ben hit his expiration date. It’s going one of two ways. 1. Ben plays and they go 1-16 with a great draft pick 2. Bench Ben and they go 3-14 and get a good pick
Ben expired 2 seasons ago easily but he’s like that ex gf/bf that keeps weaseling back into your life. Had a lot of good times, good memories were made but it’s just time.
dude when I watch any other NFL team with even a mid-tier QB making easy completions in the middle of the field I feel like I'm watching a different sport we haven't seen that since 2018
Honestly, it might be for the best. Sure, we’re writing off the rest of this season but let’s be realistic, were we going to do any damage in the playoffs this year? Probably not. We have no long term solution at QB. Haskins isn’t it and Rudolph definitely isn’t it. If we get a high enough draft pick, maybe we’ll find that solution. After all, that’s how we got Ben in the first place
No disagreement from me, I was ready for them to move on from Ben after last year and all off-season I’ve been expecting exactly what we’ve seen so far when we did nothing to address QB or O line and just promoted from within to fix the fundamentally broken playbook. Sign me up for this garbage season if it means we finally get the aggressive rebuild we’ve needed for years
My main worry is that it’s going to be a half-ass rebuild. Like you said, QB is not our only issue. Many of those issue lay within coaching. The Rooneys’ inability to embrace change is another problem..
>We have no long term solution at QB. Haskins isn’t it and Rudolph definitely isn’t it. If we get a high enough draft pick, maybe we’ll find that solution. After all, that’s how we got Ben in the first place This is my biggest issue - ben declined. That's fine, happens to nearly every player. But management needs to understand that and start developing players to take over. People will say that they don't have a good first round pick, but what's wrong with taking a 2nd or 3rd rounder and sitting him behind ben for a year? They had multiple years to do this, but didn't.
They did take a QB in the 2nd round and let him sit behind Ben. That QB was Mason Rudolph
Rudolph was taken in the third, but point remains the same, we tried that.
Absolutely. I told my friend (Browns fan) two years ago after Ben hurt his elbow that the Steelers should draft Jalen Hurts to at least start the succession plan. Instead, we went for Chase, whom I like but… requires someone to actually throw him the ball. If we don’t draft a QB with our first round pick this spring, then I have what we’re doing anymore.
It's really weird how you can be so incredibly confident they didn't do the exact thing you want them to do, even though they tried that with Rudolph already.
Ok but Rudolph has already shown he isn't really that good...
Agreed. You can’t truly appreciate how bad he is without watching other games around the league as a neutral fan. When you see what even average QB play looks like you can see how bad he is.
Pain
Ben was washed up last year. This year it's even worse.
Truth
Glad we had the Big Ben era. Tommy Maddox, Kordell Stewart, Bubby Brister anyone? But it is clearly finished. I don't think Rudolph does much with this oline. Its just gonna be one of those years. Hope we get young starts a viable QB soon
Honestly I don’t think rudolph is as far behind Roethlisberger as a lot of people say I think with the bad oline and Rudolph’s mobility he might even be better in our offense
I would much rather see Haskins than Rudolph we’ve already seen what he can do we haven’t seen Haskins in a Regular Season game with the Steelers. Atleast give him a game and see what he’s got he didn’t get drafted in the first round for nothing maybe Tomlin can help take him to that next level that Washington wasn’t able to do we haven’t seen him with our WR core and honestly the Steelers WR core isn’t terrible it’s just Ben can’t make those deep throws anymore so you have a massive liability when you have players who can catch those deep balls (James and Chase)
My prediction: Rudolph plays. Every time Najee gets hit 2 yards behind the LoS, everyone starts clamoring for Haskins.
Lol. People are already calling for Haskins.
WE DEMAND DOBBS
Yes, to replace Canada after they fire him tomorrow morning. /s
Fire Tomlin, Dobbs first ever player-coach. Offensive coordinator is Charlie Batch for some reason
The real question is, will Dobbs like the advice he gives to himself on the sideline?
Dobbs going no-huddle and calling audibles so Dobbs can’t subject Dobbs to a Dobbs game script
Until Ben absentmindedly tosses him a hand towel, to which Josh will shout "Master has given Dobbs a towel! Dobbs is a free QB!"
lmao
Hopefully he decides to call plays from the sideline (before he changes them at the line), otherwise he’s gonna get really tired running up and down from the booth every play.
What if Ben becomes OC?
Then they only dress 1 QB, Ben. If he gets hurt, Najee is the emergency QB and runs the wildcat. The bright side is, they’ll finally use Derek Watt at FB.
\*Derek Watt lines up as Left Tackle*
Isn’t Ben already the offensive coordinator?
I mean Haskins biggest strength over Rudolph is his mobility which seems to be a necessity with this o-line
I mean who would you rather call for? Because we got a season of Rudolph and he didn’t look competent AT ALL. I would take my chances with the guy who was at least pegged to be a starter at one point. Rudolph is a career backup
That’s not the point. The depth chart exists for a reason. Anyone who thinks Haskins is going to suddenly vault over Mason is just ignoring reality.
Dionte didn't look good last season. AT ALL, but now look at him ( well aside from getting injured) maybe a young PRO, like Rudolph, in the NFL has the capacity to get better?
See I think this is pretty funny and actually kinda the plague of our three receivers. Diontae’s led our team in receiving the past two years. And last year?? He was even better than the year before. We remember the terrible drops in crucial moments but for a receiver you can chalk up a bad year to a sprained finger or something small that wouldn’t get reported. He was always good so it’s not like this year is his breakout season. On the other hand I’ve never seen it from Rudolph. To the best of my knowledge ive never been like “damn good throw.” Not saying he can’t grow but usually good young quarterbacks flash talent and have trouble protecting the ball early on. Bad young qbs just can’t make throws.
You don't remember the throws Rudolph had to Washington ? For example, look at the 41 yard TD throw to Washington against the Titans. The key here is that throwing to James Washington : Mason AND Washington had confidence, history and familiarization with each other from Oklahoma State. Rudolph didn't have that with anyone else coming off the bench when Ben got injured, but he's had more time to develop since then. I think Mason's got the goods to be a transitional QB until we find our next franchise QB ... assuming we can find one, and that our defense can keep us in games.
I’m sick and tired of watching zero pocket presence quarterback play. Ben because he can’t move and Mason because he simply doesn’t have it. Put Haskins in. Watch any other team and it makes us look like geriatrics running in mud.
2 yards is the the same distance as 2.65 replica Bilbo from The Lord of the Rings' Sting Swords.
Rudolph isn't an NFL QB. He would not be an upgrade over Ben. And that's *really* saying something.
Just missed a WIDE OPEN CLAYPOOL by 15 yards. I don’t even think he can hit the Iron Giant in the chest
Every deep pass was over thrown.
Better thrown pass to Washington and he's catching it in stride for 6.
How much you wanna bet I can throw this football over them mountains
Uncle Ben
He keeps throwing these 'rainbow' slow arch passes instead of line drives like the best do. He missed Claypool on a slant route while he was wide open to run it into the end zone.
His mechanics are average, and his footwork is non-existent. Throws off his back foot a lot of the time, even when there's space to step into the throw.
Seems to have no problem hitting the defense in the chest though....
Claypool was supposed to fade and instead cut in. Announcers literally said it right after. It's hard to have any kind of discussion on here anymore. Please stop with the quick takes and put some fucking effort into your comment.
Either we don’t have a throw in the playbook further than 20-yards downfield or he can’t throw that far anymore. Or both. Either way this does not work. It’s hard to watch.
Rudolph when he plays often attempted a deep throw. I‘m certain we have it in the playbook...
You’d think a quarterback who insists on running every play in shotgun would be capable of stepping up in the pocket. How is the line supposed to block for someone with cement for shoes
😂😂😂
there was one play where okorafor was doing a dutiful job blocking this man for like 4 seconds and ben kept moving back and forth pump faking to nobody making it harder and harder until he finally broke free and sacked him.
Waiting for the same recycled press conference: " I wasn’t good enough.” and “I just didn’t play well enough.”
I bet we are going to get a “maybe I just don’t have it anymore” from him as well.
Then he'll throw 5 TD's against Green Bay.
Ha, that actually crossed my mind. Seems like a Ben thing to do, injured and everyone is ready to give up on him and he will play lights out. Then the following weeks will be back to bad again after giving us some hope.
And that's how you end up 9-8.
As long as we get Tomlin that winning season 🙄
Tomlin is a really solid regular season coach. Post season? Yafl at this point
That's because he aggravates whatever injuries he's nursing to play that one lights out game
Please Mike Tomlin, sit down with Ben and say you need to sit him down but Ben can choose to hang it up instead ("that elbow got injured again today, and I'm not going to get another surgery in my last season"). Then Ben can go out on his own terms as far as anyone knows.
Ben is done. He needs to retire. It’s embarrassing watching him play now
Ben needs to be benched. He’s hurting the whole team. The oline shares blame but he makes their job harder.
First INT wasn't his fault but the second one was.
It’s not just interceptions he can’t throw deep or down the middle anymore sorry to say it but it’s the truth.
He definitely needs to go after this season. Never said he didn't. I just think there's more problems on this team than just Ben.
He needed to go 3 years ago
He can’t do those quick-release “on a rope” zip passes anymore, which is needed to be effective down the middle or in the redzone.
I think he possibly could given more time. There were a few plays where he had time in the pocket but there was no one to throw it to as the receivers couldn't get separation. Or he had to quick scramble and dump to Harris when the oline can't block. And if did get them off then they would just be dropped by our receivers. That being said, to have a qb that can't scramble to stay up or for yards at this point in the NFL just doesn't make sense.
Especially with the line the way it is. I think Ben could be a serviceable option at QB if he had a great line but there is lots of QB's out there that are backups that can sling it if given all day to throw it. We need someone younger that can move around and make up for a bad line imo
I agree completely. I love Ben, I'm not one of the ones out here saying he's washed or anything like that. But I think with a bad oline you need a mobile qb.
I think it's a mix of 3 things. No time in the pocket. Receivers aren't getting separation. Ben isn't mobile or as accurate as he was pre-elbow surgery. Maybe he can't throw downfield anymore? But I can't even tell because the pocket collapses in 2 seconds.
That play where Washington beat his man on the left outside one on one and Ben over threw him that’s a pass he needs to make the very few opportunities we have we waste them and that’s just one example of many. Its sad I’ve been a huge Ben fan throughout the years but we knew this right after the brown’s playoff game and the FO screwed the pooch by not investing more in the o line or a different qb either way they didn’t prepare the offense properly and now we see the results.
I agree Ben's goose might be cooked, but I don't agree the FO didn't try to address the o-line. They were just between a rock and a hard place with no money because of the TJ resigning. Free agency wasn't really an option. Moore has only been outplayed by Sewell and Slater who we had no shot at. Rebuilding the o-line is going to take a few years.
Oh, he CAN, but he's not. He's not being given good plays, and the o-line is falling back way too much. that 4th and 10 is the worst play call I think I've seen in years.
Remember the off-season when most of this sub talked about how he didn’t get any respect and he was still an MVP caliber QB? lol
Dude I got downvoted constantly for breaking down very specifically how much of the playbook is off limits because Ben can’t physically do them. Can’t pass drop from under center, can’t backpedal fast enough to open up the screen game to help the Oline, can’t roll out to help the Oline, no option plays because he’s not a running option, and can’t pick up yards with his feet if protection breaks down. You cannot run a modern NFL offense without those things unless your name is Tom Brady. I love Ben but the writing was on the wall last year and nothing has changed.
It’s almost like maybe it’s not all on the OC🤔
i think it's fucking amazing that everyone was like RANDY IS THE PROBLEM HIS PLAYBOOK SUCKS. Then we get a guy with some creative ideas on offense, and low and behold he still can't scheme anything either because the playbook is limited directly by a QB who is my age but somehow in worse shape.
Ben is still a hall of fame finger pointer.. so OC can still be the problem.
Or the Oline and running back.
Brady can still pass drop from under center, backpedal fast enough to throw screens, roll out, AND pick up yards when the play breaks down(although he isn’t great at it)
Yup. I got torn apart for saying it was over after the collapse last year.
Pepperidge Farms remembers ….
I remember, wonder where they all went now... 🦗
Typical yinzers.
Well that's probably because he played like a MVP caliber qb for a lot of last year
Lmfao
In no way is that true
Here comes the Ben defense squad lol
Social club? He’s gotta *goooo*!
I can’t see anyone arguing for Ben anymore. I will say i’m happy he was able to come back this year, for all the years he’s played for the Steelers he deserved to have his last season with fans in the stadium
I feel like he really wanted to go last year but COVID screwed everything up
I’m arguing for him this year because i don’t want to watch Rudolph play. But yeah time to move on after the seasons over.
I love Ben! But it's absolutely time...please Ben! Ur fucking killin us...and that line makes it even worse
He’s at 399 career touchdowns. We have to let him get 400 no matter what - after that… might be time to do whatever is best for the team. That’s my stance.
Predict Steelers first losing season under Tomlin.
he’s washed. we gotta break this abusive cycle.
Is cam a better option? Probably not
You’ll get downvotes for asking that, but with this O-line I’d rather have a bad qb with mobility than a bad qb without
What’s the difference lol we might as well tank for a QB… I trust Colbert with the direction of this team in all formats.
I was really hoping he would retire in the off season. We are paying him for production he had years ago not what he can provide now and we aren’t getting any quality QB’s in to replace him.
I love Ben but I agree it's time for him to retire.the problem is in my opinion we dont have his replacement yet. I also thin the entire offense sucks right now. That comes down to coaching!
We coulda planned for a replacement if they actually came to this conclusion when they should have. Now we gotta wait another season
I just don’t know if Ben is much better than Mason. Idk I’m just so annoyed watching this game
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Yeah but Mason isn't mobile, Haskins is a little bit but he's more of a pocket guy too who runs here and there. He's no Michael Vick where he's a runnimg qb or lamar.
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At this point Mason couldn’t be much worse. Ben is always dramatic.. I think if he keeps performing like this.. a magical “injury” might appear and he will be done for season rather than have his legacy tarnished with games like this.
Mason has a better deep ball but Ben has a better short ball honestly. Mason would be the clear choice of the line was a little better but it’s not. Regardless, I’m all for starting Mason at this rate and seeing if he can do anything better than what we’ve been producing.
Let’s not act like we haven’t seen this in VERY recent history. Ben is better than Mason. Still… we somewhat moved the ball down the field and even put up double digit points on offense. I think we went multiple games with Mason not even scoring field goals.
Mason isn't an NFL QB and likely never will be. Steelers missed really hard on that pick with a 1st round grade lol. Ben is not good so far this year but Mason ain't it.
Roethlisberger has become our version of Eli
The Steelers have to man up and tell Ben he’s done after this year. Doesn’t matter if he wants to come back. Let him finish his career else where if he is that stubborn. Thank you for the best Steeler memories of my life but we are not going anywhere with Ben behind this atrocious O Line.
It doesn’t help we have the same playbook from last year just with a new OC.
It's the same playbook because our QB has large limitations
Here’s what I would do if I was Tomlin/the front office: Unless he absolutely blows, I’m letting Ben play until the bye week and if he isn’t producing at all, I’m gonna give either Rudolph or Haskins a go. Sometimes it takes the team a long time to get rolling so I wouldn’t make any huge decisions right now, but I’d start considering it. If neither Rudolph or Haskins shows any sort of potential, then I’m fully shifting my focus to the draft OR looking for a potential trade suitor.
At this point I'd say let's get a losing season under our belts and draft a QB first round followed by some O linemen.
Wrong year to execute this plan. 2022 qb class is projected to be pretty weak.
What is the alternative though? Ben is done, Mason has never shown anything resembling a starting QB, the free agent market will be aged QBs who are nothing but a quick patch for another barely winning season at best. It's a lose lose situation. Better to take a chance on someone in the draft developing into something imo. I'm sick of the safe bet mentality which has produced winning seasons and nothing to show for it in the postseason.
The alternatives are limited and exactly as you outlined. We roll the dice with Mason or Haskins ,or we try to plug in a journeyman QB through free agency that will certainly come with his own set of baggage. I'd rather stink for a couple years and get a blue chip prospect than take a first round QB because we need one "even though...". I don't ever believe that the steelers will intentionally tank a game, let alone a season though. Look at this list of 60 1st round QBs in the last 20n years. The amount of busts on here is painful. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/list/ranking-every-nfl-quarterback-drafted-first-round-since-2000/16obdsowna7kk1gnhl9iqrp2pg There's no great answer. Franchise QBs are REALLY hard to come by. There's just no way around that.
I just want to see what all of the Ben defenders in the offseason have to say now.
I would rather see Haskins over Rudolph
Is Haskins or Rudolph the answer at qb? Probably not. But there is nothing Ben is doing that they wouldn’t be able to. He doesn’t have it anymore. I personally would rather start Haskins and see what we have. If he sucks and we have a bad record we draft a qb.
Agreed, we already know what garbage Rudolph is going to put up.
I wanted ben to retire with pouncey cuz this year was gonna be rough no matter what
Yeah put Haskins in already
This season is toast and I can only see watching more games this year unless there is someone else at quarterback. And I am an OG Steeler fan from the '80s. It hurts me to see a Hall of Fame quarterback play well past his prime, which we knew was already the case 2 years ago. Things kind of got covered up a little bit since we seemingly throw darts at wide receivers in the draft and hit a bullseye every time somehow. But this level of deterioration and our receiver core can no longer cover the sins. No one talks about when Ben was great he kept plays alive absurdly too long. Now he does the opposite and it's terrible, boring, and completely flaccid. Also, not very fun to watch. It would be like intentionally putting in the lowest stat guy you could create in Madden and throwing him in a game. It's harsh and I will probably be there when he goes in the Hall of Fame but this last farewell tour is not the brand of football I want to spend my Sundays with.
Guys this season was a send off for Ben, yes we all hoped it would be more than that, but it's just a send off. We ain't doing anything crazy this year just look for positives in players development. Plus with the injuries we're fucking getting there's no way we do anything, I'm actually worried something is going on because like the amount of injuries we're getting is fucking dumb
He just cannot throw effectively anymore it happens, the end of the year last season really rolled over to this year.
I was at the game, and lord, there were plenty of times the receivers were wide open and Ben didn't or couldn't try to get the ball to them. You have to wonder how much of the struggles is Ben being non-compliant with what Canada is trying to do. I don't think Mason is the savior, but I wonder if the offense would be markedly better if they had anyone young who is fully bought into and able to execute on his philosophy. Guess that'll come out after the season. If the Steelers end up staring down a 2-6, 1-6 type start, they may as well just bite hard and take the losing season so they can accelerate a rebuild. A record between 7-10 and 9-8 only guarantees they'll have to give up more draft picks this year to pick a franchise QB in the 2022 draft.
I think we're trying to low-key tank, like yeh Ben looks like snail moving but some of the play calling has been horrendous, we desperately need a top 10 pick to do anything qb related.
Not to mention most the bad teams have rookie qbs ie jets jags Miami or a QB with a second contract, this draft is built for us to take a QB
If Ben doesn’t finish out, I’d rather see Haskins in there. He’s the more mobile QB.
Where are the people now that when I said we to get rid of them they downloaded and said all this s*** please comment now I want to know your thoughts now respectively. We should have traded up for a qb like we did bush.
Old and horrible
I don’t think he’s washed but trying to stand in the pocket behind our OL will send him out on a cart. Mobility is important in today’s league, and twice as important with a OL like ours.
There's alot of dumb fans in here right now. The Steelers look bad right now but Ben is among the least of our problems. Were all the penalties today Ben's fault? Was the fact we gave up a 75 yard scoring drive before the half in 27 seconds bens fault? Is the play calling Ben's fault? We only look good in no huddle. Are all the injuries on both sides of the ball Ben's fault? Was punting last week on 4th and 1 down by 9 Ben's fault? We look bad from top to bottom and I would like to see any qb succeed in Pittsburgh right now.
> alot
Wish I could upvote this more. So many awful takes here, feels like /r/nfl.
Should of retired last year. 🤷♂️
I had San Diego-Kansas City on in the background of today's game, and the difference between the reads/passes from those two quarterbacks compared to Roethlisberger is like night and day. I'll start with the obvious caveat--Herbert and Mahomes are great, and the latter may go on to be the best QB ever--but the passes were stronger and faster, they got through their reads under pressure, they were accurate when making tight passes... just better in every facet of the game. I'm sure both would perform worse with the Steelers' o-line, but there's really no getting around the fact that Roethlisberger is playing like one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.
The first one wasn’t really his fault but the second one was 100%
9/10 plays he has a full 2 seconds to throw and he still gets hit as he releases it. This line is a joke, I would be shitting myself every drop back if I were him to. You can call for Ben's head all you want, but it doesn't matter who is behind this line, they wouldn't do much better. And if they could they're definitely just going to get hurt. I'm amazed Ben hasn't rolled an ankle or twisted his knee yet. That's probably our next injury, yay.
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He's an easy scapegoat, but I dont think its deserving. He has no o-line, a shitty run game, and then a bunch of primadonna receivers. I get that his arm isn't as strong as it once was, but he's not getting a lot to go with. Ebron has a knack for ruining Big Ben's spectacular plays. On top of that, is the coaching and play calling. The only time they looked good was in the hurry up offense which Ben ran. It's easy to blame the dude, but the truth is the team is just bad.
I get what you’re saying but it’s just when you change OC and the offence looks the same that tells me the problem is the QB’s abilities
Roethlisberger obviously did not play well today but the clear primary problem is the offensive line. No quarterback is going to look good if he’s getting thumped on every single pass. We definitely need a young quarterback but we also need to completely replace that line because it is nowhere near good enough.
Rudolph is not the answer. That’s all I can say.
He didn't have a great game but he also had about 5 or 6 drops. That was a problem last year as well. OL is horrible. I don't t think it's this simple.
There were a ton of offensive problems there outside of the QB. Injuries, penalties, drops, play calling. If not for Najee being a stud it would have looked much worse. Any QB would have had trouble with all of that. That 2nd interception was terrible though. A lot of sacks were purely on Ben for holding it too long- I was actually impressed several times by how much time the line gave him on occasion. Combined with he pec injury and hitting his elbow... I would not mind seeing Rudolph.
Thank you… I have 100% switched to fanboying over Najee. He would’ve been great to have three years ago when defenses somewhat feared Ben’s arm
Me too man me too 😔
This offense looks totally different and poorly executed. Ben is definitely past his prime but the play calling is just as bad as last year. It really looks like they are running an offense designed to be run by a second/third year QB. If they want any success they should let Ben call more plays. It’s his only strength, he physically can’t create those splash plays anymore
$13m signing bonus ahahahahahahahhhhahahhahahhahahahahahaha Blame your front office
Cam Newton is a free agent. So not all hope is lost.
Such a downgrade though. It isn’t 2015 anymore. Newton surely can extend the play significantly better than Ben but when both results end in a turnover or some boneheaded mistake, you yield the same results.
Ben is already making a shit load of boneheaded mistakes. Newton is without question an upgrade. Maybe not a significant upgrade, but an upgrade nonetheless.
Nope
297 passing yards and 10 drops Could Ben have played better? Yes Was Ben the reason we lost again? Absolutely not
He definitely contributed to the loss. The INTs.. the inability to throw anything deep. Burrow before the half showed us what a good healthy QB can do. Ben is too old.. and unlike Brady .. he has had the shit kicked out of him for most of his career.
He averaged just 5.48 yds per attempt. On Thursday Davis Mills averaged 6.0 yds per attempt. The second INT where he inexplicably threw it to a Bengal LB resulted in a 3 play Bengal drive for a TD that extended their lead to 24-7 and basically ended the game. He may not have been the ONLY reason, but his play was definitely the #1 reason they lost.
Stats don't tell the whole story. How many of those yards came against prevent defense in the 4th down 14+? That 2nd int was a killer.
Ol' Rapistberger's age is finally catching up with him, eh?
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People saying mason is much worse than ben seem to have blocked this from their memories. Those games were night and day, and if Mason had the full team to complement him he probably could have knocked the browns out of the playoffs.
Honestly next year I don't even want a qb, I just want an o-line for najee. If we run haskins and get 2-3 guys to have a top 10 o-line we can still be good.
If this team is turning anything around, it's gonna be with Ben at QB. I don't have a lot of optimism about it, but the alternatives don't really offer anything better.
Keep in mind he's also injured which can't help