Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Ben "Passes" Bradshaw 



Ben has become our all-time leading passer eclipsing Terry Bradshaw of the great Steeler's era of the 70's.  To me it's uncanny how similar the two are on the field but a a bit different off the field.

Ben is a fan favorite and most would say is the "heart" of the team.  Now that he has settled his personal life off the field, Ben is poised to lead this team for as long as his body and talent will allow.  I am a big fan of Ben.  He is much better this season at getting that ball out instead of holding it taking sacks as he previously did.  Ben also seems to have a "six sense" about the pass rush and there is no one better at stepping out of the way of onslaught and making a play with his legs or getting the ball down the field.

Bradshaw was NOT considered to be a fan favorite in his era even though he was a big part of why the Steelers won 4 Super Bowls during the 70's.  However, Bradshaw had a hall of fame talent running back in Franco Harris and two hall of fame talented receivers to throw to as well.  I feel Bradshaw had a much stronger arm than Ben and could easily put the ball 60 plus yards down the field almost effortlessly.  Bradshaw was not a bad "scrambler" but wisely chose to throw the ball more when under pressure than take off running.  I think some concussions early in his career kinda' remedy that process for him.


Anyway, Ben is much better runner than Bradshaw and is bit more physical in stature as well.  However,  no matter how many passing yards Ben accumulates he still will need to get the 4 Super Bowl wins as Bradshaw to enter the ring of honor.  Unfortunately for Ben, the deck is now stacked against that feat.  Let's face it, Bradshaw played with 4 Hall of Famer's on offense(...in addition to himself) and at least 5 Hall of Famer's on defense.  I still don't know why Greenwood and Shell are not in the Hall Of Fame yet!


Currently, I think Woodley and Polamalu are possible Hall Of Fame talent and  Pouncey if he can stay healthy more consistently.  But Ben has never had a true "go to running back" except for the "BUS"(...Jerome Bettis) when he was really at the end of his prime.  I also think Hines Ward is possibly a Hall of Fame nominee but his services are no longer available, to Ben and the Steelers.  I really miss his reliability and toughness. The Steelers really need to get Ben two reliable running backs to alleviate the burden he now carries offensively every game.  Simply put, Ben is the best player on the team right now.





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