Let me preface this by writing that I am truly grateful that Tim Tebow is not one of our QBs. He is not good and does not fit in a pro offense anywhere outside the Oregon Duck packages that Chip Kelly will roll out sometimes. That said, Timmy is 9-7 as a starter, 8-6 regular (57.1%) season and 1-1 in the playoffs (50%).
For comparative purposes, the starting records of some other QBs that certain fans believe would make fine replacements and/or accompaniments for Ben within the QB corps:
Charlie Batch: 25-30 (45.45%) [although he was 6-3 as a starter in the Burgh]
Jason Campbell: 32-47 (40.5%) [although he was 1-8 in his last 2 years]
Matt Cassel: 33-39 (41.77%) [4-5 in the last 2 years]
RGIII: 14-21 (40%) in the regular season. 0-1 in the playoffs
The point in all of this is not that Tebow is a good QB. It’s that people remember him as a guy who finds a way to win. Hines Ward was like that. Jerome Bettis was like that. Alan Faneca was like that too, although he had more talent for his position than the previous two. I hope you understand my point. People would rather have a Winner on their team than a guy who obviously gets rattled. That is doubly true of a guy who touches the ball on every snap like a QB. Landry Jones makes people nervous. Tebow may suck, in fact I think he objectively sucks, but at least when a guy like him gets the ball in his hands you know he is going to try to find a way.
While we’re on the subject, let’s look at the other QBs on the Steelers’ roster.
Bruce Gradkowski: 6-14 (30%) When you tell people from Pittsburgh that Gradkowski sucks, their standard comeback is, “He was good enough to beat us. I like him.” Gradkowski won once and Steelers fans have never forgotten it. He only has a job in the NFL because he’s from Pittsburgh and the Rooneys like a feel good story
[EDIT: also because Joe Burnett forgot to Unleash Hell and catch a pass that Gradkowski threw right to him].
Make no mistake, if we ever have to depend on him for any length of time, we are sunk. He flat out sucks. He is Andy Dalton-Lite.
Ben Roethlisberger: 106-52 (67.08%) in the regular season and 10-5 (66.67%) in the playoffs. His 116-57 (67.05%) overall record translates to 10.72 wins and 5.27 losses over the course of a 16 game season.
Further, he still has this kind of record after going a combined 15-14 over 2012-2013. Ben has 25 4th quarter comebacks and 35 game winning drives over the course of his career, including 3 game winning drives in each of the last three seasons. He has a career passer rating of over 90, whether the team is winning, tied or playing from behind. But, what’s really astounding is that some of his best stats are when he is inside his own 20 and has to convert a set of downs to get away from his own end zone. Without this guy, the Steelers are a 5 or 6 win team.
I don’t believe that anyone who posts here regularly falls into this category, but people who think Ben can be easily replaced are incredibly short sighted and/or haven’t learned anything new about football since the 70s. There is also the possibility that they are just fucking idiots.
