Brady still clearly the best at quarterback
PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger didn’t play poorly in Sunday’s 23-20 loss to New England. He just proved he’s not Tom Brady. Brady? He proved what many believed coming into the game.
Brady is the best quarterback in the league. Period.
Where Roethlisberger fits in, somewhere down the line, basically, is immaterial. He went toe-to-toe with the best there is Sunday and even finished with a higher passer rating (93.8-92.7), but Brady left town with what he came here for, a win.
Even though he was not on top of his game for most of it, Roethlisberger managed to complete five of his last eight passes, including a 4-yard touchdown throw to Hines Ward that tied the game with 1:12 remaining.
Brady? All he did was complete all 12 of his fourth quarter passes for 174 yards. He manufactured a field goal and a touchdown before Pittsburgh tied the score, then got his team in range for a game-winning field goal.
He was, as it turns out, just being himself.
“He’s pretty good,” Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. “He’s got some weapons around him, don’t get me wrong. Corey Dillon’s a good running back. Their offensive line did a good job, but their quarterback is pretty special. He doesn’t miss many open receivers.”
“If I was a coach, that’s who I’d want on the field,” Roethlisberger said.
Here’s to hoping Roethlisberger was taking notes. He can be as good as Brady, maybe even better someday. Yesterday was not that day, nor should it have been. Roethlisberger hadn’t lost a regular-season game as a starter until Sunday, but he had only played in 16 of them.
He had lost to Brady and the Patriots in last season’s AFC championship game and maybe learned from that experience. But the learning curve for quarterbacks is much greater than to expect Roethlisberger to have learned that quickly.
“I love it, I love that guy,” said Patriots tight end Christian Fauria. “There’s no other guy you want in that position. Hands down. With 1:20 left, no timeouts … we do this all the time in practice and you never really know when it’s going to come up.”
When it does, you just know Brady will be ready for it. Just like you know Adam Vinatieri will make the winning kick. It’s that simple.
Once New England got the ball back with 1:21 remaining, Hines Ward, who had caught both touchdown passes for the Steelers, was left to do the only thing he could think of doing.
“I was praying,” Ward said. “We made some plays, but these are the Patriots and Tom Brady is the best in the business. You’ve got to play a full 60 minutes against them. We gave our defense a chance to win the ball game, but they’ve got Tom Brady over there.”
Ward was disappointed when the Patriots drove down for the winning field goal, but not surprised.
“That’s why he’s the man,” Ward said. “Everybody wants to know who’s the best quarterback in the league. He showed everybody why he’s the best.”
Neither the Steelers nor Roethlisberger have reason to hang their heads. They went at it against the two-time defending Super Bowl champs and the game came down to the last drive, the last kick, the last second.
At this stage in his development, Roethlisberger couldn’t ask for anything more.
Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com