Posted on 12/26/2004 7:31:24 AM PST by beyond the sea
Ben Roethlisberger can take it full circle today against the Ravens. Back on Sept. 19 in Baltimore, the rookie quarterback was flung into the NFL's high seas, sink or swim. Today, he can skipper the Steelers to the AFC's treasure island, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
"That first game, he got his feet wet,'' receiver Hines Ward said. "He's in the water now."
Roethlisberger went from "some little young kid who's just out of college" -- Alan Faneca's infamous description -- to royalty in Pittsburgh in the past three months. He's 12-0, a Pro Bowl alternate, Dapper Dan Man of the Year, a David Letterman guest, Big Ben, with sandwiches and untold babies named after him. He hasn't lost in the past 25 games, going back to his days at Miami (Ohio), as a starter. He did taste losing Sept. 19 when he replaced injured Tommy Maddox early in the third quarter and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 30-13 Ravens victory.
It is the only Steelers loss in a 13-1 season. One more victory, either today or next Sunday in Buffalo, would earn the Steelers a bye in the first round of the playoffs, setting the stage for two victories at home to reach the Super Bowl in Jacksonville.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
And thanks Miami U. of Ohio!
Reverend White dead? That's a shocker! RIP Reggie.
Two minutes to go in the game and the Steelers are up by 13 and have the ball. Looks like my premonition was correct - should have called Vegas!!!!
Houston is shutting out the Jags...... maybe the Ravens can get away with losing this one.
You know what I'm going to say to you .......... you got the "13" right. ;-)
******'The Bus' rolls again and things are o.k. Ben just has a little 'tickle' in a rib or two. He'll be fine (most likely).
Just another day at the office as the Steelers and the Ravens were laying the lumber on each other at very chilly Heinz Field. 20 -- 7
Go Steelers.
The Brown's have the best fan base? You obviously missed all the Steeler's road games this year that looked more like home games. Nobody travels better than the Steeler fan base.
Suggs should retire before he has to face the Steelers again.
I don't know, it really didn't look real late to me, but the end of the play, the part where Suggs landed on Ben, that part was off screen and NEVER shown on CBS.
Ben just landed a little funny, but Suggs was said to have crushed him into the ground with all of his weight. We'll see how Ben is, he's going to be interviewed here in Pittsburgh in a few minutes. It's ribs, they can hurt a lot, but he'll be alright..... I believe.
If worse comes to worse in the playoffs they could give him a little needle in the area. I'm pretty sure it's quite legal and not harmful to Ben. I'll let you know what Ben says if he speaks here soon.
Nah, stick a fork in them their done. I'm a big Ravens fan but like all Ravens fans we get tired of the none existent offense. We need two top rate receivers and two big bodies on the defensive line like when we had Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams allowing Lewis to roam free. Peter Boulware was out all season too. The rest of the defense is fine. Kyle Boller is improving but he still hasn't matured to a playoff caliber QB. As for Pittsburgh, well I would like to believe it was pure luck getting Burger Boy but as Ravens fans well know draft picks get you where you're going in the salary cap league and the Raven are the best at it. Pittsburgh can be beaten by a good pass offense. I would still draft another QB if he was a top caliber pick next year because this may be the best Boller gets. Congrats to the hated Steelers but just do us a favor and make sure Indy doesn't get to the Super bowl!
More maybe later.
I still think Ben will be fine, but a (possible) ruptured spleen is nothing to ignore.
I'm sure he'll be okay. Tommy needs to play against Buffalo to be ready in case he is needed during the playoffs. That will give Ben three weeks to heal up. Buffalo has had an amazing season on its own. Whodathunk the ex-Steelers they have up there would be making a run for it their first year?
we'll know a lot more by tommorrow on Ben, I just don't like to hear the word spleen mentioned.
I did a Gooogle search -- "Rupture of the capsule of the spleen, an organ in the upper left part of the abdomen, is a potential catastrophe that requires immediate medical and surgical attention. Splenic rupture permits large amounts of blood to leak into the abdominal cavity which is severely painful and life-threatening. Shock and, ultimately, death can result. Patients typically require an urgent operation. Rupture of a normal spleen can be caused by trauma, for example, in an accident."
I hope he hasn't had a rupture. I doubt it. Keep your fingers crossed.
A ruptured spleen could be bad for a week or two...exactly how much time Ben has. God help him, he might need healing.
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I have always maintained that Bradshaw was a good QB who played on a great team. His career stats by themselves are OK, but nothing to shout about. Of course, I could be prejudiced, since the Steelers beat up on the Browns so much in the '70s and '80s. :-)
I was at the game in '76 when Turkey Joe Jones planted TB headfirst in the turf. Sitting in the closed part of the endzone behind the 3B dugout at the old stadium, just above the Steeler section. I have never experienced more craziness at a sporting event than that day.
The NFL missed several good MAC QB's before they finally caught on.
Go Bills!
I think we have three weeks before the first game. Yoi, double yoi.
Hey, I'll tell you one "funny" thing I'm finding out after this game. I've heard about six different sportcasters on these Pittsburgh call-in shows. They are arrogant and smart-*ss with the callers more than ever. They seem to think that this Steeler success has something to do with them. I'm beginning to hate a few of these pompous athlete wannabe *ssholes, Myron Cope NOT one of them! Myron is GREAT!
One guy called in with a very interesting possible way to assess that 15 yard personal foul penalty on Ben (that was the last play of the scoring drive).
As the rule is now, the 15 yards is assessed on the next kickoff. So the team kicking gets to move the ball up 15 yards, generally resulting in a kick into the endzone (a touchback) and the ball automatically brought out to the 20. This caller had a great idea, I thought. He thought that wasn't much of a penalty to the team penalized. He suggested to the sportsdweeb that the kicking team kick from the same place as usual, but take 15 yards off where the kickoff was returned. I sort of like that. Yet this spastic, arrogant pussified sports reporter put him down, laughed at him, joked that he should get out more, quit thinking so much, etc.
I swear, these jock-sniffers are most always a group of pencil-necked dweebs. The one on KDKA-TV directly after the game is the most arrogant and pompous, he could use a knuckle sandwich or two.
He got the "13" right.
It certainly has gone for Buffalo today.
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