NFL Live report- Smith lobbies Boldin to Car.

[Blade]

Boldin for Peppers. Straight up. Should be cheaper, too.

[Pimpdaddy]

Don't agree at all on your assessment of Jake. He makes mistakes like most quarterbacks and has poor games at times. He is coming off reconstructive surgery so I am sure he made some poor throws but not sure as to why. As for his decision-making unless you are in the huddle or know what play was called or where everyone was supposed to be you don't have a clue as to whether it was a good or bad decision. All you see is the result of the play which could be his fault, the receiver's fault, or a good play by the defense. As for keeping the defense honest, you have no idea how many times he also exploits the defense by calling audibles or changing plays.

As most fans we all have opinions based on what we beleive or see on TV. I am optimistic that he will be even better next year and think he will need to be with our likely tough schedule.

Jake can surely improve but after the offense we had this year and a chance to get better, I don't see Jake as the weak link at all.

That is no different than any quarterback. Look at Roethlesburger who won the Superbowl this year. Our offense scored more points, Jake had better statistics and Ben threw more picks. But because Ben had a better defense, they won it all. Jake had 9 games this year where he threw no picks at all.

The reality is that the facts dispute much of this innuendo. Jake is not great but he surely is a good quarterback and isn't the problem on our team. In the second half of the year it was the defense not the offense that let us down.

I guess if it was all cut and dried we wouldnt have anything to debate. This coming season i will be taping the games and will be able to go back and review them in detail, something I always wanted to do.

Obviously I hope I'm wrong but I think Jake has already had his best years, complements of Smitty.

[MadHatter]

Jake had 5x the offense around him that Ben had. He had arguably the best receiver in the league with a solid number 2. The best running back tandem and a top 5 o line. I do not think of Ben as an "elite" qb but I would bet the farm that he would've done better with our O around him.

Yes I know Jake sometimes does good calling smokes to Smitty and changing plays when necessary. I am no football genius but I also know that slinging it into double coverage after starring down one target is dumb. Those 9 games you point out are great but what about the other ones where the "Raging Cajun" showed up and molested our hopes?

Jake couldn't utilize Boldin enough for our offense to justify the money. If we had an elite top 5 QB I could see it.

If Pittsburgh had to rely on Big Ben and the offense to win games, they would not have even made the playoffs. Pittsburgh was carried during the season by one of the most dominant defenses in the past decade.

[Pimpdaddy]

If Pittsburgh had to rely on Big Ben and the offense to win games, they would not have even made the playoffs. Pittsburgh was carried during the season by one of the most dominant defenses in the past decade.

Don't bullshit yourself, Pittsburghs offense won that superbowl.....

[bleys]

If Pittsburgh had to rely on Big Ben and the offense to win games, they would not have even made the playoffs. Pittsburgh was carried during the season by one of the most dominant defenses in the past decade.

Don't bullsh*t yourself, Pittsburghs offense won that superbowl.....

The offense did have to win that game. After all, they were losing right? How in the hell does someone say the defense won, when the offense was the last on the field and the game was over if they didn't score?

lmfao..

Madhatter, did you even watch that game? Do you know how many times Big Ben missed a tackle by his movement in and outside the pocket? The man was amazing.

He's not as pretty of a QB as Brady or Manning, but Ben won that game. He should have been MVP.

And to sit here and say he wouldn't have carried that team is crazy. The defense was huge, but Ben carried that team on offense. and WON THE GAME.

:sifone:

[panthers55]

Jake had 5x the offense around him that Ben had. He had arguably the best receiver in the league with a solid number 2. The best running back tandem and a top 5 o line. I do not think of Ben as an "elite" qb but I would bet the farm that he would've done better with our O around him.

Yes I know Jake sometimes does good calling smokes to Smitty and changing plays when necessary. I am no football genius but I also know that slinging it into double coverage after starring down one target is dumb. Those 9 games you point out are great but what about the other ones where the "Raging Cajun" showed up and molested our hopes?

Jake couldn't utilize Boldin enough for our offense to justify the money. If we had an elite top 5 QB I could see it.

One thing we can surely agree on. You are definitely no football genius.

:cheers2:

[pepaw]

One thing we can surely agree on. You are definitely no football genius.

:cheers2:

Cool, if you want to get the last clever retort on a forum then go for it. But please try to point out where I'm wrong on that last post.

Madhatter, I wasn't trying to say the Steeler's offense carried them in the regular season, no way. I was just saying comparing Ben's seasons to Jake's isn't fair considering how much more loaded our offense is.

[17+89=6]

Ok I admit, Ben Roethlisberger has his moments, and he was definitely responsible for winning the Super Bowl. But he was NOT responsible for them being there. I mean his QB rating was just above 80 and he barely threw more TD's than INT's. He has the advantage of having an ungodly defense to keep him in games even when all they can muster are 10 and 11 points. I will give it to him though, he wont the Super Bowl, but he isn't what got them there.

[panthers55]

Cool, if you want to get the last clever retort on a forum then go for it. But please try to point out where I'm wrong on that last post.

Madhatter, I wasn't trying to say the Steeler's offense carried them in the regular season, no way. I was just saying comparing Ben's seasons to Jake's isn't fair considering how much more loaded our offense is.

Ben did have a good offense with a number of weapons. Personnel doesn't add up to the difference. If you had said the weather especially in December, or you had said Parker being hurt, we could have a discussion. But Ben has Holmes and Ward along with a better tight end who combined were equal to or better than Smith and Moose in ability. Still if you watched the Steelers you saw that Ben was often inconsistent and had difficulty extending drives. Fortunately for him he had a bunch of short fields and the defense limited the opposition so that it didn't take a ton of points to win a game. Three good drives a game was about all that was needed.

Jake had alot more pressure having to come back a number of times. And in the regular season he was solid if not spectacular. What made the difference this year. Ben's defense carried them and Ben got better in the playoffs, Jake got worse. A lot worse. Doesn't take away was he did in the regular season or in the past in the playoffs. Everyone thought that this was year, including me. Everything was lined up for us. But the unimaginable happened, something that hadn't ever before. And it was disasterous enough that no defense could have rescued the game. He was awful and admitted it. The offensive gameplan was weak and underscores the fact that the last playoff run we had back in 2005 was with a different coordinator who seemd better in the playoffs for us than he was in the regular season. Davidson now has the experience that hopefully he builds on next year so when we return to the playoffs we have a better plan. Maybe we don't abandon the run and develop a screen pass and a number of things to keep drives alive.

Ben and Jake had the 17th and 19th rated offenses, with similar yards but Jake did it in 100 less passes because his yards per attempt was 7.9 compared to Ben's 7.1. They had similar ratings. Say what you will but the difference was the defense. Not Jake and not differences in personnel. Jake isn't bad, and never this bad before, especially in the postseason.

Depressing none the same.

[KillerKat]

You fail to mention the offensive lines. Ben also had one of the worst offensive lines in the league and was in the top 3 of being sacked. Jake had the great o-line, great running game, great #1 WR with solid recievers behind him, yet was poo. For Ben to lead his team to a Super Bowl and win it while constantly being on his ass is far from impressive. We all saw Ben in almost every game scramble, twist, turn, and be able to find an open reciever. He did that quite a few times in the Super Bowl. That is why he is a top 5 QB while Jake is in the bottom half.

[Munkey]

Feel bad for Boldin if it happens. Going from a QB that can get him the ball to a QB that will make him work to get the ball.

[panthers55]

You fail to mention the offensive lines. Ben also had one of the worst offensive lines in the league and was in the top 3 of being sacked. Jake had the great o-line, great running game, great #1 WR with solid recievers behind him, yet was sh*t. For Ben to lead his team to a Super Bowl and win it while constantly being on his ass is far from impressive. We all saw Ben in almost every game scramble, twist, turn, and be able to find an open reciever. He did that quite a few times in the Super Bowl. That is why he is a top 5 QB while Jake is in the bottom half.

THe problem is that in order to have a true discussion you have to evaluate the situation based on facts and reality. You lose me when you say Jake was sh*t. You loses all credibilty. And your facts about ben being a top five quarteback belies the reality that under any measure Ben was not top 10 in the regular season. He was ranked 24th while Jake was 18th. Then came the playoffs and things changed. Even then statisitically he was second to Warner.

Nut ignore the facts and reality especially when they don't coincide with your prejudice against Jake.

Prejudice: opinion developed in spite of the facts.

[Munkey]

"Then came the playoffs"

The one thing everyone ALWAYS said about Jake was "It's ok Jake is money in the playoffs, where it counts."

So now that he lost that credibility......

[KillerKat]

THe problem is that in order to have a true discussion you have to evaluate the situation based on facts and reality. You lose me when you say Jake was sh*t. You loses all credibilty. And your facts about ben being a top five quarteback belies the reality that under any measure Ben was not top 10 in the regular season. He was ranked 24th while Jake was 18th. Then came the playoffs and things changed. Even then statisitically he was second to Warner.

Nut ignore the facts and reality especially when they don't coincide with your prejudice against Jake.

Prejudice: opinion developed in spite of the facts.

Well having 8 bad games equals sh*t to me especially when we were loaded on offense. And still you ignore the fact that Ben had one of the worst lines in the league when comparing the two. If prejudice means you dont want a guy on your team that costs us greatly, go ahead and call me that. I'd rather be that than blind.