In Steelers news, Pittsburgh’s near-loss to the Baltimore Ravens finally convinced whomever to give Ben Roethlisberger ‘s knee the attention that it deserves:
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Thursday morning after suffering a lateral meniscus tear against the Ravens on Monday night at Heinz Field.
The procedure, which was done by Dr. James Bradley, was to remove the damaged portion of the meniscus and clean the area. It was a short procedure, lasting only 15 minutes, and Roethlisberger was not kept in the hospital.
Sounds like a good idea to me. As scary as the proposition of losing Ben for any number of games this year might be, it simply doesn’t compare with the prospect of finding a new quarterback entirely. Enjoy your Xbox, Ben. My advice? Far Cry: Instincts.
One decision by the Steelers that I don’t so much agree with:
Charlie Batch will start on Sunday, with Tommy Maddox as the number two quarterback. Antwaan Randle El will be the team’s emergency quarterback.
I think we can all agree that Tommy has had his chance. If Batch gets hurt or has to take an urgent phone call, or whatever, why not put in Randle El? We can barely keep him from passing the ball as a receiver.
Joey
Take it from an IU fan who spent four great years watching Randle El….He’s far and away a better qb than Batch or Maddox. He’s definitely your best bet.
Far North
Think Cowher is capable of ever winning “the big one”? Not too many coaches in the NFL would have a job for 14 or 15 seasons with the same team without winning a Super Bowl. Of course, Don Shula holds the record. He went 25 seasons (’73-’97)without winning a Super Bowl before he left Miami.
J. Michael Neal
As a University of Minnesota fan, Randle El drove me batshit crazy. Second the motion, and run the single wing.
ether
OMG,
I have been on Far Cry for awhile now.
My latest recommendation: Battlefield Modern Combat.
And please tell me you are hooked up to XBOX Live, right?
cd6
its the 1-6 packers
maybe we can win without ever having to attempt a pass
ATS
Did anyone else see the ESPN piece wherein Big Ben was riding his Harley without a helmet. This was topped by Bledsoe who rode rode with his young son on his lap–both helmetless.
The only consolation for Steeler fans is that Harleys are so slow this can’t be much more dangerous than topping out a Schwinn 3 speed.
Louise
Much as I don’t want to see Maddox taking any snaps, the thought of Randle El being knocked around by the various defensive lines makes me queasy. I mean, I assume he’d be too quick for most of them, but it only takes one nasty hit…
Otto Man
Have we as a country learned nothing from the tragedy that is Gary Busey?
Joey
He took hits from Big Ten lineman for four years, a good portion of which are probably in the NFL right now, without every getting a major injury. He’s tougher than he looks, especially for a relatively small guy. But I don’t blame ya for worrying. I wouldn’t (and don’t, as I still fervently root for him) want him to get hurt either.
SeesThroughIt
I’m quite heavily biased, of course, but I think he is. Neil O’Donnell–who I thought was a solid QB, despite all the crap–gave away that one SB. And Kordell played the Stillers right out of the SB in a couple playoff games. I guess the blame falls on the coach in some regard, but Cowher isn’t the one who threw the picks, and I don’t recall any egregious coaching errors he made.
Far North
I think in the AFC this is the Indy’s year. My prediction is that Cowher’s team will host a playoff game and win it, but loose to Indy on the road in the conference finals.
Once again, Cowher will be good but not great. Or to put it another way, Pittsburg will be good but not great.
And let’s face it. The football Gods may never allow the Steelers another Super Bowl win. After Franco Harris illegally caught the ball on the immaculate deception (1972 Raider vs Pittburg), the officials asked Pittsburg stadium security to prepare to protect them from the fans as they were about to rule “illegal touch, Raider ball, game over”. Pittsburg security told “we will not protect you”. The officials conferred and ruled “touchdown”.
The Gods will never smile on Pittsburg again.
Louise
Yes, but what about Pittsburgh?
Far North
You are never allowed to correct someone else’s spelling on a blog thread.
Far North
Loise,
Just to clarify…..I can spell the name of the city the Steelers belong to. Mispelling Pittsburg is an intentional dig at the Steelers . It’s like calling the city that the Chefs are from Kansas Shitty. Just like I mispelled your name.
You shood never point out gramar and speling errers in a blog thred unles the misstake results in message incoherency. It’s an unwrote blog rool.
Vlad
Randle El’s arm isn’t accurate enough to work as a QB in the NFL, save for the occasional trick play. Too bad, because it’d be fun to see.
gogozilla
And here I thought Madden was the only one who still hasn’t gotten over that 30+ year old game.
Regardless, the laws of physics would seem to bolster the Steelers.