Quote:
Originally posted by 94SupraTT@Nov 15th '05 @ 11:24 am
Put Eli on a team with the #1 defense and that runs the ball 60% of the time and see how he does. The Steelers could not have made it any easier on Ben. Now thats not to say he hasn't played well because he has its just that the running game and D carried him last year much like Orton has been carried this year.
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he pulled their asses out of the fire plenty of times too. Its a two way street. The defense and running game benefitted from Ben a hell of a lot too. His presence meant teams couldn't stack the box, and even if they did they'd get burned. He kept the offense on the field longer, this meant the defense wasn't out there as much getting exposed like they have at times this season without him. He changes the team more ways than just racking up stats. This is the way a lot of our "stars" on offense work. They don't pile on the numbers per se but their presence makes a definite difference. See: Dan Kreider, Hines Ward, and Alan Faneca. And yeah, I know Hines has put up some decent numbers but he's still considered by most as a 2nd tier receiver underneath Harrison, Owens and Moss.
And Eli's got Shockey, Barber, Toomer, Burress and a rebuilt O line. That's not a bad crew to have at your disposal.