November 6, 2008

What To Do About Benjamin...

Image mostly for entertainment purposes...mostly.
Ok, yes, Tec wrote about this yesterday. But I didn't. And I wanted to give it some thought over here on this corner of the world wide interwebs as well.

So here's the latest on Big Ben's little shoulder problem - An MRI revealed that Big Ben's shoulder sitch "is very similar [to his previous one], but it is not the same as it has been." Alright, well that sounds nice. But what if there was plenty of damage to begin with? I mean, Ben has been taking a pretty royal ass beating. Something like 26 times he's already been sacked? And he did under throw our receivers at least a few times in the 1st half of Monday's game. Maybe it was more injured than he and anybody else thought?

I don't really know the answer. Only one man does. And we know that man is awfully courageous, having already played through injuries ably many times in his relatively young career. But I'm just throwing it out there.

In any case, to facilitate a proper discussion of this topic, I've put together 5 reasons why Ben should play and 5 reasons why Ben should sit. Feel free to give them a look and let us all know what you think in the comments. Savvy?

Reasons Why Ben Should Play
1. He actually knows the Offense...as much as anyone can know a Bruce Arians schema.
2. The Colts Defense...it's not really that good.
3. We don't want him to start thinking he can get away with being injured.
4. You just don't mess with a man's flow, his rhythm. Nahmeen?
5. Well, he did get hit by a car, and had his appendix removed before the 2006 season...and still played 15 of the 16 games.

Reasons Why Ben Should Sit
1. A QB's throwing shoulder tends to be pretty important.
2. He may just need to slow it down a little bit and watch Byron Leftwich work.
3. I hear Sansmokio's got an herbal remedy for that shoulder. And Cheetos.
4. Heath Miller's going to need a friend.
5. If he's going to miss a game, I'd rather it sooner than later, when we'll really need him.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Benny Boy says he promises "to do better."

The question is, on which side of the fence do you fall?

...that's what she said.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I tend to straddle the fence

and THAT is what she said

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why Tomlin would allow him to play. It wouldn't kill him to take one week off...but one more poor showing by the O line , and he just might be killed.

The Colts stink this year...Lefty can get it done, and our defense is going to kick Mannings ass anyways.

Seriously, why not sit Ben? (I know you gave 5 reasons why, but I think they suck.). No offense, of course. :)

It's one of those mysteries to ponder....kinda like "How the hell did the Browns beat the Giants?".

tiny350Z said...

I'm going with the notion that Ben should sit for this week. Your #2 reason why he should play could also be a reason why he shouldn't play:
The Redskins defense wasn't known to be so great at the pass rush, yet Ben was still sacked 4 times. My point being that even with a mediocre pass rush, he still runs the risk of further aggravating the injury.
We are currently second in the Conference with Baltimore (?!), Buffalo, NYJ, and NE very close behind. While I don't think that any game is a worthwhile game to possibly lose, it seems like we are in a decent position with our backup quarterback (seeing the failures of this situation elsewhere around the league).
So after this long-winded post... I'm ok with starting Leftwich. Ben needs rest. OR, we just run FWP and Moore more. heh. Establish that running game that we are supposed to be known for.

Anonymous said...

Tomlin will play Ben, but I think he needs to sit this week and watch the game. See how Leftwich gets rid of the ball...one can always learn new things even if you are a starting QB.

I like that he keeps plays alive, but you can't try to do that with the trash that we have blocking...I'm talking to YOU Colon & Kemoeatu!

tecmo said...

For the record...my post yesterday wasn't entirely "SIT BEN BECUASE HE STINKS RIGHT NOW! QB CONTROVERSY LOLOL WTF ROFL"

It was to mirror Tomlin's quote that Byron does get rid of the ball quicker and makes accurate decisions. I hope Tomlin was using that quote as a motivational means for Ben. So similarly, my post was to motivate Tomlin/Ben that the fans can see when things aren't working.

If Ben starts, I'm completely cool with that. Don't think for a minute that I'd rather watch Byron at the helm.

But I do think that Byron could play just as well as Ben against Indy given the circumstances of this season. If Ben takes the week to rest and watch how a backup rolls away from pressure and has enough time to throw the ball with the same shitty O Line...then bonus!

Cotter said...

sheena ~ Yes, well if by fence you mean...ah, nevermind. +1!

christy ~ The more you think about 'em, the more sense they make (well, some I guess). Sometimes my "jokes" are just me presenting valid arguments in a way that I think is more entertaining.

tiny350z ~ Right, and you might have seen my comment on Tec's post yesterday - the problem isn't just that our line blows. Like you said, it's also that we're no longer committed to running the ball. It seems like that's become auxiliary to throwing the ball down the field. With a line that ain't exactly built for pass blocking, that can be risky. Still, I'm much more confident with Ben on the field than Byron, notwithstanding his great performance on Monday.

matt ~ Yeah, that he certainly can. The question is, how has he not realized these things we'd like him to learn already?

tec ~ Did I say that's what it was about? I didn't mean to imply that. I was just saying that you wrote about the topic.

tecmo said...

Nah, I wasn't saying you were. I've had a couple emails, and some guy posted a link to my story on FanIQ, saying that Steelers fans want Ben benched for the wrong reasons. Just clarifying my post

Cotter said...

Gotcha. Amateurs, dude.

domski43 said...

okay ben has been sacked 26 or so times so far this season (those are official sacks) how many times did he fall forward for one yard, which dont count as sacks?

sucks!

as sunday gets closer I'm not as comfortable w/ leftwich starting. He played well for one half, thats it. Also, the way Tomlin is talking its going to take the offseason rest for ben to heal completely. I want ben to start, hes going to have to get use to playing with pain for the rest of the season anyhow.

Arians just needs to scale back the offense and hand the ball off more. Allow the run to set up the pass, so Ben can get back to what he use to be so good at doing = play action passing and rolling outside the pocket.

Anonymous said...

EPIC FAIL: when your offensive line allows four Broncos on the sack. FOUR.