02-23-2023, 07:11 PM
(02-23-2023, 07:46 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: That actually brought a question to my mind. Is Burger a HoF QB without AB?
Granted I still don't think he really is one now as he was never the best QB in his time, and he was arguably not even top-5 of his era. He'll probably get in because Steelers seem to have reduced criteria to make it in and they seem to think any QB with a ring or two is going in, but think about this...
Before AB's truly broke out in 2013, his average season passing for the first 9 years of his career was...
3,316 passing yards
21 TDs
12 INTs
He went to 2 Pro Bowls
2013-2018, the 6 years where AB was arugably the best WR in football his average was...
4,392 passing yards
29 TDs
14 INTs
He went to 4 Pro Bowls
I think an AB-less Ben is below Eli Manning in the HoF pecking order of that era.
Tbh, both sets of stats are pretty standard issue for any decent QB in this era. He never did anything special. He rode LeBeau's defense and a great run game to 2 quick rings, then coasted the rest of his career on that reputation.
The team increasingly relied more on his arm to win games, but over the last decade, he didn't deliver much in the playoffs.
From 2011 to 2021, Ben was 3-7 in the playoffs, losing games to Tim Tebow, Joe Flacco, the shell of Peyton Manning, Blake Bortles and Baker Mayfield. We all know he should've lost to AJ Macaroni as well.
And this is when they actually MADE the playoffs, which they missed out 4 times in that span.
Imo, Ben would be Carson Palmer and Tomlin would be viewed like Marvin Lewis if they both hadn't inherited Chin's team.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
