In Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on a late Sunday evening in the yellow Steeler bowl Baker Mayfield is in victory formation finishing off a 48-37 win in a crazy game that was not very close but still very entertaining. On the Steelers side line Ben Roethlisberger is sitting on a bench alone in silence with his eyes red and weary. Ben has the look of a man who is taking in the moment, being brought to his emotions with the reality of closure. This may be the final time Big Ben ever plays in a football game. The final time Ben straps on the number 7 in black tops with the yellow pants. If so what an impressive career it’s been.
Roethlisberger’s career began in 2004 when he was drafted 11th by the Steelers out of the university of Miami (not Florida, Ohio they also have a Miami university, true story). In the second game of the season Roethlisberger would replace an ineffective Tommy Maddox (XFL Tommy Maddox same dude I spoke of on my top 12 last week!). The Steelers would proceed to go on an unprecedented run. The Steelers would go 13-0 in Big Ben’s first 13 starts on the way to a 15-1 season. The Steelers would lose to the eventually Champion Patriots in the AFC Championship game. The loss was tough to swallow as Ben threw a bad pick six in the game but the Steelers knew after their improbable run they had their guy.
The following season the Steelers would get hot down the stretch to sneak into the playoffs winning their last four games of the regular season. The Steelers would go on a run as a six seed winning in Cincinnati in the wildcard game. The most memorable play of that game came on the first play when Carson Palmer tore his ACL (Carson Palmer had one of the most sneaky good and unlucky careers in history of any QB). In the following round the Steelers would win in a bizarre game in Indy when Jerome Bettis would fumble the ball at the Colts one going in to seal what was a 21-18 lead at the time with under 2 minutes to play. Colts cornerback Nick Harper picked up the ball and was running for looked to be one of the biggest game changing plays in history of the playoffs. Big Ben would somehow make a shoestring tackle on Harper near midfield to keep him from taking it to the house. Mike Vanderjagt would miss a game tying 47 yarder about 47 yards right as the Steelers would survive. The Steelers would cap off unprecedented run with a 21-10 super bowl win over the Seahawks with the games most memorable pass being from Antoine Randle El not Roethlisberger. The Steelers would win another super bowl three years later in which this game the Steelers would need Roethlisberger to come up big late. Ben would deliver on a 78 yard game winning drive with the winning throw being a 7 yard TD pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left. The 27-23 win over the Cardinals would be Big Ben’s second championship in his first five years in the league. The Steelers would make it back to the big one two years later but fall short in a 31-25 thriller in a game that Roethlisberger would be outdueled by an up and coming gunslinger, some guy who goes by the name of Aaron Rodgers.
After the 2010 season the Steelers appeared they could be a dynasty for years to come. But then years of disappointing losses would follow. First in an honorable mention for the best wildcard games the Steelers would get upset by Tim Tebow (remember Tebow Mania!!!) and the Broncos in a game the Steelers were favored by 10.5. A couple of rebuilding years in 2012-2013 would follow as the Steelers retooled their roster. Then a return to the playoffs in 2014 ended abruptly with an upset loss to the Ravens. Then losses to the Broncos and Patriots in the ensuing seasons followed by a devastating upset loss to Blake Bortles and the Jags 45-42 in 2017 in a game that Roethlisberger was brilliant but their defense was not (they allowed 45 points to Blake Bortles!!). Then we arrive at the loss last night to the Browns in a game that was over 13 minutes into it. Roethlisberger maybe had the craziest stat line you’ll ever see 47 completions (an all time record) on 68 attempts, 4 td’s 4 int’s (the first two of the back breaking variety leading to this game being over before it began).
Maybe it was a fitting end for Roethlisberger for a career that started so promising in the first chapter and had some great seasons but was mostly remembered for playoff disappointments in the second chapter. Roethlisberger is a no doubt hall of famer with a record of 156-74-1 and 60,348 yards 396 touchdowns 201 picks and a passer rating of 94. A great career and arguably the most accomplished quarterback in Steelers history (Terry Bradshaw may say hold my beer or actually just leave the room because there is no debate here!). But in conclusion a career that left some Steelers fans wanting more.
Meanwhile the previous day in Buffalo the Colts would run out of time on a maddening 27-24 loss to the Bills in a game that Colts fans are still wondering how they lost. Phillip Rivers was 27-46 for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns and the Colts had 472 yards of total offense and still lost. Two big plays changed the game. The first was the Bills stopping the Colts on downs at their 4 and responding by going 96 yards and scoring a touchdown to take the lead 14-10 at half. Rodrigo Blankenship missing a 33 yard field goal off the right goalpost, these two blown opportunities was what the Bills needed to come away with a narrow victory. Phillip Rivers only signed a one year deal with the Colts and many believe this is the end of the rope for the Gunslinger from North Carolina State as the Colts will very likely go in a different direction behind center for the 2021 season.
Phillip Rivers was drafted 4th overall by the Giants in 2004 then immediately traded to the Chargers for Eli Manning (who refused to play in San Diego, the only person in the history of mankind to not want to live in San Diego). Rivers would sit for his first two seasons behind Drew Brees (who we will get to later in this piece) then would take over for Brees when Brees would leave for the Saints in free agency after the 2005 season. Phillip Rivers would immediately make an impact for the Chargers who would go 14-2 in Phil’s first season behind center. The Chargers would lose a devastating game in the divisional round to Tom Brady’s Pats with the big play of the game being a fumbled interception by Marlon McCree. This would give the Pats a second chance in which Tom Brady (he is the goat) would take advantage of and eventually come away with a 24-21 road win. The following season would end with another loss to the Pats in a game that Phil played with a torn ACL (and you thought Ben was tough!!!) then a loss to Roethlisberger’s Steelers in the 08 divisional playoffs.
2009 would be arguably Phil’s best chance to go all the way. The Chargers would go 13-3 and host rookie Mark Sanchez and the Jets in the divisional playoffs. Nate Kaeding a career 87 percent kicker would miss three field goals in a game that the Bolts would lose 17-14. Rivers was underwhelming in this game himself throwing two killer interceptions. After the 2009 season the Chargers would be mired with disappointing after disappointing seasons. 2010 the Chargers would go 9-7 in a season they had the 1 offense and defense yet missed the playoffs. This was due to putrid special teams and a propensity to somehow lose close game after close game. The Chargers would only make it back to the postseason twice in the 2010s with the Chiefs and Broncos dominating the division each with 5 year runs on each end of the decade, the Chargers would win in the wildcard round and lose in the second round in both appearances. Rivers would go to Indy for the 2020 season with the Chargers deciding to start a new drafting Justin Herbert in the first round. The Colts would make the playoffs with an 11-5 record but miss out on their division because of a blown 17 point lead in the second half to Roethlisberger’s Steelers in Week 16.
Phillip Rivers career will be one that will be studied for generations by nerds like myself. Phillip Rivers has a hall of fame resume that rivals Roethlisberger at least in terms of statistics. Rivers had more touchdowns than Roethlisberger (421), more yards (63,440) and a higher passer rating (95.2) as well as being the iron man of football never missing a start in his entire career as a starter. But Rivers may never make the hall of fame in which Roethlisberger is almost a shoe in because he never even made it to a Super Bowl and only made it to one championship game (the aforementioned game in New England in which Phil tore his ACL).
We shift back to Sunday in New Orleans where the Saints beat the Bears 21-9 in a game that was commentated by Sponge Bob. Drew Brees was very efficient going 28-39 for 285 yards and 2 touchdowns. Drew Brees is almost a guarantee to retire after the season as he has a grandfathered deal to join the national broadcast network with the bird logo as a commentator after the season.
Brees was drafted in the second round in 2001 out of Purdue. The only reason why Brees wasn’t a first round pick was because at that time teams were hesitant to draft quarterbacks early at Brees height of 6 feet. Brees would win the starting job in his second season and retain the job for four years. The Chargers would only make the playoffs in 2004 but Brees stats were impressive overall. Brees best year as a Charger was in 2004 with a passer rating of 104.8 and 27-7 td to int ratio. Brees would break his collarbone in the final game of the 2005 season which would put his status as a future starter up in the air.
The Chargers had a starter in waiting in Phillip Rivers so even a fully healthy Brees it was almost a certainty that the Chargers would be moving on from the Boilermaker. Brees would go in for a physical with the Dolphins in the offseason but would fail the physical which would again put Brees back on the market. Brees would eventually sign with the Saints and as the story goes the rest is history. Brees would ignite a franchise that was a laughing stock for their first 40 years of existence for a 15 year excellent partnership with head coach Sean Payton. The Saints would immediately get to the NFC Championship in his first year in the Big Easy. Three years later the Saints would win their first super bowl, a 31-17 victory in which the play of the game was a Tracy Porter pick six of Peyton Manning but Brees was brilliant in nonetheless and won Super Bowl MVP honors.
The 2010s ended up being a disappointing decade for Drew Brees and the Saints in terms of getting to the big game as it was for Rivers and Roethlisberger. The Saints would lose to the 7-9 Seahawks in 2010 in a game that Marshawn Lynch created an earthquake. The Saints would lose in 2011 in a game in which the Saints couldn’t stop Alex Smith twice late (in those games the Saints scored 36 and 32 respectively). Then Brees would lose Sean Peyton for a season after bountygate (kind of against the rules to put out bountys to injure players on the opposing team). Then the Saints would have a three year run of missing the playoffs from 2014-2016 when their defense was reprehensible beyond comprehension. In the late 2010s was a three year run of playoff losses that is hard to put in words but I’m going to try.
In 2017 in Minnesota the Saints were up 24-23 over the Vikings with 10 seconds left and the Vikings at their own 39 with no timeouts. Case Kennum (yes the currently on his fifth teams in five seasons Case Keenum) throws a pass to Stefon Diggs 25 yards down the right sideline. Inexplicably two Saints defenders collide with each other and Diggs would have nothing but green turf between him and the endzone to vault the Vikings to a miraculous 29-24 victory. The following season the Saints were hosed against the Rams on a phantom no call pass interference (or illegal hit to the head whatever you would like to call it) on a high early hit by cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on wide receiver TommyLee Lewis on wheel route. These events would give the Rams a chance to get the ball back down three and they would go down and kick a field goal to force ot. The Saints still had a chance to win it in ot but John Johnson picked off Brees and the Rams would kick a field goal to win it on the following drive in a 26-23 thriller. The following season the Saints would lose in overtime again to the Vikings in a game that Kirk Cousins would ask the world for a second time if we liked that!!
Drew Brees is a slam dunk first ballot hall of famer with stats that will go down as some of the best of our time. Brees has thrown for 80,358 yards (or 45.65 miles) for 571 touchdowns and a passer rating of 98.7. Drew Brees will be in the top ten in all of these stats for the vast majority of most of our lifetimes and has continued to prove all his doubters wrong ever since he was in high school in Austin Texas.
With Brees, Roethlisberger and Rivers great careers very likely coming to a close the beginning of this new decade it is the perfect to to introduce the changing of the guard for the faces of football. We still have Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady and both (maybe in Rodgers case for another half decade) are still to be around for at least next season. We have Russell Wilson which is a hybrid of the two generations (coming into the league in 2012). But after the signal callers in the two bays hang them up it will only be the new crop of great quarterbacks we look to for greatness on Sunday.
Led by Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray and starting next season Trevor Lawrence it is officially the new age of great quarterbacks. The theme of the new age is the do it all quarterbacks. All of these quarterbacks are dual threats and can beat you with their legs as well as their arm. I’m sure opposing fans have thrown their remote at the television at nauseum watching Patrick Mahomes run for a first down on third and 8. Anyone who saw Lamar Jackson’s 48 yard touchdown run yesterday saw their jaws dropped to the ground as his ability to make jaw dropping plays with his legs are like nothing we have ever seen before (Michael Vick may say hold my beer). Us as football fans are still getting used to the quarterbacks often being the best athlete on the field. This is a trend that will continue with the dual threat quarterback being the new lethal weapon for offensive coordinators.
With the changing of the guard here and continuing I will enjoy this postseason for what it is. Let’s enjoy Tom and Aarons last couple postseasons runs. Let’s enjoy Drew Brees last ride and certainly let’s enjoy the Bucs Saints this upcoming Sunday. Because the old pocket gunslinger much like the contact hitter in baseball may be fading into the desert sunset like the sun at dusk, we may never know when the gunslinger will dawn again.