Roethlisberger

So, we all remember the 2004 Draft when everyone was fighting about Manning vs. Rivers and Manning would NOT play for San Diego and they had to make a trade, etc...

Think these teams would do it differently now? Just forget about both of them and take Roethlisberger? Not that either the Chargers or Giants are terrible teams by any stretch, but honestly, Ben Roethlisberger (to me) is just a step above. I've seen him sort of disappear in regular season games, but he has not had the inconsistency the others have shown so far.

Oh, and he now has two Super Bowl wins.

Granted, they're all really young and may just be reaching the prime years of their careers. Manning has a Super Bowl himself, in fact, and got it by beating what some thought was the best football team ever.

But looking at their careers right now, moving forward, which one would you want? I'd take the guy with two Super Bowl wins. I'd take the guy who put his shoulder down ran over the defensive lineman on his way to a TD (even if it was later over-ruled). I'll take the guy who threw that pass in the 4th Quarter last night to win the game, even after Kurt Warner, a phenomenal QB himself, had led his team all the way back to take the lead.

You have to think you might be seeing one of the best QBs to play this game. He's a perfect fit for his team, just as perfect as Montana was for the 49ers and Brady is for the Patriots, and that will usually lead to success. He already has two Championships and plays on a great team with a pretty good young head coach.

Going back to 1982 (Montana's first Championship), Roethlisberger is now in a list of 5 QBs with multiple wins. Here are the numbers:

Montana (4)
Aikman (3)
Brady (3)
Elway (2)
Roethlisberger (2)
Dilfer (1)
Favre (1)
Hostetler (1)
B. Johnson (1)
E. Manning (1)
P. Manning (1)
McMahon (1)
Plunkett (1)
Rypien (1)
Simms (1)
Theismann (1)
Warner (1)
D. Williams (1)
Young (1)

Some of the guys on this list, and many who are playing and haven't made it here yet, will have a lot to say about how high Roethlisberger climbs. But I think he's in a great position.

What will everyone do if the Steelers repeat next year? Would we still think so highly of the Patriots? Would people still use the word "dynasty"? You can't have two "dynasties" in one sport in one decade, can you? This will be interesting. You know the Patriots want to secure their status as the best team of this decade, but now that's in jeopardy...

Right?