Monday Evening Quarterback - February 2, 2009

Still Clutch

I cried after Super Bowl XL.

It had been a long wait since the Steelers last won a Super Bowl, with a series of severe disappointments that seemed to build upon each other in between. Alfred Pupunu. Larry Brown. Terrell Davis. Troy Brown. Rodney Harrison.

In 2005, the loveable loser Bill Cowher finally got his ring. Jerome Bettis got his ring. It was stirring drama that felt like the closing act of a play, complete with curtain calls. And sure enough, it was.

Bettis retired on the podium, Bill Cowher retired after the next season and a host of players who helped the team win their 5th championship left, in one way or another.

We said hello to a 5th Super Bowl and goodbye to a coach and a team that a host of us literally grew up with. It was a much-needed exhale after 14 years of high expectations that went unfulfilled.

After Super Bowl XLIII, I didn't shed a single tear.

Why?

Because this is just the beginning. And it starts with the two guys who are now tied at the hip, Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger. The youngest coach ever to win a Super Bowl and the youngest quarterback ever to win the Super Bowl.

Shortly after being hired, Tomlin and Roethlisberger went out to dinner together to get to know each other and started building a relationship. That was two short years ago, folks. Now, they're tied together by history: a coach and a quarterback who aren't hung up on style points and statistics. A coach and a quarterback who would prefer to be insular instead of over-exposed. A coach and a quarterback who have one goal - winning. Last night, they stood together on the podium for all their peers to see. As champions.

It was obvious from Tomlin's demeanor after the Super Bowl that he wasn't even close to being done working. He was just getting started, taking his first big step into a hopefully long and successful career. I mean, the guy didn't even touch the Lombardi Trophy, like he didn't want to jinx the next one. I've never seen a head coach (not even Chuck Noll) be more reserved and reverent after winning the big one.
I can imagine Tomlin handing out Super Bowl grades for each player and notes for improvement on the plane ride home, the message being similar to the one he gave John Lynch upon being hired by the Bucs: I know you're good (championship good), but I believe you can get better.

Tomlin brings so many things to this team. Intelligence. A Pittsburgh-style work ethic. Top-tier communication skills. Impeccable feel for his players. But more than anything, he's got the will of an assassin, and his team has adopted that mentality. From the way they hit to the way they hold leads to the way they come back to win games, the Steelers of this season were more driven and determined than any team from the Cowher era, and that's saying something.

Tomlin took the two things we thought would be impossible to improve upon after the Cowher regime - motivation and team chemistry - and took them both up a notch. The 2008 Steelers were truly a band of brothers, and so many of them made huge plays throughout the season, even guys who didn't start like Mewelde Moore, Nate Washington and Lawrence Timmons. This team had enviable depth going into the season, depth that was tested by an early run of injuries. However, having depth and getting contributions from that depth are two different things.

Even the worst area of the team, the offensive line, responded to challenges. For all the hits the line took and allowed this year, the fact remains that a Super Bowl was won with a 3rd rounder, two sixth rounders, an undrafted free agent and a 4th rounder as the line starters from left to right. Denver had some "value" lines, but they always had high draft picks or costly free agents at tackle. The Patriots had a "value" line, but not completely - Woody, Mankins and Light were all high draft picks. Say what you want about the patchwork OL being used correctly - that it functioned at all was miraculous in itself, and I think it had less to do with the coaching of Larry Zierlein and more to do with the energy and confidence that Mike Tomlin (with Ben's help) built into them.

Tomlin asserted himself last year, and rubbed a few players and observers the wrong way while imposing discipline and accountability on a squad that had grown complacent. He practically admits to working them too hard last year, from camp to the last few injury-plagued weeks. But as the year wore on last season, more and more guys bought into what he was selling, especially on defense. The full conversion to the Tomlin Way is now forged in steel.

Best of all, Tomlin has an almost Socratic outlook on this game - the wisest man is he who knows he knows nothing. Tomlin is a teacher at his core. But he is also a lifelong student with football curiosity. I trust Tomlin not to wait around for the arrival of his own evolution as a coach, I expect him to seek it actively.

Tomlin also deserves credit for instilling super-human confidence in his brightest charge - Ben Roethlisberger.

The pock mark on the man's resume had been his "poor" performance in Super Bowl XL. All week, he mentioned that game and how bad he felt about it. Never mind that the kid was 23 years old at the time. Never mind that supposed genius Ken Whisenhunt showed no trust in his prodigious quarterback that day, allowing him to throw only two passes in the first 14 minutes of that game. Ben had something big to prove against the Cardinals, and he left no doubt, engineering quite possibly the most clutch drive in Super Bowl history.

Ben is a different kind of quarterback, and there are things you just don't do with the guy. You don't tell him to stay in the pocket when his line doesn't provide him with one. You don't tell him to make sure he throws the ball on time when no one is open. And most of all, you don't shut him down after he makes a mistake. If you show Ben some trust, he'll give you results. I believe that Bill Cowher and Ken Whisenhunt had a very adverse effect on Ben's progression as a quarterback. I believe that when you treat someone like a child, they tend to act like a child. When you treat them like a man, they act like a man. Mike Tomlin treats Ben like a man, and he's become one.

During two weeks of hoopla, the talking heads had a ton of time to fill the air. And fill the air they did. But never in those two weeks did I hear any of them discuss what would happen if the Super Bowl quarterbacks swapped offenses. Would Kurt Warner still get the ball out so quickly without Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin on his side? Would Ben hold the ball so long if he got the protection and consistent WR play that Warner benefited from?

In the end, the comparison doesn't matter. Ben has two rings. Warner has two Super Bowl losses.

Ben has done more with less than any other quarterback in the NFL, yet the critics still doubted him, and likely still do even after a stirring performance in his redemption game.

He lifted a team with a sub-par offensive line, an injured running back corps and an inconsistent receiving corps to the pinnacle of the sport. This was the equivalent of Archie Manning lifting the New Orleans Saints to greatness by himself, instead of simply being a tough, gritty quarterback whose offensive teammates were overmatched. This was the equivalent of Steve Young winning big with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, not with the elite weapons of the 49ers. Football is a team game, but all too often this season Ben seemed to be out there by himself, fighting and struggling and always coming up with just enough to earn a win.

Ben does what he does because he has to do it in order to win ballgames. It's not what you're capable of, it's what you're willing to do. Ben is capable of being a pocket passer in an offense with the offensive line and the receivers in place to make that kind of offense work, but he doesn't have those pieces like so many other "elite" QB's. So, he's willing to sell out his body and reputation time and time again in an effort to make plays. All those plays last night were made on the NFL's biggest stage, under heavy duress and with all the pressure of the team weighing on his shoulders.

Ben might not be the best quarterback ever to play football. But he might be the best football player ever to play quarterback.

THE FURIOUS FIVE

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

Take a good look - you won't be seeing the Steelers on this list until after #7 brings home #7 in Miami next year.

2. Baltimore Ravens

The big question for the Ravens this offseason is, how many linebackers can they afford to lose? They won't have much choice, as they might all be overpriced in a lean free agent market for linebackers.

3. Arizona Cardinals

They made a valiant effort. It will be a decade or more before they get back. Dansby, Warner and Boldin could all be gone next year.

4. Tennessee Titans

Raise your hand if you're glad the Steelers never had to meet up with the Titans in the playoffs. Yeah, me too. They'll meet next year in the regular season, one of the Steelers' toughest games on the schedule as things stand now. The status of Kerry Collins and Albert Haynesworth will have a huge bearing on the Titans' outlook.

5. Indianapolis Colts

Raise your hand if you're glad the Steelers never had to meet up with the Colts in the playoffs. Yeah, me too. We'll see if the Colts' winning ways continue without Tony Dungy. It's actually hard to believe that Manning will be 33 years old in a few months.

WEEKLY AWARDS

OFFENSE

Santonio Holmes

He outshone Larry Fitzgerald, which no one thought was possible. In fact, he wasn't even supposed to win his matchup against a rookie corner, let alone win MVP.

DEFENSE

James Harrison

Forget the fact that he drew three holding penalties and played the run well, he made the greatest defensive play in Super Bowl history.

SPECIAL TEAMS

This award has been cancelled.

GOAT

Ken Whisenhunt

Dance with the one who brung ya. Ken didn't do it in 2005 and almost ruined a QB, and he didn't do it in 2008 until it was too late.

QUOTABLE

"You won't hear me say 'repeat' or 'defending,' because it's brand new. This group will always be special to me. But, you know, sometime soon, that group will assume its place with others in history. And they'll be just that, history."

- Mike Tomlin

STATS, STAT

6

MAKING THE ROUNDS

1. As far as I'm concerned, Ike Taylor made one mistake on the night - drawing a personal foul penalty late in the game. He was slightly late on the long touchdown to Fitzgerald, but nowhere near as late as his help. And I thought he did a tremendous job competing for the fade to Fitzgerald, doing as well as any NFL CB would have considering the quality of the throw and the quality of the receiver. Before the fourth quarter, I might have considered Ike Taylor for MVP, simply for making life miserable for Larry Fitzgerald.

2. Thanks for the contribution this year, Darnell Stapleton, you helped to win a Super Bowl. But I can't wait to see you on the sidelines as a versatile IOL backup with starting experience next year. You made me long for Kendall Simmons with your Super Bowl performance.

3. Can the Steelers please play a Super Bowl against a team that doesn't use the quick passing game next time, simply so Troy can be Troy? Like Super Bowl XL, Troy was saddled with actual responsibilities for most of the night, and was quiet outside of a few missed tackles, though he was the extra help on Fitzgerald early on.

4. It's a shame that Lamarr Woodley's two sack performance was somewhat lost in the shuffle. He played a great game against Levi Brown, winning most of his battles with power against a big guy whose strength is his anchor, not his feet. That said, I would have flipped Harrison and Woodley far more often, allowing Woodley to use his power on Gandy and allowing Harrison to use his speed and agility against Brown.

5. If the Steelers can improve the play they get from their guards, the running game will return. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. I believe Chris Kemoeatu can improve with more experience. The Steelers have to decide if he is a long-haul piece. From there, it's a little sketchy. I believe that Kendall Simmons will be given every chance to get his job back if he's healthy. Either way, new blood needs to be brought in at guard to groom for the future.

6. I have nothing but praise for the defensive ends and their play in the base defense. However, wouldn't it be nice to have a true interior pass rusher, a guy who can play inside in the packages and not only pressure the QB, but seal the deal? We saw what a four man rush can do for a team this year, and the guys on the outside are hard to improve upon. An explosive guy to split package snaps with Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel would turn things up a notch.

7. Mike Tomlin won't talk about a repeat, but I will. The schedule is far easier than this year (the Steelers play the NFC North and the AFC West), they get Rashard Mendenhall back, they are 20 million dollars under the cap and they've got young players all over the place who have the potential to get better.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

8. The Chiefs aren't exactly chasing Todd Haley today, are they? Haley has reported that he hasn't even spoken with Chiefs' GM Scott Pioli.

9. I'm trying to decide which will be the first team to threaten the Steelers' trophy case, the 49ers or the Cowboys, and I can't really choose. I don't think either is anywhere near Super Bowl caliber as they stand, but I'm tempted to say the 49ers simply because they know they don't have a quarterback, while the Cowboys remained convinced that they do. Here's some perspective - Tony Romo will be 29 years old when the new season starts, and he doesn't have a playoff win. Yes, this is a quarterback whom many rank above Ben.

10. The Patriots are the media favorite to win Super Bowl XLIV. Pretty high expectations for a team that missed the playoffs, a team with a star quarterback who will be rehabbing until shortly before training camp. I really hope that the Pats haven't received the last of their karmic punishment. More, please!

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

The Pittsburgh Steelers.

They're the team that everyone will be gunning for, so it's an offseason where getting better is imperative. The players need to keep their noses clean and their helmets (both kinds) on. The coaches need to make squash any glimmer of complacency. And most of all, the front office needs to make wise and fruitful decisions, whether it's keeping free agents or adding talent.