yes he's 38, but is it just me or did he look like a very old 38. His arm strength seemed way down, and his mobility was at Eli level, if not worse. Sure he is a tad more agile than Eli, but I wouldn't say he's faster at all. He also seems like he could be down for the count if he gets a big hit.
I could see him holding back the Steelers this year. Sure he played well tonight at times, but that was more on their talent than his, at this point.
thoughts?
What nobody can tell about him at this point is: How high is up? What's his ceiling? Once the rust is shaken off, how much is still there? He can get by to some extent on smarts and experience and whatever he physically has left. But if he hasn't got the arm strength or the mobility, teams are going to figure that out fast and adjust their game plans accordingly.
If Eli was still the Giants QB and he played as well as Big Ben did last night (21 of 32 for 229 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INT) there would be multiple threads started about what a great game Eli had.
But everybody hates Roethlisberger (and with good reason) so Ben looked bad, had a weak arm, appeared old, slow, etc.
Fans make every excuse in the world for their own QB's failures and look for any reason to tear down the other QB.
Its good to see him out there able to play and enjoy the game.
The one thing missing from BR's game to me was the mobility. He looked like he could barely move. Now I know he's never been a scrambler in the true sense, but he had escapability and the ability to shrug off defenders. That part of his game looks completely gone.
I can see him really wearing down as the season goes.
He was very good in the second half, and I would attribute the sloppy play early to the rust.