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T-Fo's Las Vegas-style Show won the Throwdown.

TurboLegend

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Carson Palmer vs. Ben Roethlisberger Challenge

T-Fo's Las Vegas-style Show said 07/01, 12:22 PM
After refining his previous comments Scpalo now says he only thinks Palmer is better than Ben. Fair enough. I'll take that battle as well. If I'm putting together an NFL franchise today, I'm taking Big Ben over Palmer. He's bigger, better, and more versatile as well as a proven winner.

I'll bring the facts to back up my statements in 2 and 3. Let's see what you've got...

TurboLegend said 07/01, 01:54 PM
Bigger??

Same height, but Big Ben gets him in weight by a few pounds, so thats not that big of a deal.

Better??

Carson Palmer has played in every game the last three seasons, while Big Ben has missed time due to injury. Palmer has passed the 4,000 yard passing mark the last 2 seasons, 2 time Pro Bowl selection, including MVP of the 2006 Pro Bowl. Palmer has more career passing yards, touchdowns, and a better completion rate.

More versatile??

Big Ben scrambles more instead of letting the plays develop.

Proven Winner???

Palmer led the Bengals to their first division title in 15 seasons, the majority of which, the Bengals were the laughing stock of the NFL.

Big Ben stepped onto a team only 2 seasons removed from the playoffs.

T-Fo's Las Vegas-style Show said 07/01, 02:23 PM
Actually, (for Porkins), when you compare offensive lines, the nod goes to the Bengals. Alan Faneca has been the Steelers only notable lineman, and as a guard, his biggest talent is as a run blocker. Palmer needs the better line anyway as he is less mobile.

Another storyline in the comments has involved the notion that the Steelers are a better team and have had a better defense than the Bengals. I agree. What I do not understand is how this has anything to do with the QB's in question. Case in point:

During the Bettis years (first half of Ben's career), it was routine for the Steelers to get a lead in the first half then shut the passing game down. Anybody who watched any games knows if the Steelers were winning in the second half, it was a steady diet (get it? Bettis? Diet?) of Bettis running the air out of the ball. This naturally takes away from Ben's overall stats.

Compare that with the Bengals, who have been only an average team at best for 3 of 4 years. With a lousy defense, Cincy HAS to throw the ball just to try and stay in the games. When you pass the ball more, you get - more passing yards.

Coming next: Ben's rushing skills, playmaking, and more.

TurboLegend said 07/01, 03:28 PM
Actually, the nod for O-line doesn't go to the Bengals. Both Alan Faneca and Jeff Hartings have been multiple Pro Bowl selections during Big Ben's time in Pittsburgh, while Cincy has only had Willie Anderson as a Pro Bowl player.

Also, Pittsburgh has not had the quality of receivers that Cincy has had over the Palmer/Big Ben years. Pittsburgh has had 1 Pro Bowl WR (Hines Ward) while Cincy has had 2 (Johnson and TJ). The lack of throwing options forces Pittsburgh to rely on their running game, which is evident by Willie Parker going over 1,200 yards rushing the last 3 seasons, while Cincy's running game suffered last season, forcing them to rely more on Palmer, thus you get - more passing yards.

However, when Rudi Johnson went over 1,400 rushing yards in back to back seasons, Palmer still put up high numbers, so having a strong running game doesn't always naturally take away from passing stats. It just proves that you have a good offense.

T-Fo's Las Vegas-style Show said 07/01, 04:32 PM
51-45, 35-27, 49-41, 45-37, 35-28, 42-29, 38-31, 38-25, 58-48. What are they? Just a few of the scores from Bengals games over the last couple of years. The Bengals HAD to throw. Oh, and of those numbers, six of them were losses.

Thanks for making a point for me regarding Cincy's WR's. Chad has put up no less than 1274 yds under Palmer. He also had years of 1166 and 1355 BEFORE Palmer - so he was great without him.

The Steelers were built as a running team before Ben got there. They had to go with their strength. Knowing what they now have at QB, they have built their arsenal of receiving weapons, using early picks on Miller, Holmes and Sweed. Now that the team is configured more as a passing offense, expect to see a lot more seasons like last year from Ben.

Fact is, their per game numbers are about the same. I'll list the numbers below, as I'm running out of room. If they are that close statistically, you have to go to intangibles. I prefer to settle the tie by going with the QB who can do more than stand in a well protected pocket and throw bombs to his world class WR's. If you want a franchise QB who can do it all, Ben's the man do do it.

TurboLegend said 07/02, 08:32 AM
A franchise QB who can do it all??

Big Ben's sole responsibility is to exist in the second between the snap and handing Willie Parker the ball. His rookie season, he managed games and let the defense and running game carry him into the playoffs. Not much has changed since then.

I don't think you'll see the Steelers become a better passing team with the receivers they've got now. If that were the case, why did they draft Rashard Mendenhall?? To give Willie Parker a break from running the ball, so that Ben can just manage the game.

Intangibles?

I'll go with the QB who comes back from a career threatning injury to only miss one snap the next season, not the QB who nearly choked out in the Super Bowl, and let his teammates and the refs carry him.

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I don't know about all that. Carson, physically, is better at QB. His defense sucks some off. But he can't control that. Scratch that. His whole organization sucks some off.

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Carson Palmer vs. Ben Roethlisberger Challenge

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