Prosthetics for an invalid idea
Cold, Hard Football Facts for December 14, 2004

It's become trendy in recent weeks, at least in Boston, to compare Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this season with Tom Brady in 2001.

"Neither was asked to do much," the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo said on NESN recently, pushing an idea with no legs across the infirmary of football ignorance.

If it weren't so sickly and pathetic, the Cold, Hard Football Facts would point and laugh each time they saw this invalid idea wheelchaired into the locker room.

The "pundits" note that both Roethlisberger '04 and Brady '01 replaced injured veteran quarterbacks and led their teams on remarkable runs. True, for sure. But the "pundits" also insist that both were "game managers" who "weren't asked to do too much" because of their inexperience. (The Cold, Hard Football Facts put the wounded idea of Brady as "game manager" out of its misery earlier this season.)

"Pundits" toss out the Brady-Roethlisberger comparison to help fill blank newspaper pages and empty airtime. But it 's obvious the idea has no legs to stand on. Roethlisberger '04 has yet to attempt more than 25 passes per game and has completed no more than 21. In his most productive game, Roethlisberger threw for 231 yards and he has crossed the 200-yard milestone just one other time. Under Roethlisberger's guidance, the Steelers have scored more than 30 points twice.

Brady took quite a different course in 2001. In his first NFL start, Brady led the Patriots on an offensive rampage in a 44-13 victory over Indianapolis. It was the team's most prolific offensive output in five years. In just his third NFL start, Brady completed 33 of 54 passes in a 29-26 win over San Diego. That's three games worth of work for Roethlisberger '04, who has attempted just 56 passes in the last three weeks.

Brady '01 passed for more than 200 yards eight times in 14 regular season starts, and the Patriots scored more than 30 points four times. New England's heavy dependence on Brady's passing efforts continued in the playoffs. In his first postseason game, Brady completed 32 of 52 passes for 312 yards in a blizzard.

The 2004 Steelers have the top-rated defense and second-best rush attack in football. They've scored 23 points per game with Roethlisberger at the helm. The 2001 Patriots had the league's 24th ranked defense and a mediocre rushing attack. They averaged 25.1 points per game with Brady at the helm.

The comparison of Roethlisberger '04 and Brady '01 rendered null and void, we found a handy prosthetic called the Cold, Hard Football Facts to give this idea something to stand on. We merely had to flip back a few pages in the New England Patriots media guide to find a quarterback more comparable to Roethlisberger '04. His name was Tony Eason. The year was 1985.

Both Eason '85 and Roethlisberger '04 benefited from top-tier defenses. Both were asked merely to play efficiently while complementing powerful running games.

In Week 13, for example, Roethlisberger '04 led his team to 17-16 win over Jacksonville by completing 14 of 17 passes for 221 yards. Last Sunday, he completed just 9 of 19 passes for 144 yards in a 17-6 win over the New York Jets.

Eason '85 posted similar numbers. In fact, the Patriots won their wildcard round playoff game that year as Eason completed 12 of 16 passes for 179 yards. In the AFC title game, Eason '85 completed 10 of 12 passes for a mere 71 yards as New England's vaunted ground game wiped out the Miami defense. In three playoff games, Eason attempted just 42 passes and was remarkably efficient with five touchdown passes with no interceptions. Brady, meanwhile, attempted 52 in his very first playoff game alone.

Among these three quarterbacks, Brady had the lowest rated defense, the most unproductive running attack and had to contribute the most to his team's offensive production. While the comparison between Roethlisberger '04 and Eason '85 is not perfect, it certainly has stronger legs than the Roethlisberger-Brady argument. That comparison is an invalid idea kept alive by the myth that Brady was a game-managing role player on New England's Super Bowl-winning 2001 offense.