When you come to think of it, it’s really not all that surprising that a quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger could have the kind of day he had against the Bengals this past week. Sometimes we forget that NFL quarterbacks are arguably the most talented athletes on the planet, combining pure physical ability with the mental awareness to juggle offenses and defenses in their heads and make just the right decision at precisely the right time in order to keep their team moving towards the goal line. So it’s not all that surprising; but it’s certainly somewhat surprising. Because the way I see it there are two classes of quarterbacks in the National Football League. There are those whom you watch while perched on the edge of your seat waiting for them to lead their team to victory with some brilliant field generalship or an acrobatic passing maneuver, and then there are QB’s like Roethlisberger who falls into the category of NFL quarterbacks who usually don’t have the ability to be at the top of their game in a consistent enough manner to inspire your confidence. In other words, quarterbacks whom you watch while perched on the edge of your seat waiting for them to screw up.

But this day in Ohio was one of Pittsburgh’s slightly better performances. Of course, when talking about the Steelers under Roethlisberger, their best performances actually occur when Ben gets out of the way. Pittsburgh is 32-3 in games where Roethlisberger throws fewer than 30 passes; if that’s not a revealing stat I don’t know what is. On one play however, Roethlisberger did revert back to his amateurish habit of throwing the ball into absolutely unwinnable coverage situations when he gets flustered in the pocket. That error resulted in an interception that wiped out Pittsburgh’s first drive of the second half, a drive which began at the Steelers 22 yard line and covered 64 yards, most of them earned by Steelers running back Willie Parker. Fast Willie on the day carried 22 times for 126 yards and caught a couple of passes as well. He is now the 2nd leading rusher in the league with 726 yards and he has carried the football more times than any other NFL running back this year.

Carson Palmer is an example of a quarterback whom you believe can rise to the challenge in any given game but he is one who has not lived up to that belief this year. Against Pittsburgh this week Palmer had a season’s best 74% completion percentage and his 2nd best passer rating (102.2) of the year. The problem is that Palmer threw for fewer yards against the Steelers than he has in any other game this year except for the home opener against Baltimore, a game in which the Bengals defense ruled the jungle by giving Cincinnati 21 of their 27 points from turnovers deep in Ravens territory.

The average yards per catch this week by the Bengals receiving corps was 8.9, the lowest yet this year. The shorter yardage game for Cincinnati resulted in more time consuming and thus fewer drives; Palmer had only 6 drives with which to work this week compared to 16 drives in the first game against the Ravens. Bengals wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh continued to rack up impressive numbers catching 7 passes for 81 yards and 2 touchdowns. He now has more receptions than any other receiver in the league (39) and has 9 touchdowns this season, trailing only Patriots receiver Randy Moss who has 11 TD’s.

Unfortunately TJ’s efforts did not secure a win for the Bengals who suffered from an inability to score touchdowns once they had reached the red zone, and at one fairly critical instant on their last drive of the game a fumble and turnover that I felt was an awful call by the officials. Bengals RB Kenny Watson pretty clearly had a knee down while still holding on to the football but when the ball was stripped from his hands it was ruled a fumble. Still, even if the Bengals retained possession at that point they would have had to score a touchdown, make the 2 point conversion, recover an onsides kick, get in field goal range and boot the field goal – and even that would only have tied the game. All in all you would have to say that Pittsburgh played better today and that the Steelers deserved the win.

Photo courtesy kcchiefs.com
Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson is looking for a new contract. And he’s willing to boycott training camp to get one. But rather than try to wage a losing battle in contract negotiations with this fantasy favorite, the Chiefs should consider trading LJ while his stock is so high.

I like that LJ’s agent, Alvin Keels, made it clear that greed is not why they are looking for more money:

“The point I’d like to get out is that if we were to have to hold out, it would be for the sake of good business, not being greedy. It’s not good business for a player who rushes the ball 416 times in a season, back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons, back-to-back 1,700-yard seasons, back-to-back broken Kansas City Chiefs records, it’s not good business for him to come back in and play for $1.7 million. And that’s a sensitive area because $1.7 million is a lot more than most people in Kansas City make.”

Even a premiere running back’s shelf life in the NFL is shorter than at any other position. And at 27 years old, if LJ plays for longer than five more seasons I’d be surprised. Especially considering the number of carries he had last season, a record-setting 416. I know it might sound absurd to attempt to trade a player of this (current) caliber, but in what’s expected to be a rebuilding season for the Chiefs, it might just make the most sense. NFL Europa offensive co-MVP Derrick Ross will be in camp along with Priest Holmes (remember him?), Michael Bennett, Marcus O’Keith, and Kolby Smith, so it won’t be the end of the world, especially if the trade includes another running back. I say go for it. Send him to a RB-hungry playoff contender like the Eagles, Giants or Packers and get a good return — a really good return — on one of the best running backs in the NFL.