vader29
09-05-2013, 02:06 PM
Rookie Geno Smith will start Sunday at quarterback for the New York Jets, a team that has not had much stability at the position since Ken O'Brien muddled through the 1980s with them.
Jerricho Cotchery experienced a lot of that instability when five quarterbacks started at least half the season while he played for the Jets between 2004-2010. He discovered since then how the other half lives, what it's like to play receiver on a team that has had one franchise quarterback for nearly a decade, Ben Roethlisberger.
"It's so important," Cotchery said, when asked about the difference. "It's just more stable when you have that guy. Not having that guy creates so many problems in your offense, and you're not keeping your defense off the field.
"If you don't have that guy, it really doesn't matter what receivers you have because you don't have a guy who can get it to them. It creates so many problems. When you get a quarterback like that, you're able to see the talent in the receivers, the running backs and what's up front. You're able to see what your team really looks like and what your players really look like."
The Steelers have that in Roethlisberger.
"Thank God," Cotchery said.
Their offense is without its 2012 MVP and leading receiver, Heath Miller. Their presumed starting halfback, rookie Le'Veon Bell, is hurt and won't play. Their line is relatively new and largely untested. And they lost one of the league's best deep threats at receiver, Mike Wallace, to free agency.
Yet what appears to be an otherwise bland offense has hope because of Roethlisberger.
"When you're stable at the quarterback position and you know you have one of the best players in the league playing at that spot, it's a good place to start," Miller said.
"A lot of teams would like to be in our situation."
Roethlisberger embarks on his 10th season needing 156 passing yards to hit 30,000. He passed Terry Bradshaw's team-record 27,989 in 2012 and, while 35 others have reached that milestone in the NFL, none has done it with the Steelers, a franchise that long put more value in the run than the pass.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/key-goal-for-the-steelers-assure-big-ben-is-ticking-702089/#ixzz2e2y1qvSZ
Jerricho Cotchery experienced a lot of that instability when five quarterbacks started at least half the season while he played for the Jets between 2004-2010. He discovered since then how the other half lives, what it's like to play receiver on a team that has had one franchise quarterback for nearly a decade, Ben Roethlisberger.
"It's so important," Cotchery said, when asked about the difference. "It's just more stable when you have that guy. Not having that guy creates so many problems in your offense, and you're not keeping your defense off the field.
"If you don't have that guy, it really doesn't matter what receivers you have because you don't have a guy who can get it to them. It creates so many problems. When you get a quarterback like that, you're able to see the talent in the receivers, the running backs and what's up front. You're able to see what your team really looks like and what your players really look like."
The Steelers have that in Roethlisberger.
"Thank God," Cotchery said.
Their offense is without its 2012 MVP and leading receiver, Heath Miller. Their presumed starting halfback, rookie Le'Veon Bell, is hurt and won't play. Their line is relatively new and largely untested. And they lost one of the league's best deep threats at receiver, Mike Wallace, to free agency.
Yet what appears to be an otherwise bland offense has hope because of Roethlisberger.
"When you're stable at the quarterback position and you know you have one of the best players in the league playing at that spot, it's a good place to start," Miller said.
"A lot of teams would like to be in our situation."
Roethlisberger embarks on his 10th season needing 156 passing yards to hit 30,000. He passed Terry Bradshaw's team-record 27,989 in 2012 and, while 35 others have reached that milestone in the NFL, none has done it with the Steelers, a franchise that long put more value in the run than the pass.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/key-goal-for-the-steelers-assure-big-ben-is-ticking-702089/#ixzz2e2y1qvSZ