Rivers great, but Big Ben would best serve Chargers

[polamalubeast]

By Pat Kirwan NFL.com
Senior Analyst


Of course, there are no do-overs when it comes to the NFL draft. You simply live with the picks you make, whether they work out or not. But what if teams could go back and rewrite history? This week, NFL.com will do just that by looking at each draft from 2004 to 2008 and assign do-overs based on what we know now. Today, Pat Kirwan rewrites 2004.

I remember the 2004 NFL Draft vividly. I did my show on Sirius NFL Radio from Radio City Music Hall and witnessed the introduction of what might go down as the greatest quarterback class in NFL history. Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger already have three Super Bowl championships between them, which eclipses the famed trio of 1983 -- John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino.

Those three turned out to be Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks, and only time will tell if Manning, Rivers and Roethlisberger eventually get to Canton. The biggest lesson 2004 offered was to never pass on the chance to draft a franchise quarterback, which is something several teams are still regretting seven years later.


1. San Diego Chargers
Actual pick: Eli Manning
Do-over pick: Ben Roethlisberger

Rivers has had an outstanding career and is the main reason for the Chargers' run of success. But unlike Roethlisberger, he hasn't won the big one. Bottom line: Roethlisberger has been to three Super Bowls and come up with two rings. The guy is a winner.

2. Oakland Raiders
Actual pick: Robert Gallery
Do-over pick: Philip Rivers

What didn't happen with the second pick will haunt the Raiders for a decade. Even though they still had Rich Gannon, he was 38 years old, and Oakland needed to look to the future -- which was not Marques Tuiasosopo or Kerry Collins, whom they acquired in 2004. Gannon threw 68 passes in 2004 to end his career. Can you imagine if the Raiders had selected Rivers? Maybe they would be 8-2 against the Chargers instead of 2-8.



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http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...?module=HP_cp2

[fansince'76]

I see the fantasy football nerds are out in force in the comments section under that article.

Big Ben didn't win those titles. His defense and running game did. Just look at his playoff and Super Bowl stats.

As opposed to River's postseason and SB stats, I presume. Oh, wait....

"But Rivers puts up awesome wicked stats in September and October and won me my fantasy league!"

Too bad the guy's historically sucked ass in the postseason despite being surrounded by arguably better talent than Roethlisberger.

[polamalubeast]

jjamesnaz
Big Ben has Superbowl rings because of the defense. If the Chargers picked Big Ben, the Chargers wouldn't be as good as they are and Ben would be ringless. Big Ben would also probably be in jail. He couldn't keep it in his pants in Pittsburgh. How do you think he would have handled being around So Cal girls in bikinis all year?

theezfactor
If ben had gone to the chargers the steelers still would have won the superbowl because they won it with great defense and Jerome Bettis. NOT Big Ben. The chargers would remain without a championship win. Roethlisburger is given infinitely more credit than he deserves





......

I like Rivers, but the world forgets that the Chargers had a 14-2 season in 2006 and he was LT who won the MVP in 2006 ... and he had a game of 125 rushing yards in playoff against the Patriots and more, Brady had 3 interceptions, but the Chargers lost the game!

[polamalubeast]

siggy00
Yeah poor Philip Rivers. He had one of the best RBs of all time in his prime while Ben inherited past their prime backs Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis. Then Ben had Willie Parker who was undrafted in 2005, and his WR corps were aging Hines Ward, Antwaan Randle EL, Cedrick Wilson, and undrafted Nate Washington at WR. Ben wasn't drafted by the 1970's Steelers. He was drafted by a team that missed the playoffs 4 of the previous 6 seasons before he arrived.

tg101393
Haha chargers fans trying to say Ben needs a run game to be good. Say that to Rivers who had LT in his prime to start off his career. The Steelers had a better run game and way better defense in 2001 than in 2005, yet we won the SB in 2005 and didn't even make the SB in 2001....Hmmm. Worse run game, worse defense, but a way better team. If you don't get it it's because you just aren't that smart. 1 hour ago


tg101393
phil90: The Steelers don't make the playoffs in 05 without Ben. His multiple TDs in 3 consecutive road playoff games vs the 3 top teams in the AFC wasn't bad at all, especially for a 2nd year qb. And if you looked at the last drive in SB 43 you will know Ben played a big role in that win. Ben doesn't always have great stats because he isn't a fantasy player, but he comes though in the clutch more than any qb in the league.

steeler46
actually , Pittsburg had those great offenses and defenses before Ben , so what happened, i'm tired of you haters and idiots talking about the man being overrated. Tom Brady had the most prolific offense did'nt win talk about overated, Rivers #i O and D last year , where is the ring , I could go on and on, three SB appearances in 7 years is no an accident thats just a guy whoknows how to win.

threerings
Ben has two, Eli has one, and Cry-Baby Rivers has None!!! Who made the right picks???

[fansince'76]

If ben had gone to the chargers the steelers still would have won the superbowl because they won it with great defense and Jerome Bettis. NOT Big Ben. The chargers would remain without a championship win. Roethlisburger is given infinitely more credit than he deserves

In 7 career playoff games, Rivers has a 3-4 win/loss record, has gone 134-229 (58.5%) for 1820 yards, 8 TD passes, 9 INTs, and a 79.2 QB rating, on teams that have been pretty stacked with talent.

'Nuff said. If anyone gets "infinitely more credit than they deserve," it's Rivers - mostly by a bunch of FF geeks who can't see the forest for the trees. Kinda like the one above who apparently doesn't realize that Bettis WASN'T EVEN STARTING anymore in 2005.

[siss]

No do-overs, we keep Ben!

Should have drafted the stud when you had the chance!

[X-Terminator]

Let's also not forget that Ben threw for 3200 yards in 12 games last year, or 275 gross YPG. Meaning he would have easily surpassed 4000 yards if he played a full season. He passed for only 700 yards LESS than Tom Brady did (though of course Marsha threw twice as many TD passes), the "elite of the elite" QB himself. He would have also thrown 25+ TD passes for the 2nd straight year.

But here's the only stat that really matters:

Ben 11-3 in the postseason, 2 rings
Rivers 3-4, 0 rings

Enough said. I want the guy that wins when it counts, not the guy who puts up great regular season numbers.

[Godfather]

If Rivers had gone to Oakland, they'd have ruined him and we'd be talking about him as a bust.

[The Duke]

'Nuff said. If anyone gets "infinitely more credit than they deserve," it's Rivers - mostly by a bunch of FF geeks who can't see the forest for the trees.

sadly yeah. Put Rivers and Ben in the last minutes of a game needing a score and let's see who crumbles first

But here's the only stat that really matters:

Ben 11-3 in the postseason, 2 rings
Rivers 3-4, 0 rings

Exactly. And all his losses have been pretty winnable but he just can't make it happen, and after watching him fail for so long I really doubt they ever will. Unless ryan matthews suddenly becomes the new LT, ha

Only thing Rivers has going for him is that he always beats Peyton Manning- an even bigger choker than him

[Edman]

The only thing Rivers has been good at is beating Peyton Manning, a QB with even more choke credentials than him.

Rivers took TWO high-seeded Charger teams to the playoffs and went out in the first game both times.

The most telling thing about Rivers' lack of moxie in the playoffs is the playoff game against the Jets. As the game went on, you could feel the choke was coming. The game was low scoring and the Chargers' offense was stiffened. Rivers throws a HORRIBLE pass that gets intercepted and the Jets turn it into a 17-7 lead.

Last Season, fighting for their playoff lives, Phyllis and the Chargers are booted by the Bengals in the last week of the season and look pretty bad doing so.

[HometownGal]

Rivers great?

The Chargers can have Cry Baby Rivers and I'll keep a Super Bowl winning, clutch, game-changing QB any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[HometownGal]

I see the fantasy football nerds are out in force in the comments section under that article.

As opposed to River's postseason and SB stats, I presume. Oh, wait....

"But Rivers puts up awesome wicked stats in September and October and won me my fantasy league!"