Saturday, November 1

Double Coverage

The feature everyone loved in the preseason, Double Coverage, is back. There have been many dynamic duos in history. Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. Batman and Robin. Peanut butter and jelly. And today, we bring you yet another great duo. Tosten and A-Koz will be giving our views on a player each week; one of us for him, and one of us against him. Today's topic: Who's the better Monday night start: Ben Roethlisberger or Jason Campbell?

A-Koz: Start Campbell

Wow, Tosten makes my arguement pretty easy.

His first paragraph sums it up. Ben has really struggled this year. He hasn't been "Big Ben" statistically. More like "Average Ben."

As Tosten said, Big Ben has just 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions through seven games, not to mention a completion percentage of 60 percent.

Sure, Santonio Holmes is back, but it's not like he's going to cure all of Ben's woes. After all, he was only out for one game. Parker's return is a cry of joy for Steelers' fans like myself, but Big Ben wasn't rolling in the numbers in the three games Parker played—Big Ben had only an average of 20 pass attempts, 149 yards, and one touchdown in those three games. On the other hand, Campbell has been mistake-free all year long. The zero interceptions through eight games say it all. You know the Steelers will be gunning to shut down Clinton Portis, making it easier for the Redskins to pass against a Bryant McFadden-less secondary.

Tosten: Start Big Ben
Disappointing is an understatement. Just 10 touchdowns in seven games? The 18th-best passer rating in football? Fourth in the league in picks? For Ben Roethlisberger it stops now. Roethlisberger gets Willie Parker and Santonio Holmes on Monday Night in Washington. You can't downplay the effect of having the two biggest offensive weapons return for the prime time game against the sixth-best defense in the NFL. Both will play enormous roles in projecting Pittsburgh as an elite team and re-cementing Big Ben as an elite quarterback in the national spotlight. Roth and the rest of the franchise will be playing with a chip on their shoulders coming off a loss to the Giants, and as they look to prove themselves as championship contenders with a win over the Redskins, the team leader will drop big numbers, crediting himself and his franchise to NFL power rankers and fantasy owners alike.
We gave out candy last night. FFWritersWithHair@gmail.com.

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