Bradshaw vs. Roethlisberger

As Steelers fans are no doubt aware, in last week's game against the Titans, Ben Roethlisberger surpassed Terry Bradshaw's Steeler team record for career passing yards.  The number is over 27,000 yards.

This made for lots of fun debate on the talk shows and in the papers as to who is/was the better quarterback, Terry or Ben.  As you might expect, much of this broke down on generational lines with, ahem, older Steelers fans favoring Bradshaw over Roethlisberger.  A strong case can be made for either one of them.  Comparing statistics might not be fair either because, and this was pointed out by many, the game played in the NFL in the 2010's is quite different than the one played in the 1970's.

Personally, I think that either player could switch eras and excel at the position.   Someone stated that if Roethlisberger played in the 1970's with his size and strength and with the Steelers defense to complement him, he would never lose a game.  Could very well be, but people forget that Bradshaw was a big guy at the time he played, and while he looks small compared to Ben, I have no doubt that if a 29 year old Terry Bradshaw was playing in the NFL today, he would be right up there with the Mannings, Rodgers, Bradys, and, yes, Roethlisbergers of today.  Personally, I'd have loved to see what Bradshaw could have done throwing it 40 time a game.

People will always point to Super Bowl Rings and give Terry with four an edge over Ben, who has two.  True enough, but we often forget that Super Bowls are won by teams, not individuals, so I don;t think this is a totally fair point of judgement.  

If forced to choose only one of them, my vote goes to Roethlisberger by a narrow margin, and here's why.  If you can remember, if Bradshaw started a game poorly, threw an interception or two, he almost never was able to turn it around in mid-game and change a poor start into a good game.  Roethlisberger has shown the ability over time to be able to shrug off a bad play or a poor start and turn what looked like a bad game into a good one, often resulting in a Steelers win.  That is completely subjective and intangible, but that's how I'm going.