A fabled franchise flashes the greatness needed to recapture championship glory, only to fall short in the playoffs thanks to a frustratingly bad call….
The next season begins with high hopes, only to have injuries strike key starters as the franchise slides into double-digit losses….
Disaster strikes again the next season, robbing the franchise of its starting quarterback….
.…The call goes to a rookie, who struggles in his first outing, but rebounds to lead his team to 7 straight wins.
We’re of course telling the story of the Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo and Dak Prescott. But this story isn’t exclusive to “America’s Team,” the Pittsburgh Steelers have lived through this too. As the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare to host the Dallas Cowboys at Heinz Field its interesting to reminisce about the situation the Steelers found themselves in 2004.
Ben Roethlisberger and Tommy Maddox in 2004. Photo Credit: Spokeo
Of Tommy Gun and Tony Romo….
The parallels between Tony Romo and Dak Prescott and Tommy Maddox and Ben Roethlisberger are not perfect. But the similarities are striking.
Tony Romo entered the 2014 season as the Cowboy’s established starter, with a big contract to prove it, whereas Tommy Maddox began the 2002 season as the backup to Kordell Stewart, who’d just won the Steelers MVP award the year before.
- Few were expecting to see anything from the 2014 Cowboys; no one expected Tommy Maddox to do anything other than hold a clipboard in 2002.
A blowout during the Cowboys home opener in 2014 led one writer to speculate over whether Jerry Jones berated his son demanding: “You made me pass on Johnny Football for this….” Yet, led by Romo, the Cowboys bounced back winning 12 games. They then beat the Lions in the playoffs, and appeared to be in position to upset the Packers at Lambeau Field only to lose the game based on the “Catch-Non-catch call.”
In 2002, Tommy Maddox watched as Kordell Stewart (and to be fair, the Steelers defense) struggled during the first two games of the season. Late in their third game against Cleveland, Bill Cowher made the switch. The Steelers won the game, and Bill Cowher named Maddox his starter.
Tommy Maddox, aka “Tommy Gun” led the Steelers to 10 straight wins. While threw plenty of picks, as gunslingers are wont to do, commentators wondered aloud as to whether or not Maddox was throwing touchdowns to too quickly to Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress. In the playoffs, Maddox led a dramatic come from behind win over the Browns. The next week, however, the Steelers lost due to a bogus roughing the kicker call where Al Del Greco took a dive worthy of World Cup Soccer.
Unlike Romo in 2015, Maddox escaped the injury bug in 2003, but a good chunk of his offensive line did not, with Kendall Simmons struggling with diabetes and Marvel Smith getting hit with the neck injury that would ultimately end his career. Things got so bad that Bill Cowher had to move Alan Faneca from guard to tackle and back again depending on the down.
The 2015 Cowboys saw Romo, Dez Bryant and several other key players seasons ruined by injuries.
Of Young Dak Prescott and the Once Young Ben Roethlisberger
The parallels of the stories diverge a bit here, as the Cowboys didn’t pick Dak Prescott to be their franchise quarterback in the 4th round. Although the Steelers had done just that with Ben Roethilisberger, Big Ben wasn’t supposed to play as a rookie.
- Like Dak Prescott, Ben Roethlisberger struggled in his first action, throwing a pick six vs. the Ravens.
- But also like Dak Prescott, Ben Roethlisberger went on a tear.
And like Jason Garrett, Bill Cowher bided his time in naming Ben Roethlisberger as his starter, waiting until he won after his fifth start, the 2004 win over New England.
Will the Steelers Tempt Garrett?
Tony Romo is back to health, and team owner/general manager Jerry Jones admits the situation is muddled, and likely to remain so. Like Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson before him, Garrett appears to content to go with the hot hand. And so he should.
During the entire 2004 regular season, Ben Roethlisberger never once gave Bill Cowher a reason to second guess his decision to back Roethlisberger. However, Ben appeared nervous in the playoffs against the Jets, and struggled against the Patriots in the AFC Championship.
- After the game, Bill Cowher insisted he never considered pulling Rothlisberger in favor of Tommy Maddox.
But after so many AFC Championship frustrations, the thought had to have crossed his mind at some point. No one is comparing the Keith Butler’s 2016 defense to Dick LeBeau’s 2004 version. But with Cameron Heyward and Ryan Shazier back, the Butler’s boys are showing signs of life.
Will that be enough to temp Jason Garrett into making a switch? Probably not, but Steelers fans can always hope….
