Michael Vick Replaces Ben Roethlisberger

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost Ben Roethlisberger in yesterday’s 12-6 victory over the St. Louis Rams. He was hit low by Rams’ safety Mark Barron with 5:35 left in the third quarter. It was feared Roethlisberger tore his ACL but an MRI was negative.   The injury was a strained MCL. Roethlisberger will be out four to six weeks. According to ESPN, Head Coach Mike Tomlin said, “Ben is a competitor and we are confident he will do everything in his power to return at the appropriate time.” Who will take his place?

Roethlisberger was off to a respectable start to the year. In three games he passed for 912 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. In yesterday’s game Roethlisberger was 20 of 24 with 192 passing yards and one interception.   Not bad numbers for him.

Michael Vick came into the game to replace Roethlisberger. He finished 5 of 6 for 38 yards. Vick becomes the starting quarterback for the Steelers in Roethlisberger’s absence. He hasn’t started a game since November 2014 when he was with the New York Jets. The Jets lost that game to the Bills 38-3.

At 35, Vick isn’t a terrible backup quarterback. In his career he has thrown for 22,131 yards, 131 touchdowns, and 87 interceptions.   Vick is careful with the football. He rarely throws it into double coverage. Besides his ability to throw the football, Vick can run.   He has 6,005 yards rushing and 36 touchdowns. Opponents can’t rush him because Vick will make them pay with a long run making him dangerous in the open field.   Vick doesn’t take the big hits when he runs because he will either slide to avoid a hit or run out of bounds.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in decent shape with Vick as the quarterback. He may not have as strong of an arm as Roethlisberger but he can still make plays down the field.   The Steelers have a short week to get Vick ready for the game as they take on the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football.

        What do you think of the Steelers going with Michael Vick?