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Ben Roethlisberger’s 93.9 passer rating used to be elite. Now, not so much.
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Steelers Sunday Spotlight: Are the rising QB ratings signs of passing getting easier in the NFL?

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Steelers Sunday Spotlight: Are the rising QB ratings signs of passing getting easier in the NFL?

Are NFL quarterbacks getting better or is passing just becoming easier to do in the NFL?  

Ben Roethlisberger has what always has been considered a good passer rating of 93.9. But that ranks just 19th in the NFL among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 50 times this season.

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Twenty years ago, that Roethlisberger rating would have challenged for best in the NFL. In 1996, Steve Young led the league with a 97.2 rating. Brett Favre was second at 95.8.

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The passer rating shows how much offensive play in the NFL has changed.

It is no coincidence that both Young in San Francisco and Favre in Green Bay ran the West Coast offense, which is a controlled, shorter passing game.

The complicated passer rating gives credit to completions and touchdowns and while it also includes average yards per pass attempt, there’s nothing like completions and TDs to boost the number. Interceptions count heavily as negatives.

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So in the old days, where you had a Terry Bradshaw doing just what one of his many books was titled, looking deep, the passer rating was not as high. Bradshaw’s career rating was 70.9. His best was 88.0 in 1975.

Roethlisberger’s passer rating this season virtually matches his rating over his 13-year career (94.0).

Dallas rookie quarterback Dak Prescott has a 104.2 rating, which is sixth in the NFL among those who have thrown at least 50 passes. Roethlisberger had a 98.1 rating in his rookie season of 2004, when he also set an NFL rookie record when he was 13-0 as a starter.

Old men of New England

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What’s with pro teams from New England and old guys?

David Ortiz bowed out with the Boston Red Sox at age 40 by hitting .315 with 38 home runs and 127 RBIs, which in some years would have won the triple crown.

Now Tom Brady, who efficiently helped New England beat the Steelers without Roethlisberger Oct. 23, is having one of his best seasons in a Hall of Fame career at age 39.

Brady, after serving a four-game suspension to start the season, leads the NFL with a 133.9 passer rating. He has thrown 12 touchdowns, no interceptions and has a whopping 9.8 yards per attempt. Granted, he’s only played four games but he’s averaging 329.8 passing yards per game.

If he keeps that up, he will challenge the best passer rating in history in one season — 122.5 by Aaron Rodgers in 2011.

They can’t be serious

Here is another reason why little stock should be put in the ratings of Pro Football Focus: It just selected its midseason awards and chose Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson as its MVP.

What, do they have something against Case Keenum?

Wilson has a passer rating of 95.9. He has thrown seven touchdowns and two interceptions. His Seahawks are 5-2-1. You probably could pick 25 players more worthy, including two who will play here today for the Cowboys in Prescott and Elliott.

Those midseason All-Pro teams and other awards are silly anyway. But if you must do it, Brady or Matt Ryan of Atlanta would be front-runners, far ahead of Wilson. Of all those who vote for the AP awards, it would be a surprise if Wilson would get even one vote.

And no, he’s not picking up any yards rushing, either. He has 54 on 28 rushes. He’s also been sacked 16 times — three more than Roethlisberger.

An odd, cold immortal rule

Jack Butler’s family is one of the lucky ones. The great Steelers defensive back was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2012. He died nine months later, but his family has two cherished items to keep forever — his Hall of Fame ring and his gold jacket.

That’s not the case for the family of Ken Stabler. He died seven months before he was elected and by their rules, that made him ineligible to receive a ring or jacket. His family would like to have both but so far have been rejected.

The Hall adopted a policy previously to deny the ring and jacket posthumously because it wants to “avoid creating or contributing to family disputes relative to ownership as well as the potential public sale or distribution of items intended for the exclusive use by a Hall of Famer.”

Can’t all of that still happen if a Hall of Famer dies 10 minutes after receiving his ring and jacket?

Here is a suggestion for the Hall of Fame: Issue the jacket and ring to whoever is listed on the estate as primary heir. If there is a dispute after that, it’s not your problem, just as it would not be if a Hall of Famer dies and his 12 children fight over his ring and jacket. By not issuing those items posthumously you might eliminate the rare dispute among heirs but also deny the many other families where there is no squabble to own a valued piece of their relative.

As for selling the items, they could adopt a policy similar to that of the Academy Awards. No one can sell the Oscar statue the winners receive, not even heirs, without first offering it back to the Academy for $10. That ends that issue as it would with the Hall of Fame rings and jackets.

Rushing toward history

Dallas Cowboys halfback Zeke Elliott, who leads the NFL with 891 yards rushing, is trying to join a select group. Few rookies in modern NFL history have led the league. The most recent to do it was Edgerrin James 17 years ago. There have been only four rookies do it in the past 59 years after Jim Brown won the title in 1957.

O.J. Simpson did not do it. Barry Sanders did not do it. Nor did Emmitt Smith. Jerome Bettis came close in 1993 with 1,429 yards but finished second to Smith by 57 yards.

First Published: November 13, 2016, 5:00 a.m.

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Ben Roethlisberger’s 93.9 passer rating used to be elite. Now, not so much.  (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)
Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press
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