Nov 12th 2008 1:15PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Steelers, Vikings, AFC North, NFC North, NFL Fans

Good Lord, it’s worse than anybody imagined: Ben Roethlisberger, who’s currently about as popular as Tommy Maddox on his way out the door, has gone from Pro Bowler to … Gus Frerotte?

Sigh.

Pacifist Viking stumbled across the eery similarities: Ben Roethlisberger, 2008: 9 starts, 1,686 yards, 10 TDs, 11 INTs, 7.0 yards per attempt, 76.1 rating, 6-3 record

Gus Frerotte, 2008: 7 starts, 1,619 yards, 10 TDs, 11 INTs, 7.2 yards per attempt, 74.0 rating, 5-2 record But it gets worse for Steelers fans: according to the eggheads at Football Outsiders, Frerotte ranks 20th in their total QB value statistic while Big Ben ranks 33rd, behind such luminaries as Matt Hasselbeck (injured), Jon Kitna (injured), Shaun Hill (he’s started one game) and Derek Anderson (benched). It’s also probably worth mentioning that there are still just 32 teams in the league.

Obviously, Roethlisberger is not the same player he was a year ago, and this time he can’t blame it on helmet-less joy riding (although, to his credit, he never gave a concussion). That said, he doesn’t seem completely recovered from an early-season shoulder injury, and the 6,000 sacks he’s taken since.

And if you need another excuse, just blame offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. Everybody’s doin’ it!