Dixon Would Be My Starter

Today was day three of the ongoing debate in the sports-talk radio world that I am sure Pittsburghers will not hear the end of until the Steelers either win their opening game against the Atlanta Falcons or Ben Roethlisberger returns from his suspension. The debate, of course, is who should be the Steelers starting quarterback in Roethlisberger’s absence, Byron Leftwich or Dennis Dixon. The answer to me is quite simple: Dennis Dixon should be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback until he proves otherwise.

My take has nothing to do with Dixon’s performance Saturday night in a meaningless preseason game against the Detroit Lions’ third stringers. Quite the contrary, actually, as I spent my Saturday night at a bachelor party drinking roughly 107 beers, give or take a few, hardly watching any of the Steelers exhibition, I mean preseason, game. I thought Dixon should have been named the starter the second Roethlisberger was suspended, with Leftwich brought in as insurance in case Dixon falters.

This has nothing to do with Leftwich, who has accomplished more in this league than I am guessing Dixon ever does. Leftwich, at 30-years-old, is no longer a starter in this league. He is the perfect back-up, a guy who can come in as a veteran and get the job done in case of an injury on a short-term basis. It is the same job that Charlie Batch has pretty much perfected in his time as a Steeler. Leftwich, however, has proven that he is no longer a starter in this league, at least as a viable starter for a team hoping to contend for a Super Bowl. With Dixon, the jury is still out.

It would have been much easier for Mike Tomlin and the coaching staff to turn to Leftwich in game one, or game two or whenever it became clear that Dixon was not putting the Steelers in the best position to win games if it came to that. If Leftwich falters, is Tomlin really going to feel comfortable turning the team over to an unknown in Dixon? Besides, this is a team, and more specifically an offense, built around the unique talents of its quarterback. With a shabby line and mediocre wide receivers (this is probably a bit of an understatement but the Steelers’ wide-outs are not exactly Jerry Rice and John Taylor), the Steelers offense relied heavily on Ben Roethlisberger to make big plays happen. Byron Leftwich does not have this ability, and more likely could be a sitting duck in the Steelers backfield without significant improvement in the offensive line play. With Leftwich, who WILL be the starter by the way, the Steelers will most certainly deploy a run-oriented attack, trying to keep games close and win games with their defense in Roethlisberger’s absence.

The Steelers would have used the same style with Dixon under center. But Dixon, on the other hand, would have given the Steelers the potential play-making ability with his legs that Leftwich does not have and that the offense desperately needs. Dixon showed last year in the Baltimore game that he could play this style and occasionally give the Steelers that big play with his legs. A year older and more mature, who knows, maybe Dixon could have built on that game and become a potential starter somewhere down the line in this league. Worst case scenario is that Dixon proved an incapable passer and the Steelers could have quickly turned the team over to Leftwich at that point.

It looks like it will not matter what I think, not that it ever really would or should have mattered, as Tomlin and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians seem to have made up their minds and decided to go the safer route in Byron Leftwich. If Byron can get at least two victories or more in those first four games without Roethlisberger, you will hear no complaints from this forum. I would have went with Dixon, however, and if the Steelers do indeed stumble out of the gates, there will be a lot of second guessing of Mike Tomlin and the Steelers’ decision.