Alex Smith and Ben Roethlisberger: Call it a comeback(s)

Both Alex Smith and Ben Roethlisberger are in vying for NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

One player was off the field for nearly two years. The other played a total of six quarters a season ago. Alex Smith was the first overall pick by the 2005 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. One year earlier, Ben Roethlisberger was chosen 11th overall in the 2004 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The latter has steadily climbed up the all-time passing charts in terms of yards and touchdown tosses. Smith, who has played for the Niners, Chiefs and Washington, doesn’t have the numbers that Big Ben possesses but his perseverance is matched by very few in this league.

On Monday afternoon, Smith’s Washington Football Team and Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers collide in Heinz Field in a battle of franchises looking to make a move this season. For the former, a victory enables them to keep pace with the hot New York Giants.

For Mike Tomlin’s team, a win clinches a playoff berth (a place the club hasn’t been since 2017) and keeps them ahead of the 11-1 Kansas City Chiefs for the top playoff seed in the conference.

One of Alex Smith and Ben Roethlisberger is a shoo-in for the award.

To draw any kind of statistical comparison between these two savvy performers would be fruitless, be it career or even this season. Smith has played in five games and started three. He’s thrown three touchdown passes and five interceptions and been sacked 15 times. The bigger story is the fact that he’s made it back and playing in a game since suffering that horrendous leg injury in November of 2018 is the real story.

“The more I’ve gotten to know Alex the more competitiveness I’ve seen out of him,” said Washington head coach Ron Rivera before the team faced the Lions last month (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “I think that’s one of the biggest things is he is truly a competitor, and I think his return to football really was about competing with himself to get himself back on the football field..”

As for “Big Ben,” he’s at the helm of the league’s lone unbeaten team. He’s already thrown for 25 scores and been picked off just six times. That’s quite a turnaround for a performer who played all of a game and a half a year ago, threw zero touchdown passes and was picked off once.

There were concerns after Roethlisberger underwent elbow surgery this offseason. But a young receiving corps that includes JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, James Washington and rookie Chase Claypool, along with tight end Eric Ebron, has thrived with the 17-year pro running the show.

So who deserves the honor when it comes to the 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award? That’s a decision for the 50 voters after the regular season is over. The honor was first given in 1998. And it’s worth noting that 15 years ago (2005), New England Patriots’ linebacker Tedy Bruschi and Carolina Panthers’ wide receiver Steve Smith shared the award. A little food for thought.