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Roethlisberger to be ranked among NFL's elite
With five more passes on Monday night, Ben Roethlisberger will move into some pretty elite company.
Roethlisberger has thrown 1,495 passes in his five-year career and needs five more to reach the minimum of 1,500 to qualify for the official NFL record book.
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Roethlisberger will enter the career passer rating list at No. 5. His 92.7 passer rating ranks just behind New England's Tom Brady (92.9) and just ahead of Hall of Famer Joe Montana (92.3).
That's some pretty heady company to be keeping.
Given that Roethlisberger has only had one season where his passer rating has been below 92.7 - 75.4 in 2006 - it's a good bet that by the time his career is completed, he'll move higher on the list.
Roethlisberger's current passer rating of 98.6 matches the number he put up in 2005 when he led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory. It's also a bit higher than the 98.1 he put up in 2004, his first year in the league. That passer rating remains an NFL record for rookies.
Steve Young currently tops the record books for career passer rating at 96.8 from 1985 through 1999.
Considering Roethlisberger has only been below that number once in his career and the way things are slanted toward the offense, it's not out of the question to think he could top the list by the time his career is completed.
Millen time
There were celebrations in Detroit this week when the Lions fired president and CEO Matt Millen after going eight consecutive seasons without making the playoffs.
In fact, not only did the Lions not make the playoffs during Millen's tenure, they never topped .500.
Since Millen took over the team in 2001, the Lions had stumbled to a 31-84 record - including 0-3 this season - the worst in the league during the period. They went through three head coaches.
The question wasn't why the Lions fired Millen, it's why they waited so long?
The Steelers have long been lauded as being the epitome of patience in the sporting world.
But the bet here is that if they went through period where they averaged four wins per season, heads would roll after just a few years.
Mendenhall's folly?
According to ProFootballTalk.com, Steelers rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall sent a text message to Baltimore rookie running back Ray Rice this week bragging about how he was going to have a good game against the Ravens on Monday.
Rice, in turn, showed the message to the Ravens' defense.
"He said later that he was just joking, but it's too late," Baltimore linebacker Bart Scott said. "Thanks for the bulletin-board material, rookie."
Scott, of course, is the linebacker who has threatened to kill Steelers' receiver Hines Ward if he sees him off the football field.
Ocho Stinko
Maybe Chad Ocho Cinco should think about changing his name back to Chad Johnson.
Through three games, Cincinnati's flamboyant wide receiver has eight catches for 88 yards and no touchdowns, his worst start since 2002, his second season in the NFL.
NFL High
Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and California's Tustin High have six players each on NFL rosters this season, the most of any one school.
Dillard has produced Isaac Bruce of the San Francisco, Carolina's Chris Gamble, Tampa Bay's Jovan Haye, Houston's Stanley McClover, Denver's Josh Shaw and Cincinnati's Pat Sims.
Tustin produced Sam Baker of the Falcons, Beau Bell of the Browns, Chris Chester of the Ravens, DeShaun Foster of the 49ers, Matt McCoy of the Buccaneers and Frostee Rucker of the Bengals.
