Following the Brady blueprint

The latest young gun to burst on the scene in Pittsburgh signal-caller Ben Roethlisberger and he appears to be following the Brady blueprint.

Has anyone else noticed the similarities between the two? Like Brady, Roethlisberger took over for an injured Tommy Maddox and has quickly established himself as a winner. Roethlisberger is not exactly lighting up the league, he has the third-lowest completions (107) but he just keeps winning games. The Steelers have the best rushing attack with Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis combining to average 160 yards rushing per game. Their defense is tops in the AFC. All Roethlisberger has to do is guide the team and not make dumb mistakes.

Roethlisberger has already shown a knack for rallying his team to wins, coming through in the clutch when the Steelers need it the most. On top of that, he has guided Pittsburgh to wins over two previous undefeated teams over the past two weeks - snapping New England's 21-game winning streak two week ago before downing the New York Jets last week.

The biggest difference between Brady and Roethlisberger is two-fold - unlike Brady, a sixth-round draft pick, Roethlisberger was anointed the Steelers' "savior" after being the 11th pick in the draft. The biggest difference is success - Brady already has two Super Bowls. But give Roethlisberger time, he has the tools to make a nice quarterback duel between him and Brady something to watch over the next decade or so.

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So, who would win a "Loser Bowl" between San Francisco and Miami?

Both teams have one win, Miami coach Dave Wannstedt bailed on the Dolphins (which probably wasn't a bad decision) and there are rumors Niners coach Dennis Erickson is thinking the same thing.

That being said, as bad as San Francisco is, they're better than the Dolphins.

Granted, I'm a 49er fan, but let's look at this from an objective viewpoint:

Quarterback: 49ers' Tim Rattay or Miami's Jay Fielder/A.J. Feely. No contest. Rattay, when healthy, is a much better QB than Miami's two-headed disaster. Rattay is fourth-rated QB in the NFC, having thrown for nearly 1,500 yards. Fiedler has thrown for over 1,100 yards but only seven touchdowns against eight interceptions.

Running back: 49ers' Kevan Barlow or Miami's ... uh, who is the Dolphins running back? While Barlow has been no great shakes this season, he's better than whatever Miami has at the position.

Receiver: 49ers' youth or Miami's injuries. This one is essentially a tossup. If Miami's David Boston doesn't suffer a season-ending injury, combined with Chris Chambers, the Dolphins would get the edge in this category. As it is, both team's leading receivers are tight ends - San Francisco's Eric Johnson and Miami's Randy McMichael. Johnson leads the NFC with 51 catches, while McMichael is in the top 10 in the AFC with 43 receptions.

Defense: San Francisco in seventh-rated defense in the NFC, while Miami is fifth in the AFC. Pretty much a wash. The 49ers' secondary has been shredded for an average of 333 yards per game, but against an anemic Miami attack, could probably shut down the Dolphins passing game. Miami isn't much better against the pass, just shy of 300 yards per game.

So, it's official. Miami is worse than San Francisco.

I hope. I need something to cling to so my football season is a bit more enjoyable.