Charlie Batch and Thinking Out Loud

Share Button

Just thinking out loud here, but;

There’s a new conversation on the streets of Pittsburgh that previously excluded a name I’m about to drop after last night’s game in the world of NFL quarterbacking. And that name is Charlie Batch. An oldie, but a goldie. Charlie is to the Steelers what Washington D.C. has been to Wall Street. In a word, bailout.

Charlie Batch has flown under the radar all of training camp. In the first two games Charlie has had little to zippo opportunity to show what he brings to the gun battle at the OK Corrale. If Big Ben is Wyatt Earp, then Charlie has been Doc Holliday.

Last night Charlie came in under duress. And he exited under duress. Playing behind and with the two’s and some three’s, Charlie handed off a TD, and threw for a TD. Yet i watched from the sideline as this old gunslinger unloaded pass completions twice in the face of a fierce rush, one of which was the prettiest touch pass of the night in a sideline comp to Justin Vincent.

For the record, Charlie took one to the choppers for his trouble and drew a penalty. Yes, he did throw for another six into the hands of not one of the “Cowboys,” if you are still following my Tombstone references, but a Bronco. That one i lay at the feet of a young reciever who wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

Charlie doesn’t have the arm of Byron, nor the legs of Dennis. But he combines some of both with the veteran savvy that has kept him in the NFL for double-digits, and he just might have enough left in the gas tank for a four week run. Charlie exudes a “steady as she goes” hand at the helm.

To quote Mark Twain, Charlie plays with the “Quiet confidence of a Christian holding four aces.”

Four aces, something that Doc Holliday just might have up his sleeve.