Steelers Talk

[BuckNutty]

Parker gets shot to prove durability
Wednesday, October 04, 2006

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

At this pace, Fast Willie Parker will need a new nickname. How about, Can You Last, Willie Parker?

The Steelers' halfback has heard that question so often he has grown tired of answering it. He may not have to anymore because coach Bill Cowher may let his actions speak for him instead.

After Parker carried a career-high 29 times in the opener against Miami, Cowher said he did not want his young back to carry that heavy a workload too often. Yet Parker ran 31 times against Cincinnati and, after three games, has 71 carries. If he maintains that pace over the course of the season, Parker would finish with 378 carries, second in Steelers history only to Barry Foster's 390 in 1992.

Cowher seems ready to unleash Parker for as many carries as it takes and for as long as he holds up.

"I'm not going to jeopardize trying to win a football game," by limiting his carries, Cowher said. "It's something that I said earlier, but it's something that we have to keep in mind as we go and see how this unfolds. It's something we'll continue to monitor, but I think right now he's fine."

You don't have to be as big as a Bus to be a prolific ballcarrier in the NFL. Parker is 5 feet 10, 209 pounds. The New York Giants' Tiki Barber is 5-10, 200 and in his 10th NFL season. He rushed 357 times (for 1,860 yards) last season and caught 54 passes -- 411 total carries. In his 10th NFL season, Curtis Martin ran 371 times in 2004. He's 5-11, 210. Emmitt Smith not only holds the NFL record for rushing yards, he also holds it with carries at 4,409. He played at 5-10, 216 -- seven pounds more than Parker.

There are many other examples of slighter NFL backs who carried more than their share of the load. It could be the Steelers have one in Parker. Besides his 255 carries last season, he ran 57 more times in their four postseason games. He's not as prolific as a receiver, but he had 18 catches in the regular season, 10 more in the postseason. It adds up to 340 chances with the ball. And he was so exhausted from it all by the end of the season that he snapped off a Super Bowl-record 75-yard touchdown run.

Cowher said yesterday it's not the size of the back but other factors that can determine how often he can carry. Jerome Bettis, who played at a listed 255 pounds, called it "getting skinny" to avoid hits.

"I don't think it's the size as much as when you go through a game and a guy has 29 carries, how many of those were big hits?" Cowher said. "How many times did he run out of bounds or get tripped up? I think you have to look at it subjectively."

Franco Harris, considered a big back for his time at 6-2, 225, was criticized on occasion by Steelers fans for running out of bounds to avoid a hit. Smart backs like Harris and Bettis knew, however, when they needed to take someone on to pick up more yards for their teams and when to live to run another day.

"Is he the type of guy who is running over people 17 or 18 times he carried the ball?" Cowher asked in general terms of backs. "Or is he a guy who got tripped up? Obviously, a guy who's a pounding type of runner, there's going to be more of a lingering effect down the road because of the style of running. It's something you have to look at subjectively coming out of a game."

Parker is not a battering ram and, while running backs take bigger hits more often than players at any other position, he does not seem to take an unusually high number. That could change this season because Cowher has kept Parker in the game when the offense nears the goal line, a job Bettis had before he retired. Cowher said he will talk to Parker after each game to see how he feels and make his decisions accordingly.

"Some games you come out with 23 or 24 carries and you feel great because you didn't have that many big hits," Cowher said. "You come out with 17 or 18 carries between the tackles, and it was a grind because you had three or four guys hitting you every gain. I think you can't monitor just based on carries."

Cowher is ready to help ease the load on Parker, just in case. He said if Najeh Davenport is healthy enough to play this week, he likely will get some carries in San Diego. If he's not healthy, Duce Staley will get them.

"We feel good about the four guys we have," Cowher said, keeping Verron Haynes in the mix as the third-down back. "Duce has looked better and better. He's a legitimate option as well. I go back to last year, we used four guys and needed all four. You can never have enough good running backs."

And, sometimes, you can never run the best of them enough.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06277/727215-66.stm

[BuckNutty]

Rivers, Roethlisberger finally match up

By Scott Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 5, 2006


He strode to the podium, shook hands with commissioner Paul Tagliabue and then pulled on the hat of the team for which he would never play.
His agent didn't have to tell him a trade was in the works. Philip Rivers could have figured that out after speaking to the talking heads at ESPN before he did any member of the organization that made him the fourth overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft.

More than two years later, Rivers recalled his draft experience as "kind of awkward." Ben Roethlisberger remembers the day a little differently, and he still uses the belief that he got passed over because he went to school at the wrong Miami as motivation.

Sunday, the quarterbacks will duel for the first time since they were forever linked by that draft, giving the folks at NBC an intriguing subplot for the nationally televised game.


True, Rivers and Roethlisberger aren't playing against one another in a literal sense. However, since the two (along with Eli Manning) were the top quarterbacks in the 2004 draft, they are very much going head to head .

"I wouldn't say we're best friends, but I know (Rivers) pretty well, and I know a lot of what he's gone through," Roethlisberger said Wednesday at the Steelers' South Side practice facility. "We talked about it last year when I was out there about (Rivers) being behind Drew (Brees) and this and that, so I'll be interested to talk to him and see how everything is going with him."

Despite the rapid ascent he has made -- Roethlisberger is the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl -- the Miami (Ohio) product knows what it is like to wait.

He watched Manning go first in the draft to the Chargers and Rivers go three picks later to the New York Giants.

The two quarterbacks were swapped in a blockbuster trade, all before the Steelers selected Roethlisberger with the 11th pick of the first round.

While Roethlisberger became a starter almost immediately with the Steelers because of an injury, a holdout cost Rivers any chance of winning the starting job as a rookie.

He had to again serve as an understudy to Brees in 2005.

Rivers threw just 30 passes his first two seasons, but he became the starter when Brees signed with the Saints during the offseason.

The Chargers are 2-1 with Rivers at the helm, and they are using him much the same way the Steelers employed Roethlisberger his rookie season.

Rivers is running the offense, but he is not being asked to carry it, as evidenced by the 68 passes he has thrown in three games.

He has completed almost 68 percent of his attempts and has been intercepted just one time.

"He has exceeded my expectations," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "I think we have had one turnover, we have been sacked one time, and the fact that he has been able to do things with the offense has been very, very encouraging."

As efficient as Rivers has been, it would be understandable if he were getting a little impatient, especially since the Chargers appear to be bringing him along slowly.

"The last two years were tough at times, but I am honestly thankful for them," said Rivers, who started for four years at North Carolina State and is the most prolific passer in ACC history. "I'm not performing to the level that I want to at this point. I feel confident that I'm getting better every week."

The same goes for Roethlisberger.

He has not played well in the two starts he has made this season. But, Roethlisberger said, "We're almost clicking, and when we do start to click and those wheels start turning together, I think we can be pretty good and pretty dangerous. I don't think we're as far off as people think."

One thing that certainly won't hurt Roethlisberger as he tries to snap out of a funk is the mere presence of the Chargers.

Roethlisberger said he feels like he slipped in the 2004 draft because he went to a Mid-American Conference school instead of one in a major conference.

The Chargers not only passed on Roethlisberger, but they took another quarterback instead of him.

"I don't have anything against (Rivers), but I like playing against San Diego," Roethlisberger said. "Anybody that was in the top 10 (of the draft), I kind of like to play against."

That draft could have turned out quite different.

At one point, Rivers said, he felt the Steelers would take him if the Chargers picked someone else.

There was strong sentiment among Steelers brass for three players in that draft: Roethlisberger, Rivers and mammoth offensive lineman Shawn Andrews, who went to the Eagles with the 16th pick.

Steelers coach Bill Cowher said the team met with Rivers before the draft at the NFL Combine.

Neither the coach nor the two quarterbacks talked much about what might have been.

As Rivers said, "Who knew how it was going to unfold?"

And how it will unfold. Not just Sunday night in San Diego, but in the coming years as well.

Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_473555.html

[BuckNutty]

Ward won't use hamstring as excuse for slow start

By The Associated Press
Thursday, October 5, 2006


Nine catches, 99 yards. Normally, about an afternoon's worth of work for Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward.
Instead, they are Ward's statistics for the first three games of a so-far disappointing season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's obvious Ward hasn't been himself, playing with a sore hamstring that he injured in training camp and is not yet healed.

Ward, a four-time Pro Bowl receiver, is resigned to playing with the injury for the rest of the season. The only cure, he said, would be six months of inactivity.

"It just chooses (to hurt) when it wants to," Ward said Wednesday. "I can't pinpoint it. If I could, I wouldn't do it. But when you're running full speed, you feel it. Then it goes away. It's hard to get back to 100 percent when you're running all the time."

Ward was hurt during the first week of August and missed the rest of training camp, but the injury has lingered far longer than he expected.

"I don't know what's wrong with it," he said. "It's aggravating. There's still some scar tissue in there. I don't feel hindered by the hamstring, but every now and then on certain routes that I run I may feel it."

Ward realizes he can't afford to take a game or two off to give the hamstring some needed rest, not with the Steelers (1-2) already down 2 1/2 games to Baltimore (4-0) in the AFC North standings. The Steelers face another difficult game Sunday night at San Diego (1-2), which is allowing a league-low 184.3 yards per game.

The Steelers' passing game has been slowed by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's medical problems and an uncommon number of dropped passes. Ward said there must be improvement immediately in the NFL's fifth-worst passing offense.

"We need to start taking steps to get better week in and week out," Ward said. "We need to start getting better and improving and playing with a lot more intensity."

A schedule that already has included two uncommonly long breaks isn't helping the Steelers develop any continuity in their passing game. They play for the first time in 14 days Sunday ? they had an 11-day break after their first game ? then must fly home from the West Coast overnight to get ready for Kansas City the following Sunday.

"Next week, they'll probably have us playing in Hawaii," defensive end Brett Keisel said.

Ward doesn't worry about the schedule as much as he does regaining the rhythm in the passing game the Steelers had while winning three consecutive road games in the AFC playoffs last season.

"Teams have been doing a lot to stop Hines, doubling and tripling him," Roethlisberger said. "They're running guys underneath to where he's going to be. But Hines is one of the best receivers in the game. He'll find ways to get open and I'll get him the ball."

Roethlisberger and Ward agree on that, saying there were enough positive signs in the 28-20 loss to Cincinnati on Sept. 24 to suggest the passing game is coming around.

"We're really close to clicking,'"' Roethlisberger said. "When we do start clicking and those wheels start turning together, I think we can be pretty good and pretty dangerous."

Ward's drop-off has been more noticeable because he has consistently been one of the NFL's most reliable receivers. Last year, he had four touchdown catches by now; in both 2003 and 2004, he had 22 catches through three games.

Roethlisberger also has played far below the level of his first two seasons ? he has no touchdown passes and five interceptions in two starts. And Ward isn't the only receiver who isn't producing.

The only player with as many as 10 catches is third-down running back Verron Haynes, who has 10 for 59 yards. Cedrick Wilson, the other starting receiver, has been limited to four catches for 85 yards.

Santonio Holmes, the first-round draft pick from Ohio State, has been unable to play his way into the lineup or make much of a contribution when he's been on the field. He has five catches for 51 yards.

"It's hard for a rookie," Ward said. "There's a lot of thinking, when you're doing a lot of thinking you're not running as fast. It's an adjustment. There's been only one rookie to come in and dominate the game, Randy Moss with 17 touchdowns. Most rookies come in, and it's a learning curve."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_473619.html

[BuckNutty]

Notebook: Reid still in the dark

By The Tribune-Review
Thursday, October 5, 2006


Willie Reid continues to wait. The rookie wide receiver said Wednesday he hasn't been given any indication what his status will be when the Steelers visit the Chargers. A dazzling return man at Florida State, Reid may get a chance to return punts Sunday night in San Diego. That has been a problem area for the Steelers, and Ricardo Colclough, who has been alternating on punt returns with rookie Santonio Holmes, is questionable with a neck problem. Colclough practiced yesterday, but said afterward the coaches want him to steer clear of contact -- at least until they find out more about his neck.
"I don't know what it is," Colclough said. "It's just something that started and kept bothering me."

Even if he plays against the Chargers, Colclough is questionable at best to return punts because of his well-documented struggles. Reid, who has been inactive for the Steelers' first three games, continues to say and do the right things. That is assuming he hasn't highlighted passages in the Steelers' media guide about his punt return exploits at Florida State and left it on coach Bill Cowher's desk.

"I've been anxious (to play) since Week 1," Reid said. "Right now, you go out there and work hard."

? Reserve running back Najeh Davenport doesn't expect to miss the Chargers game because of a strained calf. Davenport hurt his lower right leg Monday in practice and is listed as questionable.

"I slipped, and the grass gave way when I was making a cut," Davenport said.

He has dressed the last two games but has yet to play. Cowher indicated Tuesday that Davenport would get some carries in San Diego if he is healthy.

"I've been good in getting the offense down, so we'll see," Davenport said. "I expect to dress."

? A Steelers defense that has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 12 games will try to extend that streak against one of the top running backs in football. LaDainian Tomlinson has exceeded 1,200 rushing yards in each of his first five seasons in the NFL. Last year, the Steelers held him to 62 yards on 18 carries, though Tomlinson did catch seven passes for 68 yards.

"We've always played pretty good against L.T.," linebacker Joey Porter said.

Edgerrin James is the last back to go over 100 yards against the Steelers. He did it for the Colts last November.

? Safety Troy Polamalu (shoulder) joined Davenport and Colclough on the team's injury report and is listed as probable. Three Chargers are questionable for the game: offensive tackle Leander Jordan (neck), safety Bhawoh Jue (knee) and tight end Ryan Krause (hamstring).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Digits

7 - Wins the Steelers have in eight regular-season games against the Chargers with Bill Cowher as coach.

20 - Rushing yards Willie Parker had against the Jaguars earlier this season.

26 - Rushing yards Parker had against the Chargers last year.

40 - Length (in yards) of the field goal Jeff Reed kicked to beat the Chargers last year in San Diego.

- Scott Brown

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_473547.html