Pittsburgh Steelers (official thread)

[holybuckeye33]

I can't believe Holmes is having such a hard time at the NFL level. Finally, the Steelers go after a Buckeye in the early rounds (move up for him even) and now all I've heard all season around here is about how "my" Ohio State guy can't adjust to the pro game or hold onto the ball. Hopefully, they will involve him into the offense more in the coming weeks, but he has to hold onto the ball. I think his kick/punt returning days are over.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

Steelers react to 'hunger' criticism

ALAN ROBINSON

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Willie Parker's comments that the sagging Pittsburgh Steelers may have been overly satisfied with winning the Super Bowl didn't exactly unite his teammates. They apparently didn't divide them, either.
Wide receiver Hines Ward said he wishes that Parker hadn't been so outspoken, but his teammates must decide whether Parker's words apply to them now that the Steelers (2-6) have lost six of seven games.
"If you're not putting in the time and effort as much as the guy next to you, maybe it's not important to you to turn this thing around," Ward said Wednesday.
Alan Faneca doesn't dispute the notion that finally winning a championship came as a much-needed relief to a franchise that played in six AFC title games in 12 years before winning the Super Bowl.
"Being as close as we were for so many years, that did satisfy that hunger a little bit," Faneca said. "But I think, at the same time, myself and everybody came back in here ready and hungry to get another one. There's different types of hunger."
Parker, exasperated by a turnover-filled, 31-20 loss to Denver on Sunday that left the Steelers (2-6) trailing Baltimore by four games in the AFC North, was the first player to publicly speak out about a possible post-Super Bowl letdown.
"Last year, we were getting the job done, we just seemed hungrier," Parker said. "This year, it seems like we've already got what we want, what's the use? What's the use of going out there and selling out?"
Dating to the midpoint of last season, the Steelers have lost nine of 16 regular-season games - yet also won a Super Bowl during that span.
Ben Roethlisberger doesn't deny that "sometimes, teams get comfortable" and that the Steelers have not always played up to the level of their competition. They have played five teams that are 5-3 or better, and only two (Miami, Oakland) that are below .500.
"We played some good football teams, you got a bull's-eye on your chest and teams are really gunning for you," Roethlisberger said.
Five of the Steelers' eight remaining games are against teams that are .500 or below, including two games against Cleveland (2-6) and one against Tampa Bay (2-6). New Orleans (6-2), which plays Sunday in Pittsburgh, and AFC North leader Baltimore (6-2) own the best records.
The danger of falling so far out of playoff contention so early, Ward said, is that players may stop playing as hard as they should and effectively give up on the season.
"I'm embarrassed and disappointed," Ward said. "To come off the year we had, to come back 2-6, it's not how we envisioned our season to be. The leaders on the team, we need to work even harder and lead by example so these guys don't give up, I'm not going to give up. ... Right now, a lot of people are looking at us to see what's going to happen now that we're down and out."
Ward joined the Steelers in 1998 and played through two losing seasons, 7-9 in 1998 and 6-10 in 1999, before they went 9-7 in 2000. They have had only one losing season since, going 6-10 in 2003, and they were a combined 26-6 the last two seasons.
"For me, having been through a losing year, I know there's a lot of changes expected," Ward said. "Guys have got to go out and play because you don't know if you're going to be here or not. You're really playing for your job. We're going see what guys are going to quit on us and what guys are going to keep working."

 

[BuckNutty]

Porter promises victory Sunday against Saints
Thursday, November 09, 2006

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Today, many Republicans know how the Steelers feel. Riding high as the dominant team, they have been swept up in a landslide of losses and face the next few months as lame ducks, soon to be no longer the ruling party of the land.

The shock of it all, at least for the defending Super Bowl champions, was evident as they reconvened yesterday to begin preparations for what they hope will become a better second half to a lost season.

In fact, linebacker Joey Porter promised a new beginning will take place Sunday when they play the 6-2 New Orleans Saints at Heinz Field.

"You know me," Porter said, "I want to put some of the pressure on my shoulder for us to go out and get this victory: We will come back with a victory on Sunday."

His teammates can only hope Porter's words work as well as they did during the playoffs last season, when he called out the Indianapolis Colts and later the Seattle Seahawks' tight end, Jerramy Stevens.

The circumstances are different this time. At 7-5, the Steelers had to win eight games in a row to win Super Bowl XL. At 2-6, they'd probably have to win 12 in a row to win Super Bowl XLI, a miracle not on their minds these days.

"I'm embarrassed,'' admitted reigning Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward. "I can't speak for other players. Me, personally, myself? Yes, I'm embarrassed. I mean, to be 2-6? There's nothing fun about being 2-6. Especially, when you go out there and you put it all on the line to try to win ball games, yet for whatever reason you can't find a way to win games."

They have lost six of the past seven games and continue to grope to find a way out and how to describe what got them here.

"It's tough," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, "because we know we're a good team with a bad record. It's frustrating out there right now."

Halfback Willie Parker said after their most recent loss Sunday to Denver that he sensed a "hungrier" team last season than this one and a lack of trust in teammates. He declined to talk yesterday.

"If that's what he thinks, so be it," said Ward, a co-captain on offense. "But you'd have to ask Willie about that.

"I can't speak for other guys, I only speak for myself. I know me, it doesn't matter what happened last year, you have to move on."

Other teammates disavowed any connection to a Super Bowl hangover.

"I didn't hear [Parker's] comment, but I don't believe that's the situation," tackle Max Starks said. "I think all of us go out there and play our hardest. Nobody's thinking 'I need to sit down, I got what I wanted now.' "

Said cornerback Deshea Townsend, "That's his opinion. I don't know, I feel like guys are playing hard, we're just coming up a little short."

Porter said Parker and any of his teammates are entitled to speak their opinions and noted that he has led the locker room many times in that area. But he does not agree that there has been a softening of the attitude among the 2006 Steelers.

"The way we go out and fight on defense, I know it's definitely nobody on my side of the ball who feels like that," Porter said.

"I hate to lose anything I do. Me being a sore loser is natural. To lose the way we've been losing is frustrating."

Guard Alan Faneca, co-captain of the offense with Ward, acknowledged that there was satisfaction with winning a Super Bowl after coming so close in 2001 and 2004, but he does not believe it took away his team's desire to try to win another this season.

"I think hungers change," Faneca said. "I think as close as we were for so many years, that did satisfy that hunger a little bit. At the same time, I think myself and everybody came back in here ready and hungry to get another one. So, I think there are different types of hunger."

Porter said it's not a lack of hunger that separates this year's club from the world champs, it's a glut of turnovers.

"We haven't lost any hunger. We had more turnovers now than we had all of last year. We were involved in every game, but you're not going to win the game when you have four, five turnovers a game. The people you're playing are just too good for you to overcome that all the time."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06313/736911-66.stm

 

[iambrutus]

Ike Taylor gets benched

Steelers Searching For Answers, Cowher Benches Taylor

November 9, 2006 1:25 p.m. EST


Christopher Cornell - All Headline News Staff
Pittsburgh, PA (AHN) - At the beginning of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers rewarded cornerback Ike Taylor for helping the team capture a long-awaited Super Bowl title by giving him a five-year, $22.5 million contract extension. This week, he'll be earning that paycheck from the bench. Head coach Bill Cowher has decided to sit Taylor in favor of Bryant McFadden after Taylor was torched by the Broncos' Javon Walker last week.
Pittsburgh has one of the better pass defenses in football, surrendering 189 yards a game in the air. However, last week against Denver, the Broncos found plenty of holes in the 'Steel Curtain'. Pittsburgh gave up 227 yards in the air and three touchdowns.
Javon Walker gave Taylor fits all day. With Taylor covering him for most of the game, Walker caught six passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. He caught two 10-yard fade route touchdowns with Taylor covering him and Taylor also missed tackling Walker when he galloped to a 72-yard touchdown run.
The Louisiana-Lafayette product told the AP he's got to battle his way back into a starting spot.
"It's just something I've got to fight my way through," Taylor said. "[Cowher] just said, 'Fight your way [out] of it,' and that's what I've got to do."
Cowher will go with McFadden as Taylor's replacement. McFadden is a two-year veteran from Florida State. He's played mostly as a defensive back in dime coverage, but he's also started two games at cornerback this season in place of Deshea Townsend.
McFadden told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he's anxious to capitalize on the opportunity.
"I feel every week is an opportunity for me," said McFadden. "Whenever my number's needed to be called, I always want to go out and play football and stay around the ball and try to be consistent."
Taylor, 26, had been the team's top cornerback the last two seasons. He normally covers the opposing team's top receiver. He was a fourth-round draft pick out of Louisiana-Lafayette in 2003. He became a starter last year when he led the NFL with 25 passes defended.
Taylor will be relegated to dime coverage as the Steelers don't use nickel coverage very often.
The Steelers are trying to turn around their season to finish with a winning record. They currently sit at 2-6 and they've lost nine of their last 16 regular season games. Their 2-6 record is the worst mark through eight games by a defending Super Bowl champion in the NFL's history.
They'll try to right the ship in the second half of the season when they play five teams with records under .500. They play the Browns twice and the Bucs once who have just four wins combined together. It won't get easier for them this week however, as they will take on the resurgent New Orleans Saints who are 6-2.

 

[BuckNutty]

Ike Taylor gets benched

Good. Hopefully this well deserved benching will wake his ass up.

 

[iambrutus]

Good. Hopefully this well deserved benching will wake his ass up.

i hope it does, plus it give McFadden more PT which can only help him.

 

[Alex Boone fan]

I have never seen the Steelers play this sloppy. That just to be left to Tommy Maddoxx. Its just Santonio Holmes which needs to learn to hold onto the ball but its everyone with the exception of the D. They aren't as tenacious as they were last season but overall have played well.

 

[BuckNutty]

Polamalu practices, awaits OK to play
Thursday, November 16, 2006

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Safety Troy Polamalu returned to the ring that was the Steelers' indoor practice field yesterday and compared himself to a boxer.

"Whenever boxers or ultimate fighters come back from getting knocked out, they have a 50-fight career, you know? So it's really no big deal."

Polamalu practiced with his teammates yesterday and said he felt fine and ready to return to the lineup Sunday in Cleveland after he left the victory against New Orleans early with what he said was his fifth concussion since high school.

Doctors, he said, cleared him to play, and he is ready to do that as soon as coach Bill Cowher gives him the OK.

"I feel good, good enough to go ... I can play today. The decision's not up to me, though. I passed all the tests and did everything I could do. I feel as good or better than I did with my three-quarter bye week that I had."

Polamalu played through a shoulder injury that occurred in the season's first game and affected him through the fourth game, a week after the Steelers' Oct. 1 open date.

He came to the Steelers as their first-round draft choice in 2003 with a history of concussions -- one, he said, in high school and three at Southern California. The Steelers gave him a neurological exam before they drafted him. He has worn a Revolution helmet, designed to further protect a player's head, since he has been in the pros.

Polamalu, as he did during interviews while at Southern California, made light of his concussions, waving them away as "no big deal" and saying he does not worry about future effects.

"I haven't had that many. There's a lot of players who go through long careers having more, so it's not a big deal."

He said he was joking when he told a reporter in 2002 that wearing his long hair outside of his helmet does not provide the kind of cushion for his head that he had when he wore it up.

Polamalu has made the Pro Bowl each of his past two seasons as the team's starting strong safety. He brings a unique style of play to the position, one in which he lines up just about anywhere on the field and can wind up on the other half of the field at the snap of the ball.

"No doubt, he's a special talent," said Tyrone Carter, who replaced Polamalu in the first quarter against the Saints. "You can't duplicate him, I can't try to play like him, I can't try to be like him.

"Troy's one of a kind, man. I just feel fortunate enough to be on the team with him and learn from him, too. Losing him would be big."

What does he mean to the Steelers' defense?

"Everything," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "Probably more than everything. Is there a word that's more than everything? That's what Troy means.

"He completely controls the secondary, and a lot of our schemes and things are based off him. He means everything. Troy's just really a special player, and he has a way of getting sideline to sideline faster than anyone I've ever seen and can cover more ground than anyone I've ever seen."

His three interceptions lead the Steelers and his five tackles for losses tie him for the team lead.

The Steelers drafted him to counteract teams in their division who had good receiving tight ends, such as Todd Heap in Baltimore. The Cleveland Browns drafted Kellen Winslow in 2004. Strong safeties often cover tight ends more than any other defender.

Because of injuries, this will be the first time Winslow will play against Polamalu and the Steelers. He leads the Browns with 56 receptions, third in the NFL and first among tight ends.

"He's an excellent tight end, probably the most athletic in the NFL," Polamalu said. "We're going to have our hands full with him -- if I play."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06320/738794-66.stm

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Steelers take fast fall from Super Bowl high
Roethlisberger accident, free-agent losses play roles

Sunday, November 19, 2006

James Walker
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

</IMG> Coach Bill Cowher says opponents gear up to face the Super Bowl champions.


BEREA, Ohio ? There are times when nine months can feel like an eternity.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, this is one of those times.
The image of coach Bill Cowher hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in Detroit in February after winning his first Super Bowl and the team?s first since 1980 was one of the crowning moments in Steelers history.
But since then it has been nothing but trauma for Pittsburgh, including a motorcycle accident involving quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, a constant rumor mill surrounding Cowher?s future and losing six of nine games to start the 2006 season.
It?s never easy being the defending Super Bowl champ, and the Steelers are finding that out the hard way. They were expected to challenge for another title but instead are tied with the Cleveland Browns (3-6), their opponent today, in a game where the loser will be placed in the cellar of the AFC North.
"It?s been challenging," Cowher said. "The biggest thing is that we?ve been so close and in every football game. We?ve lost some tough games at the end. ? . It?s been a challenging year from that standpoint, but we aren?t dwelling on those first nine games."
What happened to the Steelers? It began in the offseason.
Only four teams in the past 25 years have been up to the challenge of winning back-to-back Super Bowls, and it has become particularly difficult once free agency started in 1993.
Pittsburgh lost its emotional leader in running back Jerome Bettis to retirement. The Steelers also lost starting receiver Antwaan Randle-El, safety Chris Hope and defensive end Kimo Von Oelhoffen, who all signed with other teams.
The Steelers are trying to replace those veterans with younger players such as Santonio Holmes, a rookie receiver from Ohio State; defensive end Brett Keisel; and fifth-year safety Ryan Clark. The influx in youth could be a factor in Pittsburgh losing four games by nine points or fewer.
Roethlisberger?s motorcycle accident caused him to miss only one game, but it has affected his play. He leads the NFL with 14 interceptions ? far different from his first two productive NFL seasons.
Browns coach Romeo Crennel was defensive coordinator for the most recent team, the New England Patriots, to win two consecutive Super Bowls in 2003-04. He says it takes focus and the right group of veterans.
"It?s tough, but sometimes the experience of the team can make a difference and help," Crennel said. "In 2001, we were a team that wasn?t expected to do anything. We went to the Super Bowl, and then in 2002 we don?t make the playoffs. We were the champs and everyone was ready for us. We weren?t ready for those shots that came."
Browns center Hank Fraley played in the Super Bowl after the 2004 season with the Philadelphia Eagles, who didn?t make the playoffs the following season (although former receiver Terrell Owens had something to do with it).
"Everybody is gunning for you when you?re at the top, even teams that aren?t supposed to beat you are not lying down," Fraley said. "Sometimes it can make a team?s season beating somebody in that caliber. They think, ?We can be 2-14, but one of our wins is against the Super Bowl champs.? "
Cowher says teams are playing harder against the Steelers this year.
"We hear people talking about getting ready to play the Super Bowl champs and us being a barometer for teams," Cowher said. "It?s not like we haven?t been a good team for a while. (But) we are going to get everyone?s best shot. We understand that and recognize that."
Super Bowl teams also have shorter offseasons, don?t get as much rest and usually aren?t as fortunate the following year with injuries. In addition to Roethlisberger, linebacker Joey Porter and center Jeff Hartings are key starters who have missed games because of injuries.
There is some good news for the Steelers: They are playing better and have experience in getting hot down the stretch. Last year, Pittsburgh won eight in a row during its Super Bowl run and needs a similar stretch this year if the team has any hopes of making the postseason.
"Until someone says mathematically that we are out of it, we are taking it one game at a time right now," Cowher said. "There is a lot of football left. We are starting the second half of the season last week, so we have put ourselves in a pretty big deficit at halftime and we?re trying to dig out. We?ll see what happens."
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

McNair presents major worry for Steelers

ALAN ROBINSON

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - No NFL quarterback knows the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as Steve McNair does.
McNair, the longtime Tennessee Titans star now with the Baltimore Ravens, has opposed the Steelers 14 times since breaking into the NFL 11 years ago. He's won in the playoffs against them, an overtime game in Nashville in January 2003, and has been difficult to defend because of his size and arm strength.
To Steelers coach Bill Cowher, it is obvious that McNair has made a difference to the Ravens (8-2), who lead the Steelers (4-6) by four games with six to play in the AFC North. The teams play Sunday in Baltimore, the first of their two games in the next five weeks.
"Just the confidence they have, you can see in some of the comeback wins," Cowher said. "These are big. They were down by almost 20 points to Tennessee a couple of weeks ago, and they came back and got that win. They're a very confident football team."
For all the games he's played against them, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound McNair rarely has had this chance - effectively ending the Steelers' season by beating them. The Super Bowl champion Steelers probably can't afford another loss if they're to return to the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
"Good teams bring out the best in you, and that's what Pittsburgh has done in my career, going against those guys," McNair said. "When you can have a team like Pittsburgh with the players and personnel they have, you get up for those games because of the greatness they have on defense. I think that's what makes this so special."
McNair has 2,452 yards passing in 13 regular-season games against the Steelers, with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also has rushed for 311 yards, although the 33-year-old does not abandon the pocket nearly as much as he did early in his career.
Perhaps this is McNair's most impressive statistic: his teams have won 10 of the 14 games they've played against Pittsburgh, counting the playoffs, though he did not start every game.
"He's the same guy," linebacker Clark Haggans said. "He's hard to bring down. He can get the ball off. He stays in the pocket. He scrambles to bide his time and runs when he needs to run."
Is he playing as well as he did with Tennessee?
"Yep, if not better," Haggans said, pointing to the Ravens' success this season with McNair. "Eight and two. That's it."
Although it might seem the win-or-else Steelers have a greater sense of urgency to win Sunday than the Ravens, McNair said that's not true.
Even a losing-record Steelers team presents challenges, he said, and the Ravens don't want to open up an AFC North race they lead by three games over Cincinnati (5-5).
McNair hasn't played the Steelers since Pittsburgh's 34-7 season-opening victory over Tennessee last year.
"We know what to expect out of Pittsburgh. If you can't get ready for this game, then you don't need to be a part of this league," McNair said. "When you think Baltimore and Pittsburgh, that means a lot by itself. People are going to come in and give a little extra effort to prepare themselves this week."
McNair's familiarity with the Steelers' blitz schemes and coverages is an advantage most quarterbacks don't have.
"He's experienced, and he's playing well," Haggans said. "He's tough. He played with a lot of injuries in Tennessee, so you know he plays with a lot of guts, a lot of heart. He really loves this game."

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

Ward calls Steelers' loss worst ever

ALAN ROBINSON

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Steelers may have played a worse game under coach Bill Cowher, may have been more overmatched at the line of scrimmage, may have given their quarterback less protection, may have mounted less offense.
Just don't ask them to name specifics, not after a 27-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday not only ended any faint hope they had of repeating their Super Bowl championship but exposed the very reasons why they won't.
"This was maybe our worst game - ever," wide receiver Hines Ward said.
These Steelers have never begun to play the way they did in winning their final eight games and the NFL championship last season. Even if they do play well in their final five all-but-meaningless games - and there is nothing about a team with a 4-7 record to suggest it will - it is much too late to save this season.
Repeat as Super Bowl champions? This team never gave itself a chance.
Maybe it was all the bad karma following Ben Roethlisberger's helmet-less and seemingly unnecessary motorcycle crash injuries in June. Or maybe it was the questions raised and the confusion caused by coach Bill Cowher's refusal to clarify his status past this season.
Or maybe, as running back Willie Parker presciently suggested a few weeks back, maybe this team simply wasn't as hungry to win as last year's team was.
Whatever the reasons, the Steelers will have plenty of time to assess how much could go so wrong so quickly only 10 months after this almost identical cast did almost everything right.
"We didn't show up," Ward said of the Steelers' worst shutout loss under Cowher since a 27-0 defeat to the Rams in 1993. "We fell behind and guys had their heads down. That's very uncharacteristic for us. When we fell behind, we started pressing and we couldn't get anything going."
It kind of describes their season, too.
Even a five-game winning streak to end the season would get them only to 9-7, a record that probably wouldn't be good enough to make the playoffs.
Now they're playing for next season, for draft position, to figure out what their biggest trouble areas are, and how to address them. Maybe they're also playing for their coach to decide if this was his final season with them.
"These next five games should mean a lot to the guys on this team," Ward said. "We're going to find out who will be here next year. We will find out who will keep practicing hard and keep working hard. We have to keep working and keep fighting."
The only immediate goal is to avoid the embarrassment of going from a Super Bowl champion one season to last in its division the next. The Steelers lead the Cleveland Browns (3-8) by one game for that distinction in the AFC North.
The Steelers must win three of five, a pace they haven't kept yet, merely to finish 7-9 and avoid matching their worst record under Cowher, the 6-10 marks of 2003 and 1999.
There were negatives aplenty in the Ravens loss, one that ranks with a 37-7 defeat to Dallas in the 1997 opener as the worst of the Cowher era. The difference is that 1997 team came back to reach the AFC championship game and fell four points short of making the Super Bowl.
Their 21 rushing yards were their fewest since 1982, and their nine sacks allowed matched the most they've permitted since the NFL officially recognized that statistic, also in 1982. They had three more turnovers, increasing their league-worst total to 30. For comparison's sake, that's 21 more than San Diego's league-low 9.
For the rest of the season, many Steelers may be playing merely to assure themselves a spot on the team in 2007.
"You are not going to get any quit out of any of us," Roethlisberger said. "Every single player is going to give it their all every time we step on the field."
Of course, if that had happened until now, they might not be in the mess they're in now.
"We're going to find out a lot about the character of this team," Ward said.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

Cowher to Steelers: Put aside negativity

ALAN ROBINSON

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - If coach Bill Cowher has a message for the underachieving Pittsburgh Steelers over their final four games it's this: Think positive.
Just as some players may have gotten caught up in all the praise sent their way after they won the Super Bowl last season, Cowher doesn't want them buying into the criticism they've gotten lately.
"The only thing we can control is how we think and, a lot of times, how you think is how you feel and how you perform," Cowher said Monday. "We need to look forward rather than get caught up in the (past) results or the big picture."
The Steelers (5-7) can win for the fourth time in five games when they play the Cleveland Browns (4-8) on Thursday, yet they will probably miss the playoffs even if they win out the rest of the season. They trail five teams by two games each with four games to play in the race for the two AFC wild-card berths.
Regardless, Cowher wants the Steelers approaching the final four games like they did last season, when they made the playoffs by sweeping those games.
"I understand the expectations around here," Cowher said. "That's the thing that happens when you've created that and you fall short of that, you understands what comes with the territory. Just be careful that you don't get caught up in it. It's just like success, it works both ways."
The Steelers must win the rest of their games to finish above .500, and at least three of four to avoid their fourth losing season under Cowher in 15 seasons. The only other such seasons were 1998 (7-9), 1999 (6-10) and 2003 (6-10).
After the Steelers face the Browns, their schedule toughens up again with games at Carolina on Dec. 17, at home against the Ravens (9-3) on Dec. 24 and at Cincinnati (7-5) on Dec. 31.
"We can't get caught up with all the cynical people who talk about how we (got) beat and who we beat - there's a lot of negativity out there because there are high expectations and we have not met those expectations," Cowher said. "We will go out there and battle week in and week out and not be deterred by what people are saying or where we are."
The Steelers beat Tampa Bay 20-3 on Sunday, but Cowher seemed to be referring to the criticism that followed the 27-0 loss at Baltimore on Nov. 26. The Steelers were pushed around offensively and physically on a day they rushed for only 21 yards, their lowest total since 1970, and Ben Roethlisberger was sacked nine times.
"That was the worst ever," wide receiver Hines Ward said.
Later, Cowher told his players to forget about that game and, instead, to look forward to achieving something over their remaining games.
"You can't control what people think," he said. "What you can control is the future, not what took place behind you. ... Don't get caught up in the season, if you could have done this or done that. Just focus on the process right now."
The Steelers have been a good late-season club since moving into Heinz Field in 2001, going 21-5 in regular-season games played on Dec. 1 or later. They are 10-1 the last three seasons, counting the Tampa Bay game.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

Parker rushing past Hall of Famers on Steelers' list

ALAN ROBINSON

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Franco Harris. Jerome Bettis. John Henry Johnson.
They are among the top rushers in NFL history - two are Hall of Famers, and Bettis may join them some day - and each is high up on the Pittsburgh Steelers' single-game yardage list.
Remarkably, none ever had a game like Willie Parker did.
Make that two games.
In less than a month, Parker has the No. 1 and No. 3 single-game rushing performances in Steelers history. He ran for a club-record 223 yards Thursday night against the Browns in little more than three quarters, a big night that followed up a 213-yard game against the Saints on Nov. 12.
"It means a lot, I'm not going to sit here and say it don't," Parker said of a performance that also gave him a second straight 1,000-yard season. "I came a long way."
Until this season, the Steelers had only a pair of 200-yard games in their 74-season history, John "Frenchy" Fuqua's 218 yards against the Eagles in 1970 and Johnson's 200-yard game against the Browns in 1964. Now, Parker has doubled that list by himself.
Which raises this question: Considering how easily the yards came to Parker during the Steelers' 27-7 victory Thursday, could he have threatened the NFL record of 295 yards by Baltimore's Jamal Lewis against - you guessed it, the Browns - in 2003?
Parker ran only three times in the fourth quarter for 11 yards, enough to get the team record before sitting down. The 223 yards are the most by an NFL running back this season.
"Coach (Bill) Cowher didn't come to me and say to set the NFL record, he said the Steelers record, so I guess the NFL record is out of the books," Parker said.
Steelers linebacker Joey Porter badmouthed the Browns during a lengthy postgame rant in which he suggested Parker could have gotten as many yards as he wanted.
"He ran the ball well and they couldn't stop him," Porter said. "At some points in time, they had nine, 10 people in the box and he was breaking it."
That he is breaking records in his third NFL season seems a bit preposterous to Parker, one of the few NFL players who can say he was signed on the recommendation of the owner's son.
Parker got considerable playing time as a freshman running back at North Carolina in 2000, but found himself getting the ball less and less as his career under coach John Bunting wore on. He had only 181 yards as a senior, a number he reached Thursday by the third quarter.
As a result, Parker didn't get much attention from NFL scouts. But North Carolina-based Steelers scout Dan Rooney Jr. - the son of the Hall of Fame owner - remembered the speed Parker first displayed as a high school running back. So the Steelers signed Parker as a non-drafted rookie in the hours immediately after the 2004 draft.
That speed so intrigued Cowher that he kept Parker on the 53-man roster, even though the Steelers had just signed Duce Staley to be their starting running back and also had Bettis, the No. 5 rusher in NFL history.
Parker's signing, little noticed at the time, might have won a Super Bowl for the Steelers.
After Bettis and Staley were hurt in training camp a year ago, Parker won the starting job, rushed for 1,202 yards during the season, then had a Super Bowl record 75-yard TD run in the 21-10 championship game victory over Seattle.
"I always say I came a long way and it means a lot," said Parker, who signed a $13.4 million, four-year contract extension in August.
When Parker broke the record, he and Cowher hugged along the sideline. Coincidentally, Parker's record game came during the same week the Steelers released Staley, who was hurt halfway through the 2004 season and, partly because of Parker, never was a starter again.
"He (Cowher) told me how proud he was of me and of how far I came," Parker said. "It was like a father-son relationship. He embraced me. It got emotional."
Another name on the Steelers' list of single-game rushing leaders also had a hand in Parker's success.
Dick Hoak, who had a 169-yard game against the Saints in 1969, has been a Steelers player or assistant coach every year but one since 1961, working the last 35 years as their running backs coach. He was a teammate, coach, or both, of every player on the top-10 rushing list.
So when Parker was asked about Fuqua - best known as the intended receiver on Harris' Immaculate Reception against the Raiders in 1972 - the name wasn't unfamiliar to him.
"Coach Hoak talks about him all of the time," Parker said.
No doubt Hoak will be talking about Parker for a long time, too.

 

[elliemae]

How about that "Fast Willie Parker"? That's why we named our retired racer greyhound after him! Go Willie GO!

 

[Jaxbuck]

How about Winslow fucking with Porter and the other LB's and getting his punk card pulled?

That was some great stuff.