Willie Parker Out for Season

[deltachi8]

Broken leg in tonight's game. Tough blow for the Steelers, good news for the Brownies.

[*BaseClogger*]

There goes the fantasy league championship...

[max venable]

Remember the harrassment Bengals fans got from Steelers fans after Carson's injury. They basically said that had Carson not gotten injured during that game it wouldn't have made a difference...that the Steelers would have won anyway. Bet they'll be singing a different tune after losing early in the playoffs this year: "Well, if Willie hadn't gotten hurt..." Wah, wah, wah...

[deltachi8]

Originally Posted by max venable

Remember the harrassment Bengals fans got from Steelers fans after Carson's injury. They basically said that had Carson not gotten injured during that game it wouldn't have made a difference...that the Steelers would have won anyway. Bet they'll be singing a different tune after losing early in the playoffs this year: "Well, if Willie hadn't gotten hurt..." Wah, wah, wah...

Not a chance from this Steeler fan. You win with the players on the field, no excuses.

It's been a nice season for them under a new coach and they will be better next year as he grows as a head coach. This yeas is not the year for them however.

With Parker or not, they are not good enough to win the Super Bowl anyway. They have too many problems up front (on both sides of the ball).

They may win a Playoff game (if they get there) or maybe even two, but what's the difference when you lose in the playoffs if you don't win the Super Bowl.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Originally Posted by max venable

Remember the harrassment Bengals fans got from Steelers fans after Carson's injury. They basically said that had Carson not gotten injured during that game it wouldn't have made a difference...that the Steelers would have won anyway. Bet they'll be singing a different tune after losing early in the playoffs this year: "Well, if Willie hadn't gotten hurt..." Wah, wah, wah...

And I'll be happy to show them Davenport's stats in last night's game after Parker left. Good enough to make any fantasy owner (and NFL coach) real proud to have 'em.

[SteelSD]

Originally Posted by max venable

Remember the harrassment Bengals fans got from Steelers fans after Carson's injury. They basically said that had Carson not gotten injured during that game it wouldn't have made a difference...that the Steelers would have won anyway. Bet they'll be singing a different tune after losing early in the playoffs this year: "Well, if Willie hadn't gotten hurt..." Wah, wah, wah...

What deltachi said.

Almost two years after the Palmer injury, it appears you're the only fan (Bengals or Steelers) who's whining about anything.

[SeeinRed]

The Palmer injury was much more crippling for the Bengals for 2 reasons. 1. It was at the beginning of a Playoff game that was planned for with Palmer at the helm and running the team. Do you think they even had a thought of losing Palmer during that game? 2. Which I guess is more like 1a is that the quarterback runs the team. Yes, losing a running back can suck, but they don't run the team like the QB.

No matter how prepared you make yourself by planning with the 2nd QB like they were going to start, you just can't prepare enough as far as planning goes. Palmer and Kitna were 2 different types of QBs, so you team has to plan around which ever one is going to start.

Having said that, don't think for a second that the Steelers will be hurting for too long. They can get a running back that will run enough to free up Ben. He has shown the ability to beat teams with his arm. I very much doubt that any Steelers fans will be complaining about the injury come the playoffs. And I am a Bengals fan.

[Bip Roberts]

Both teams are worthless and both will lose in the 1st round of the playoffs, thats of course if they dont play each other in that 1st round

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Bip Roberts

Both teams are worthless and both will lose in the 1st round of the playoffs, thats of course if they dont play each other in that 1st round

Cute little troll.

[Dom Heffner]

With Parker or not, they are not good enough to win the Super Bowl anyway. They have too many problems up front (on both sides of the ball).

If they get on a roll, look out. At any given moment they can really put it together.

[deltachi8]

Originally Posted by Dom Heffner

If they get on a roll, look out. At any given moment they can really put it together.

As a Steeler fan, I want to believe that. However, over the last half of the season, they are failing to produce much of a pass rush and Ben's sack totals are approaching David Carr territory. It certainly could come back together for them , but the trends don't seem to indicate that.

I hope they do play Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs because that could be a very fun game to watch.

[SteelSD]

Originally Posted by SeeinRed

Do you think they even had a thought of losing Palmer during that game?

...

No matter how prepared you make yourself by planning with the 2nd QB like they were going to start, you just can't prepare enough as far as planning goes. Palmer and Kitna were 2 different types of QBs, so you team has to plan around which ever one is going to start.

If they didn't anticipate the possible loss of Palmer at any point in time, then the Bengals came into that game with a poorly constructed roster or game plan. Every NFL team needs to enter every game knowing that any one player can be lost. Every one. The Bengals had one of the best backup QB's in the league (a guy who's currently a starter in Detroit). Roster construction was not a problem in that regard. If they weren't prepared for Plan B if Plan A went awry, then we're looking at a coaching issue because there's a game plan deficiency. Sure the team has to adjust, but such an adjustment has to be anticipated by the coaching staff.

And it's not like the Bengals had simply dominated the Steelers in 2005 with Carson Palmer at the helm. They were 1-1 versus Pittsburgh coming into the playoffs. They had been outscored in those two meetings by a touchdown. The loss of Palmer was unfortunate, but not something the Bengals couldn't overcome.

Having said that, don't think for a second that the Steelers will be hurting for too long. They can get a running back that will run enough to free up Ben. He has shown the ability to beat teams with his arm. I very much doubt that any Steelers fans will be complaining about the injury come the playoffs. And I am a Bengals fan.

I appreciate those kind words. And here's why I think the smart Steelers' fans won't be complaining about Parker's injury should they make the playoffs.

I have a feeling that a lot of folks overrate Willie Parker. He's a player who grabs a huge chunk of yards on decent-to-big gainers after producing 1 to 2 yard Runs on early downs. His nickname has been "Fast Willie", but at times he's almost "Untenable Willie". The guy puts the Steelers in a lot of 2nd and 3rd-and-longs. Don't get me wrong, I like "explosive", but I've grown somewhat tired of seeing nearly-broken runs turn into 2 (or fewer) yard gains because Parker can't cut most of the time without slipping over yard lines.

He has his uses, but he isn't the kind of horse I'd be giving 300+ carries to. Pittsburgh did that this year and last and I'd suggest that doing so has been in error. He's the ying to a power back's yang in one configuration or another and the results have been both fun (the 2nd half SB run) and frustrating (every time he's stopped for a loss, which is many).

Through the rest of the regular season, and possibly whatever playoff games they see, the Steelers' success or failure will depend on the performance of their pass blocking and pass rush. Neither has been up to any reasonable standard. And I expect that'll cost them at some point.

[Sean_CaseyRules]

Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS

Cute little troll.

Must be a Ravens or Browns fan! :

[Cedric]

I'm not a Steelers fan obviously, but I don't think I'm overly biased in saying that team has a ton of flaws. It seems like they have beat the teams they should but also have been beaten by teams they should never have lost to. I blame that on coaching. Hopefully I'm right and Tomlin isn't the right man for the job. I can't believe that Pittsburgh lost to Denver, New York, and Arizona. Who have they beaten other than Cleveland and Seattle? The Cleveland game they were clearly out played and the Seattle game was played when Seattle was in a major funk.

I wonder who the Steelers would be favored against in the playoffs? I think they will probably be a pick um favorite against any team they play. Maybe they would be getting the standard 3 points for being a home team in the divisional round, basically a pick um. Looking at potential playoff teams I don't see one team that they have any advantage over other than experience.

New England- No way
Indy- Doubtful
Cleveland- Pick um and possibly Cleveland would be expected to win
Jaguars- Jags dominated them last week, score wasn't indicative of game.
San Diego- No way favorite

The Steelers will probably be lucky to win one playoff game and would be extremely lucky to win two. I hate the Browns just as much as the Steelers but I just think the Browns would beat them at this point.

But at least Steeler fans and Browns fans can talk about the playoffs. The Bengals are incredibly inept and somehow regressing as a franchise. Pathetic.

[Dom Heffner]

If they didn't anticipate the possible loss of Palmer at any point in time, then the Bengals came into that game with a poorly constructed roster or game plan. Every NFL team needs to enter every game knowing that any one player can be lost. Every one. The Bengals had one of the best backup QB's in the league (a guy who's currently a starter in Detroit).

Steel, I love ya, but the point Bengal's fans are making is that they stood a better chance with Palmer in there and not a very good one with Kitna.

If you just plug Kitna in and rely on your coaching staff, why even draft Palmer?

While Palmer was 1-1 against Pittsburgh, Kitna could just as easily have been 0-2.

If you think it's the coaching rather than the players, then why do Marvin Lewis' defenses suddenly suck?

You win with the talent on the field, and the Bengals had a lot less of it that day with Kitna back there.

Saying Kitna starts for the Lions isn't adding or taking away from your argument, really. He may be starting, but I think that says more about the lack of quality quarterbacks than it does about Kitna's talent. He is still an interception machine.

Maybe the Pats should bench Brady this weekend and play the backup since it's just a matter of coaching plans.

Your assessment of the Steelers was terrific- my only point is that they appear to be sporadically expolsive, which can be dangerous in the playoffs. How they do it I have no idea, but they have been putting up some points.

And the pass rush you worry about is better with Polamalu on the field- oh, that's right people getting hurt doesn't really affect things.