Parker always had his share of detractors in Pittsburgh, due to his size, lack of college pedigree, or draft status. He leaves the Steelers with 5,378 yards rushing (third in the team's storied history of running backs), 29 total touchdowns, two championship rings, and one Super Bowl record. That's not exactly worthy of the criticism he endured as a Steeler in my book. On the contrary, I'd say that was a pretty awesome Steeler career, given the relatively brief period of time in which Parker compiled these numbers.
Don't mean to interrupt the Steeler discussion, but a few breaking stories to pass along...
--Larry Johnson is headed to Cincy. After Cedric Benson was injured in yesterday's game against the Steelers, the Bengals picked up the phone and dialed "panic". LJ is en route to Cincinnati and is expected to sign today. This should end well. [PFT]
--Alex Goligoski is out 2-3 weeks. The dreaded "lower body injury" has struck again. OK, who's working the Penguin voodoo doll? [Trib]
--Gametime is set for the Backyard Brawl. Leave your day-after-Thanksgiving open, because Pitt and WVU will be facing off at 7 PM in Morgantown. The game will be telecast on ESPN2. [PG]
--No Pirates won the NL Rookie of the Year. Andrew McCutchen finished fourth and Garrett Jones placed seventh. Chris Coghlan from Florida took home this year's award, with J.A. Happ coming in second and Tommy Hanson third. [John Perrotto Twitter]
Could this man be the next member of the Pittsburgh Steelers? If it were up to him...yes. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, RB Larry Johnson, recently freed of the burdens of an NFL contract, would like to join the Steelers. Let me try and contain my enthusiasm.
Predictably, the internet has gone wild with this nugget of information; but just like the Michael Vick-to-the-Steelers theory, let's slow down a minute before we go signing anyone on behalf of Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin. Once again, the Steelers do not need this player. They already have several running backs who are more than capable of handling an NFL workload. And while the Steelers are certainly are not exempt from players who have had run-ins with the law, they have been their own players, not players from other teams who are being given a second chance at NFL life by the Black and Gold. With the exception of the extremely mislabeled Jerome Bettis, images are not generally rehabbed in the Steel City.
Again drawing comparisons to Vick and ignoring the off-field distractions, this is a player who is in a career freefall. After Johnson's ridiculous two-year run of 752 carries, 3539 yards rushing, and 40 total touchdowns in just 25 starts between 2005 and 2006, his numbers have predictably flatlined. He was clearly overused by the Chiefs in that time, and his stats are a direct reflection of the heavy workload. He hasn't played more than 12 games in a season since then, his top yardage total was 874 in 2008, and he's getting just 2.7 yards per carry this season. I don't know about you, but those numbers don't really excite me.
In short, if you really feel that the Steelers need an expensive, overworked, baggage-laden, soon-to-be-30-year-old running back, then by all means, I suggest you support the Larry Johnson-to-Pittsburgh cause. But I'm guessing you won't have much support. Schefter: Larry Johnson wants to play for the Steelers [PFT]
Today is undoubtedly a busy day for excuse-makers in Seattle, because they can't blame this one on the refs. No, the only ones to blame for Sunday's atrocity were the Seahawks themselves, for an utterly embarrassing performance on nearly every level. Unless you consider zero points and 144 yards of offense a good performance.
Not only were the Steelers missing Troy Polamalu, Casey Hampton, Bryant McFadden, and Hines Ward, but San Antonio Holmes went down in warmups and was out of action on Sunday. I think even Steely McBeam was nursing a hammy. But did it matter? Obviously not.
Seattle was missing Deion Branch, who sprained his right foot in the second quarter. They were also missing Shaun Alexander, who didn't show up at all on Sunday. Wait, he did play? I didn't even notice.
Big Ben was unconscious on Sunday: 18-22, 206 yards and a TD, without the service of his top two receivers. He somehow pulled off the impossible, winning a game 21-0 while throwing to Cedrick Wilson, Nate Washington and Willie Reid. Big Ben's biggest fan (literally) was clearly enthused about the performance.
There were several plays worthy of discussion from yesterday's game. One was Ike Taylor's interception before the half, which clearly killed any possible momentum the Seahawks might muster. After this game and the Super Bowl, Matt Hasselbeck clearly sees Ike Taylor in his nightmares. It was a huge play from a supercharged Steeler secondary who raised their game sans Polamalu and McFadden.
Another memorable play was Allen Rossum's punt return at the one yard line. I was wondering why he would try to field a punt at his own one when half the Seattle coverage team was surrounding the ball. But apparently a player can field the ball and advance it without the possibility of a fumble, because Seattle had illegally touched the ball. So all's well that ends well. Except for when Rossum fumbled a punt return. Memories of 2006 came flooding back.
Yet a third memorable play was Najeh Davenport's 45-yard rumble, which, as cliches go, immediately made him "another Bus" (at least in Don Banks' mind). A reminder for the 857th time: just because a running back weighs around 250 and wears a Steeler uniform, he does not automatically become Jerome Bettis.
While not a tremendously exciting game, it was an important one to win as far as momentum goes. We stay a game up on Baltimore, who won despite scoring only 9 points. Clearly, the addition of Willis McGahee is paying huge dividends there.
Now the Steelers go into the bye week at 4-1 after a nice bounce-back win, as opposed to 3-2 and on a two-game losing streak. The next game is a Sunday nighter on October 21 at Denver, who may or may not be featuring Travis Henry at running back by then. Of course, if the Broncos play like they did yesterday, when they did have Travis Henry, his presence won't make much of a difference. Hey Mike Shanahan: you got blown out by Norv Turner. NORV TURNER!
More thoughts:
--Yet another touchdown by a Steeler tight end on Sunday. Steeler Nation is ecstatic.
--Anyone catch the appearance by The Emperor Chas Noll before the game?
--Your NFL rushing leader at the moment: Fast Willie Parker, with 507 yards.
--Proof of the strong play from the Steeler secondary: Seattle completed 2 passes in the second half.
--The Steelers are 3-0 at home, winning by a combined score of 84-19. I like those numbers.
--This was the second time Seattle's been shutout in Mike Holmgren's nine seasons behind the wheel.
--Four of this week's top five rushers: Michael Turner, Kenton Keith, Brian Leonard, and Sammy Morris. Not exactly Ladainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, and Frank Gore.
--I guess Matt Leinart's broken collarbone fixes the Cardinals' QB controversy. And I'm sure Rams fans were thrilled watching Kurt Warner drop their team to 0-5.
--New Orleans keeps coming up with new and innovative ways to lose, at witnessed by Sunday's last-second field goal loss at the hands of Carolina. Last year's NFC Championship seems like 20 years ago.
--Congrats to Trent Green for setting the NFL record with his 900th career concussion. And nice touch by Travis Johnson for standing over Green and taunting him while he lay motionless.
--That Tennessee buzzsaw keeps going: they somehow win a game while committing 5 turnovers.
--Was that two-minute drill by Green Bay the worst since Philadelphia's in the Super Bowl? It's got my vote. We'll see how it affects Joesportsfan's Top 7 Ridiculous Brett Favre Quotes.
