Published: Saturday, December 9, 2006
NFL
Parker is now king of Steelers' rushers
Willie Parker took his place in Steelers' history in a 27-7 win over the Browns.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH — Over the past 35 NFL seasons, the Steelers have excelled at rushing with the likes of Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier and Jerome Bettis.
In the past month, Steelers tailback Willie Parker has accomplished what no other Steelers back has achieved.
In the Steelers' 27-7 win over the Browns on Thursday at Heinz Field, Parker broke the Steelers' single-game rushing mark by running for 223 yards on 32 carries.
The record of 218 was set in 1970 by Frenchy Fuqua against the Eagles.
It was Parker's second 200-yard game in a month as Parker shredded the Saints for 213 yards on Nov. 12.
No other Steeler has gained 200 yards twice.
"I really don't know too much about Frenchy," said Parker who mostly sat the bench in college when he played for the University of North Carolina. "[Running backs] Coach [Dick] Hoak talks about him all the time. I was young, and I really don't know too much about him.
The Steelers outrushed the Browns, 303-18, and Parker said attitude made a difference.
"We just went in there with a swagger," said Parker who is in his second season replacing Bettis and Duce Staley as starter. "We knew these guys just hated our guts, and we just kind of played with a swagger."
Different styles
Parker, whose nickname is "Fast Willie," said his style is a lot different from what Bettis displayed.
"When I first got here, I analyzed everything and I saw that over the years they really hadn't had speed backs — it's always been power backs.
"I thought I'd need to make my niche somewhere else — special teams or something like that."
With the Steelers ahead 24-0 late in the third quarter, Parker thought his night might be over.
"Coach Cowher came to me and asked me if I wanted to run some more," Parker said. "I asked him why he asked me that, and he told me that I was 8 yards away from the record.
"So I said, 'Yeah, I want to run some more.' "
Cowher also told his top back that "when I got the record that he was going to pull me."
Tackle Max Starks said, "I went to him before the game and said to him that we need to shut everybody up about our running game woes and just go ahead and rip it off. He said, 'Just open the holes up and I'll do it.' We did our best and he made it happen. He did a phenomenal job."
Starks said the Browns didn't blitz much and that helped the Steelers.
"They didn't try to come with too many tricky type of blitzes," Starks said. "They played pretty much head-up — the way we thought they were going to play. We just exploited that."
Smith makes first start
On the other side of the ball, Hubbard native Anthony Smith, filling in for Ryan Clark, made his first start at free safety after playing the second half of Sunday's 20-3 win over the Buccaneers.
"I felt comfortable," the Steelers rookie from Syracuse said. "I got my feet wet last week so I just went out and made plays."
With the Steelers ahead 24-0 late in the third quarter, Smith intercepted Browns quarterback Derek Anderson at the Pittsburgh 9 for his first pick.
"We were in cover-2 and I was just reading the quarterback's eyes and just followed the ball," Smith said.
Smith said the Browns' struggles at rushing helped the Steelers' injury-depleted secondary (strong safety Troy Polamalu missed his second game with a knee injury).
"It allowed me and [strong safety] Tyrone [Carter] to sit back and worry about interceptions," said Smith who admitted he missed a chance to stop Browns wideout Braylon Edwards' 45-yard touchdown late in the game.
"I missed a tackle but it happens, it's part of the game," Smith said.
Steelers still alive
At 6-7 with three games to play, the Steelers are mathematically alive in the race for the AFC wild cards. But with five teams ahead of them at 7-5 (Broncos, Chiefs, Jaguars, Jets and Bengals), the Steelers need a lot of help in Sunday's games to close the gap.
"A year ago heading into this game we were 7-5, this year we're 5-7," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said of the roller-coaster season. "What's the difference between this year and last year?
"I can think of two or three games that a year ago we had won," Cowher said. "This is the time of year that you have to play your best football. These guys understand that. They understand that mindset and mentality. The difference between this year and last year is basically two games. Those two games we won last year and we didn't win this year."
williams@vindy.com
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Willie Parker took his place in Steelers' history in a 27-7 win over the Browns.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH — Over the past 35 NFL seasons, the Steelers have excelled at rushing with the likes of Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier and Jerome Bettis.
In the past month, Steelers tailback Willie Parker has accomplished what no other Steelers back has achieved.
In the Steelers' 27-7 win over the Browns on Thursday at Heinz Field, Parker broke the Steelers' single-game rushing mark by running for 223 yards on 32 carries.
The record of 218 was set in 1970 by Frenchy Fuqua against the Eagles.
It was Parker's second 200-yard game in a month as Parker shredded the Saints for 213 yards on Nov. 12.
No other Steeler has gained 200 yards twice.
"I really don't know too much about Frenchy," said Parker who mostly sat the bench in college when he played for the University of North Carolina. "[Running backs] Coach [Dick] Hoak talks about him all the time. I was young, and I really don't know too much about him.
The Steelers outrushed the Browns, 303-18, and Parker said attitude made a difference.
"We just went in there with a swagger," said Parker who is in his second season replacing Bettis and Duce Staley as starter. "We knew these guys just hated our guts, and we just kind of played with a swagger."
Different styles
Parker, whose nickname is "Fast Willie," said his style is a lot different from what Bettis displayed.
"When I first got here, I analyzed everything and I saw that over the years they really hadn't had speed backs — it's always been power backs.
"I thought I'd need to make my niche somewhere else — special teams or something like that."
With the Steelers ahead 24-0 late in the third quarter, Parker thought his night might be over.
"Coach Cowher came to me and asked me if I wanted to run some more," Parker said. "I asked him why he asked me that, and he told me that I was 8 yards away from the record.
"So I said, 'Yeah, I want to run some more.' "
Cowher also told his top back that "when I got the record that he was going to pull me."
Tackle Max Starks said, "I went to him before the game and said to him that we need to shut everybody up about our running game woes and just go ahead and rip it off. He said, 'Just open the holes up and I'll do it.' We did our best and he made it happen. He did a phenomenal job."
Starks said the Browns didn't blitz much and that helped the Steelers.
"They didn't try to come with too many tricky type of blitzes," Starks said. "They played pretty much head-up — the way we thought they were going to play. We just exploited that."
Smith makes first start
On the other side of the ball, Hubbard native Anthony Smith, filling in for Ryan Clark, made his first start at free safety after playing the second half of Sunday's 20-3 win over the Buccaneers.
"I felt comfortable," the Steelers rookie from Syracuse said. "I got my feet wet last week so I just went out and made plays."
With the Steelers ahead 24-0 late in the third quarter, Smith intercepted Browns quarterback Derek Anderson at the Pittsburgh 9 for his first pick.
"We were in cover-2 and I was just reading the quarterback's eyes and just followed the ball," Smith said.
Smith said the Browns' struggles at rushing helped the Steelers' injury-depleted secondary (strong safety Troy Polamalu missed his second game with a knee injury).
"It allowed me and [strong safety] Tyrone [Carter] to sit back and worry about interceptions," said Smith who admitted he missed a chance to stop Browns wideout Braylon Edwards' 45-yard touchdown late in the game.
"I missed a tackle but it happens, it's part of the game," Smith said.
Steelers still alive
At 6-7 with three games to play, the Steelers are mathematically alive in the race for the AFC wild cards. But with five teams ahead of them at 7-5 (Broncos, Chiefs, Jaguars, Jets and Bengals), the Steelers need a lot of help in Sunday's games to close the gap.
"A year ago heading into this game we were 7-5, this year we're 5-7," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said of the roller-coaster season. "What's the difference between this year and last year?
"I can think of two or three games that a year ago we had won," Cowher said. "This is the time of year that you have to play your best football. These guys understand that. They understand that mindset and mentality. The difference between this year and last year is basically two games. Those two games we won last year and we didn't win this year."
williams@vindy.com
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Over the past 35 NFL seasons, the Steelers have excelled at rushing with the likes of Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier and...
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