Go back to 2008, and it was not your typical type of Steelers winning season when it comes to offense. Usually the formula for the Steelers to win and go deep in the playoffs includes a physical, punishing running game and a passing game that does enough to get the job done. Not so in 08.
The running game was the weak spot on the Steelers when it came to offense, as they put up just 105.6 yards on the ground, while the passing game led by Ben Roethlisberger put up 206.3 yards per game. In the Super Bowl, the passing game clearly bailed out the offense, as Big Ben was able to pull out that last drive to get the job done in the 27-23 win.
So now we turn the book to 09, and the offense again is looking to get better when it comes to the running game, and that will come down to the backs as well to getting better on the O-line. The line, with a season under their belt, should be better at both run and pass blocking. The backs? It will be a question mark once again as you can flip a coin somedays on what your going to get.
Willie Parker is entering the final year of his deal, and says he won’t be a problem in the locker room, and is ready to be dominant once again like he was before he broke his leg late in the 2007 season. Last year in 11 games he had 791 yards (71.9 per game) with five touchdowns. His injuries are a concern, as well as his ability sometimes to simply disappear from games.
Parker had four 100-plus yard games in the regular season, and another in the playoffs against the Chargers. The problem was after his 115-yard effort against the Chargers on November 16th, he really didn’t do much of anything until the final game of the season vs Cleveland when he had 116 yards. In between were efforts of 37, 87, 25, 47 and 31 yards. That won’t get the job done.
It’s a critical year for Parker, as the Steelers have to find out if he is a player that is going to be able to be counted on, or one that actually has seen better days despite being only 29 years old in November. That’s exactly why the team picked up Rahsard Mendenhall in the first round of last seasons draft.
Mendenhall played in just four games before breaking his shoulder, and had 58 yards on 19 carries. I am excited to see what role he’ll play in this offense, as the Steelers need another back to give them a spark and one that they can count on.
Then there is Mewelde Moore, who really saved this team in a couple of games last season and I am convinced that they would not have won the Super Bowl without him. Moore had 588 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, and his play was a huge lift in the first win over the Ravens, and also had 120 yards and two TD’s vs the Bengals in the first game.
So with that, the team looks forward to running the football better in 08. Parker, Mendenhall and Moore will again be the key parts of that puzzle, it just remains to be seen if they can be better in that area.
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Jeff
May 10, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I really do like Moore. He can run hard with the ball and catch the ball on out passes. Gaining good pick up yards doing both. He is a hybrid back! More Options in the offensive scheme. He is hard to scheme against.
Parker,on the other hand, is one-dimensional. He is great if you let him beat you to the outside corner but he is not an inside back. He is to small and cannot pound the ball like a Jerome Bettis! Very limited.
Mendenhall? If he can stay healthy and have the offensive line block he just might knock Parker out of a job next year.
I am looking forward to see if or how the Steelers are going to use rookie running back Frank “THE TANK” this year. The BUS is Gone….The TANK is in. Goal Line…. Money?
Dennis
May 10, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I love Fast Willie, but he is not the Steelers type of back. The Steelers have brought in a couple of back this year to take a look in the short yardage game, everyone is hyped about Frank Summers but do not forget about Isaac Redman. The Steelers pride themself with their selection of UDFA. Stay tuned for training camp.
Rich S
May 11, 2009 at 8:35 am
Parker is a good RB….but great only if the O-Line is well above average. He is sub par in short yardage. If the Steelers have done their job with UDFA’s and Mendenhall stays healthy we could again be a force in the running game. The O-Line has gotten better, but they will need to be even better and more consistent this season
Sean Eckemrod
May 11, 2009 at 9:58 am
I’m sorry, but I call Willie a poor mans Barry Sanders. He gets caught behind the line of scrimmage way to often….you may say the offensive line is to blame but Barry had worse lines and was able to be productive. Willie is good around the corner but has absolutely no vision. I can remember countless BIG holes that were created and he didn’t see them and decided to run into a pile and get maybe 2 yards. His APG was helped because he would eventually break on for 30 yards after being stopped for no gain most of the time. There were major holes he just didn’t see and we would be screaming at the TV why he chose to run into a pile instead of cutting back and actually seeing holes created. I know the OL wasn’t the best but they ran block way better than they pass blocked. Moore was able to see some and I hope Rashard has the vision to see what the line has opened up. Willie is a change of pace speed guy but not a 25 carry back. He could get the 1-3 yard run for a first and I’m tired of passing when it’s 3rd and 2. Moore ran better, and I hope Rashard uses his natural footwork and ability to change direction (which Willie Cant do) and follow some opened holes and our road graders. Our failure to gain the tough yards is not all the o-lines fault. If Willie goes next year…good luck, because he wont change
David
May 11, 2009 at 10:21 am
if it were up to me,, moore would be the starter, i just feel he has something to prove, and has a little bit of that chip on his shoulders mentality, parker, tho he has good games don’t dominate the line as good as bettis did, and i know bettis isn’t there no more, but yu see my point, we need a bruiser of a running back, the type that can carry the pile like bettis did, parker won’t send linebackers on thier heels as bettis did, i.e urlacker and lewes, our oline hopefully gets better, and really thats where our run game can either be successful or not exist, i just thank the lord above for a defense that we have
Tony
May 11, 2009 at 10:37 am
I really Like Moore. He has great hands out of the backfield. I saw each Steeler game at least twice last year. Moore on several occasion is wide open for ten to fiteen yards but ben decides to throw it downfield. I wish Ben would do some more checkdowns and utilize Moore alot better than he did last year.
Mark
May 11, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I agree with most of the posts on here — Fast Willie is not good enough to be the feature back. I too thinks he gets stuffed way too much at the line of scrimmage. Also, he can’t catch passes, which is a skill that you need in your starter. I think we are now starting to see the reason he hardly played at North Carolina and why he went undrafted.
I truly hope Mendenhall takes the starting gig. We spent a #23 pick on this guy, when we badly needed OL guys. Mendenhall had better produce this year…. 1000 yards at the very least!
Jay
May 14, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I totally agree with Sean Eckemrod and I said the same thing he said like two years ago about FWP and got absolutely lamb-basted for it by rose colored bloggers. Look, FWP is good but he is: a.) kinda durable, b.) fast and c.) a good character guy. Those ARE 3 important things that shouldn’t be overlooked but what he can’t do is: a.) break tackles, b.) catch the ball, c.) not the best at picking up the blitz (but not terrible either), d.) juke-does not possess the greatest of elusiveness and/or juke moves for a so-called fast back, e.) and most importantly, has NO vision! I just don’t understand how people through the years have exalted him. I mean, try, people try, to in lieu of looking at the numbers (which really don’t tell the story), look at HOW he runs on each and every play. Watch the games OBJECTIVELY and you’ll see that he’s “great” because he plays in Pittsburgh. I love the Steelers and I admonished our o-line a lot last year. What our o-line can do is run block (well, maybe not so much Stapleton)…Why not put a RB back there who can take full advantage of our o-line’s strengths by hitting the holes that are either DESIGNED or NOT DESIGNED instead of a back who runs right into the line where the hole is DESIGNED to be regardless of whether or not the hole’s even there or not! I would love to see FWP as a compliment to Rashard and NOT the other way around. 1,000 yard seasons are overrated….I judge RB’s by average per rush (above 4.5 with a road grading 0-line), vision and touchdowns scored.
Jerry
May 14, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I’ll take Willie any day. He won us a Super Bowl with that record breaker. With Mendenhall to complement him and Ben coming into his prime with 2 SBs already, the running game is not a concern. The running game won the 70’s dynasty a couple SBs before Terry started taking over.
Jerry
May 14, 2009 at 9:53 pm
By the Way, Barry Sanders got stuffed behind the line quite a bit if you look at his stats, but he also had a few big gainers as you can see from his stats. If he would have played for a decent team Emmit would be looking up at the record.
David
May 16, 2009 at 8:12 am
TALKING ABOUT BARRY SANDERS, I WOULD TAKE HIM OVER WILLIE,BARRY MADE DEFENDERS LOOK LIKE AMATEURS OUT THERE, I LOVED HOW HE MADE WOULD BE TACKLERS RUN INTO EACH OTHER, HE ALWAYS DID THAT. BARRY COULD HAVE HAD 20 THOUSAND RUSHING YARDS IF THE LIONS WERE COMMITTED TO WINNING.
Jerry
May 16, 2009 at 9:29 pm
I’d take Barry too! but, Barry’s gone and We have a RB that’s still fast enough to get around the corner for some big gains and hopefully a stud waiting in the wings if FWP goes out for a couple games. Willie would have had 1K+ last year except for injuries. Remember those two magical words that make good plays strive to be great, Contract year. Look for a big year from Willie.