For those who had been droning on and on, about how Fast Willie Parker should not be the starter, about how "small" Willie is, and about how Willie could never handle the burden of being the full-time starter...well...you got your wish: during Thursday night's game against St. Louis, on Pittsburgh's second offensive play of the game, Willie Parker broke his leg, and is out for the season.
Willie was merely leading the league in rushing. Similarly, Willie
had more touches (carries and passes thrown to him) than any other
player in the league...meaning that Willie accounted for a huge
portion of Pittsburgh's game-plan. In other words, it is not that big of a loss. Uh...in case you missed it, I am being slightly sarcastic.
See also, facetious.
See also, tongue-in-cheek.
Insert Najeh Davenport.
St. Louis' defense immediately changed. They no longer bit as hard on the play action...because, without Willie, there is no threat of Pittsburgh's running back taking the ball 80 yards for a touchdown. And, the announcers were all over Davenport. "If only Willie were in..."
The announcers continued to berate the big running back. Yet, on Pittsburgh's third drive of the game (Davenport's first "real" series of carries), Najeh ran the ball on three consecutive plays:
Davenport up the middle for 14 yards.
Davenport off right tackle for 6 yards.
Davenport up the middle for 5 yards.
Yet, the announcers continued to talk about Pittsburgh had no running game. Meanwhile, Najeh's next four carries went for: 8 yards, 7 yards, 10 yards, and 8 yards. And, the announcers babbled some more. Finally, Najeh was "stopped"...when he only got 3 yards. But then, the very next play was a short pass to Najeh, who broke loose for a twelve yard touchdown. In other words, on nine plays, Najeh had one play of 3 yards...and eight plays of 7 yards or more.
In the end, Najeh amassed 167 yards of total offense (123 rushing, 44 receiving) and two touchdowns. Yet, the announcers continued to prattle.
Do not get me wrong: Fast Willie is indeed Pittsburgh's best running back. But, I have faith that Najeh can play well enough to take the Steelers deep into the playoffs.
For those nay-sayers out there, I remind you that Rod Woodson got hurt in the first game of the 1994 season...and Pittsburgh inserted Willie Williams and wound up in the Super Bowl. In other words, sometimes a back-up rises above himself...and plays as well as (or in some cases, better than) the All-Pro that he is replacing. You can call me myopic...or optimistic...or fanatical. But, I have 167 reasons to have faith in Najeh.