Nifty column in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Ed Bouchette about Mike Tomlin's "we're going to run Willie until the wheels come off" comments from yesterday's presser. I saw those comments and thought, hey, there's an SCI column. Scooped by the pro ... didn't see that coming.Anyway, to quote Chin Whopper Choppers, "it is what it is." Whoever's doing the penning, the fact that Willie's on pace for 400 carries is troubling. If I'd known this was the plan during training camp, I would've warned Tomlin (did I ever tell you I went to college with him?). Somebody on the team has to know about this little phenomenon -- if the Steelers get have to rely on the Post-Gazette for statistical tidbits ... well, that's not good.
Oh, Curse of 370 or not, 400 carries would ruin Willie Parker. The guy's not built to take a beating. That's what Najeh, Carey Davis, and hell, Gary Russell are for. If we're being strictly business-like about the whole thing, the good news is that -- wait for it -- running backs are ... fungible. Presumably, FWP will be easily replaceable.
Okay, I don't really think that -- and I hate being business-like about FWP's future ... it makes me feel dirty -- but I will say this: most likely, the drop off from Fast Willie to Plan B wouldn't be as humongous as you might expect. Maybe the Steelers will just blow out their opponents over the next 14 games and they'll save Willie that way. Otherwise, we might as well crank up the "so, which running back is Pittsburgh taking with their 2008 first-round pick?" conversation. I vote for Darren McFadden ... either that, or they should trade that first-round pick to Philly for Tony Hunt. One or the other.
In much less ridiculous news, JJ Cooper has a kick-ass post about the offensive line through the first two games. I told you fools: the o-line will be fine.
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