Fred Taylor Could get his First Pro Bowl Appearance
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by Behbigben15
The Pittsburgh Steelers RB, Willie Parker suffered a broken leg on tonight's SECOND play of the game. The Steelers defeated the St. Louis Rams 41-24. Pittsburgh suffered a HUGE blow losing Parker to injury, and he could miss the rest of the season (including the playoffs). Parker, who entered the game with 1,317 yards, and consecutive 100-yard games, had one carry for a 1-yard loss before leaving the game. X-rays revealed the injury to be a fractured fibula. Backup RB, Najeh Davenport, replaced him in the lineup. Davenport came into tonight's game with 349 Yards, and a 4.9 YPC average, and finished the game with 123 Yards on the ground.
Luckily, for Pittsburgh, 1st time Pro Bowl QB, Ben Roethlisberger, is having a great game, who was 16-20, for 261 Yards, and 3 TD (0 INT's).
On a night where long-time St. Louis RB Marshall Faulk's number is retired by St. Louis, their offense steps up, but have still only gained 90 yards on the ground with bruising RB, Steven Jackson in the backfield. Isaac Bruce, and Torry Holt's numbers having been Chad Johnson-like, but both guys have made extremely nice catches, and Bruce, the future HOFer, added a TD.
Hey Meg!!! Your man, Fred Taylor, may get his shot at appearing in his first-ever Pro Bowl. Taylor certainly deserves it (216 ATT,1,091 Yards, 4 TD) , but I am really pissed off, right now. Why did Parker have to go down at a time like this???
WOW, as I am watching, I see Najeh Davenport get up VERY slowly, and it doesn't look too good either, he may have a twisted ankle. But, Roethlisberger continues to thrive on 3rd down as he completes a 3rd & 4 with a short completion to ma man Hines Ward with just over 10 minutes to go in the game, which pushes us over 400 total yards on the night.
With just over 5 minutes to go, Big Ben faces a 3rd & short, and pulls the ball down and tries to run for it, but comes up a yard short. And, Jeff Reed attempts, and makes a short 29-yard attempt, to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 10 (34-24). SO, St. Louis gets the ball back with 4:38 to go, down by 10 points. St. Louis return man, Derek Stanley, returns the ball to the STL 22-yard line. Marc Bulger comes back out, and throws two straight incomplete passes, facing a 3rd & 10 play, Bulger completes a 12-yard pass to WR Drew Bennett for a FD. Two plays later Bulger faces another 3rd & 10, this time Bulger throws an incomplete pass intended for Bennet, Pittsburgh CB, Deshea Townsend knocks the pass down. St. Louis elects to go for it on 4th & 10, and Bulger throws an INT to CB Ike Taylor who returns it 51 yards the other way, and after Reed nails the XP, Pittsburgh extends their lead to 41-24 3:46 left.
After the TD, I saw WR Torry Holt going at it with Head Coach Scott Linehan, which is a VERY bad sign, especially when it's coming from such a soft-spoken guy like Holt. Bulger was out, and backup Gus Frerotte was in the following Rams possession, as was Pittsburgh backup, Charlie Batch, during the Steelers next possession.
All Batch had to do was kneel down a few times, and it was over. Pittsburgh wins the game 41-24. One step closer to AFC North Division Champs (10-5), now we just need to pray for a Cleveland loss on Sunday. But, we can't get our hopes up (they're playing Cincinnati), if we win next week against the 4-10 Baltimore Ravens (AFC North rivals), we win the Division regardless of what Cleveland does.
I was disappointed in our Defense tonight. We certainly did NOT look like the number 1 overall Defense, we gave up WAY to many yards on key plays. But, I have to give credit to the Rams all-pro duo at receiver. I have one more thing to say about my Steelers, no matter what you people think, Hines Ward is an awesome receiver, you can't deny it, so many people think he's overrated. That's bullshit, you don't have to have good numbers to be a great receiver, you don't even have to be a flashy guy. Ward uses his speed, and strength to create seperation, and may be the BEST 3rd down receiver in the NFL, no doubt about it.
Game Stats:
Points: PIT - 41 STL - 24
First Downs: PIT - 24 STL - 17
3rd down: PIT - 4/10 STL - 7/14
4th down: PIT - 1/1 STL - 0/2
Total Yards: PIT - 459 STL - 316
Passing Yards: PIT - 293 STL - 226
Rushing Yards: PIT - 166 STL - 90
Penalties: PIT - 2 (36 Yards) STL - 3 (20 Yards)
Turnovers: PIT - 0 STL - 2
Possession: PIT - 35:38 STL - 23:44
Player Stats:
PIT
Ben Roethlisberger- 16 for 20, 261 Yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Najeh Davenport- 24 ATT, 123 Yards, 1 TD (2 REC, 44 Yards, 1 TD)
Santonio Holmes- 4 REC, 133 Yards, 0 TD
Hines Ward- 6 Rec, 59 Yards
Nate Washington- 2 REC, 50 Yards, 2 TD
STL
Marc Bulger- 18 for 35, 208 Yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Gus Frerotte- 3 for 7, 27 Yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Steven Jackson- 12 ATT, 85 Yards, 0 TD (3 REC, 21 Yards, 1 TD)
Isaac Bruce- 7 REC, 87 Yards, 1 TD
Torry Holt- 3 REC, 41 Yards, 0 TD
Drew Bennett- 2 REC, 35 Yards, 1 TD
Randy McMichael- 6 REC, 51 Yards, 0 TD
