Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats...Upgraded to Probable
 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05267/577028.stm

Duce Staley passes out bullets to his teammates before every game, a sign he is ready to go to war.

And, make no mistake, he is ready to go against New England.

"I'm going to go," Staley said. "I don't know how much. I can't make that decision, but I'll go out and see where I'm at. Hopefully, it will be on the lines of the old Duce."

Staley, who started 10 games in 2004, hasn't been in uniform since the last time the Steelers played the Patriots -- a 41-27 defeat in the AFC championship game in January. He sustained a cartilage tear in his knee in training camp and missed the entire preseason and the first two games of the regular season.

But, after practicing every day the past two weeks, Staley has been upgraded to probable and will dress against the Patriots. However, he will serve as a backup to Willie Parker, the AFC's leading rusher with 271 yards in two games.

And that means distributing bullets as a part of his pregame ritual.

"I let them know we're going to war," Staley said. "I give them to all the soldiers -- [Alan] Faneca, Marvel [Smith], Danny [Krieder] -- and I tell them shoot these bullets and come and save me. And they come and save me."

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

Awesome! Pumped And Ready! Hell I Fell Like We Are Going To The Bowl Sun. W/all This Attention....lol.

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

hopefully the old duce comes back in a way, cause the old duce is injury prone, so hopefully it's a combination of the old healthy duce and a new duce that won't get injured shakin someones hand. this is gonna be great two badass running backs to throw at defences.

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

Even if he doesn't run well, it'll still help us in this game because of what he might be able to do. We've got El and Ced catching long passes, Hines still catching anything thats thrown at him, Willie getting breakout runs, and then if we have the possibility of a powerback like Duce pushing the line forward 3 yards, how're they gonna defend all that?

WOOO STEELERS!

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

I'm all pumped to see Duce back on the field. I want to see what a healthy Duce can do in combination with Willie. All I know is I wouldnt want to be the one trying to stop that duo.

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

NO doubt !!! We havent had this much media attention surrounding a regular season game since I dont even know when !!!

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

hopefully it don't mess with the players heads and we come out like shit.

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

i dont think that will happen but the key is if ben comes out and makes an early mistake, which he was prone to do last year, for the team not to hang their heads. the team needs to rally around anyone who might make an early mistake and keep playing for 60 min. like the score is 0-0. if the steelers do get a sizeable lead they need to remember who they are playing. if they try to shut it down like they did the past 2 weeks the patriots will see that and pounce. the steelers could piss away a big lead in the second half otherwise. and if it is 4th and 1 PUNT THE BALL!!!!!!! keep this a field position game and dont gamble or do anything that might give the patrits some confidence. especially early in the game. imo pinning the patriots inside their 10 and stuffing them with our defense is more valuable than scoring an early 3 points. the steelers get stronger in the second half, and can come back on this team if need be.

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

400th post awwready *chamillionaire tone*

we better not go into control the clock crap if we get an early lead we need to keep pouring it on them because this team can easily come back, and hopefully ben has learned from last year and will cut down those early mistakes that he used to do. cause one mistake can cost you the whole game. damn i can't wait till tomorrow

Re: Staley ready to take a shot at the Pats
 

if there is an early mistake dont get down. us steelerfans can get easilly deflated. you can hear it in the stands at homegames when you watch on tv, and i think that affects the team. the steelers always play best when the people are yelling and screamin and it seems when the crowd goes quiet they kind of tail off. they definitely feed off the crowd energy so anyone going to the game KEEP IT UP!