would the steelers D stuff fast willie?

[tony hipchest]

http://postgazette.com/steelers/blogngold/

"We were talking about that the other day,'' defensive end Brett Keisel said. "He said he could easily get 100 yards on us. We got into a bit of an argument with it. But Willie's a great player and a Pro Bowl player and we're lucky to have him on our side."


Stop patronizing, Keisel; how many yards would he get?


"Would he get 100 against us?" Keisel repeated. "Not even close. He wouldn't get close. He would get maybe 15 -- on 15 carries."

good stuff. confidence isnt lacking nor is there any doubt on either side of the ball.

[yinzer-inseattle]

Depends on the o line, and the passing game threat. If it's our offense, I say he has a shot. It will be really hard for the DBs to come up consistently in support on the run with Hines, Holmes and Heath as potential big yardage threats. So assuming the DBs have to stay honest, and cannot jam the box with 8+, then Willies got space to run. And anytime Willies got space he's going to get his 100.

There are a couple of things that might get in the way of Willie having a really big game. First, oddly enough it seems as though Willie gets big yards mostly running right (huh, with Maxie on that side?). If its Woodley against Maxie then Willies got to go left (because Woodley is gonna eat Maxie for lunch) and I'm not sure if he's comfortable with that. Not sure how accurate I am on the right vs. left run analysis, but it's just my hunch that Willie's down field vision is better running to the right. Second is the X factor aka Troy Polamalu. I think Troy would do well to contain Willie, but he can't zero in on one guy all the time.

So my call is for Wille to get 110 yards and a TD with Troy helping to keep it from getting out of hand.

If Willie is on another team........ then that's a whole different thread!

[Black@Gold Forever32]

Ok I have seen the Steelers defense shut down some really good RBs over the years.....RBs like Tomlinson have been shut down by the Steelers D.........He is the best in the NFL currently so I would say no that Fast Willie runs for 100 against Steelers defense.....But then again Willie can break one of those 50 or 70 yard runs to help his cause....

Very good question though......

[Hines0wnz]

I concur with everyone that its an excellent question and would be fun to debate.

[CantStop85]

Considering some of the other running backs that the Steelers have contained under 100 yards, yes, the Steelers D would stuff Willie Parker.

[greddy10]

Steelers D > Willie Parker.

[jjpro11]

what is the stat now? something like one rusher (edge james 2005) had 100+ yards rushing against the steelers in almost 40 games. i dont think willie could do it against us with the current offense. he was very weak against good defenses last year. maybe if he can step it up this year against teams like the pats, ravens, and jags.. id give him a better chance.

[SuckItUp]

Willie's chances of accumulating 100+ yards on the ground against that D are probably 1 in 10 and that includes the odd chance that he breaks off a 70 yarder. Throw in screen passes and now theres a chance...but very unlikely he gets those yards strictly on the ground.

[Elvis]

No....
Way.....

[SteelFist]

This is an interesting topic. But I know this, he couldn't get it against the Ravens......So he'd better not be able to get it against us.