What do you think I watch every Sunday? Running often and early is nothing new, unique or different from what I see the Bears do. However, if they get down by a touchdown or two early it doesn't matter if the opponents defense is tired in the fourth quarter, if they are behind by three touchdowns they will lose. Now if they had a qb like Manning and receivers like the Colts they could come back but not teams that are not explosive.
Trying to run with over-the-hill rbs like the Steelers is just and exercise in frustration. I was not arguing about the concept just the backs being touted to do the job. In fact, if you wanted to see excellent examples of how to do this you could have watched Thomas Jones and Adrian Peterson run about 25 times in the first half then see Cedric Benson get the ball ten times in the second. It worked like a charm until Benson got hurt. Or watch Payton pound the living hell out of a defense throughout the game until it collapsed from exhaustion in the fourth quarter.
Rushing teams are all I ever saw.
When the running game is working, it opens up the passing game. This is elementary. The Steelers under Big Ben in the last 2 years have been able to be "explosive" as you put it. But that requires the establishment of the running game first. The Steelers were only down by 9 at half, should have been 6 (getting called for an illegal block while making a tackle is sure to be "apolgized" for by the league). There was no reason to start going pass happy.
Trying to run with over-the-hill rbs like the Steelers is just and exercise in frustration. I was not arguing about the concept just the backs being touted to do the job.
Try watching the Steelers some other Sunday. We've had success with these backs this year (except Staley coming off an injury). This game was an anomoly. You want to judge the entire backfield based on one game against a superb team and behind an injured line. That's not rational.
Bettis plays a specific role on the team that is not always reflected in numbers. Without seeing this in person, you can't tell it from the stats.
He had a game last year where he played an instrumental role. He ran the ball 4 times for 1 yard while scoring 3 touchdowns.
SD