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| Is Staley a waste? By A. D. If Duce Staley doesn’t dress for this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings it will be his ninth game this season that he has not played. The reasons for Staley being out of action include his knee injury, the resulting surgery to repair it and the fact that head coach Bill Cowher just doesn’t care to dress four running backs. Like quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Staley had extra meniscus in his knee that required surgery. He went under the knife shortly before the season started and hasn’t been able to regain his former rushing glory. He missed a few weeks of training camp and has inconsistently played throughout the season. But Staley is not ready or willing to quit just yet, "I really think I have a chance to come in here next year and get back to the old Duce. That's a promise I can make to myself and can make to this team. As soon as this season is over, the next two days, I'm back working out, back in South Carolina training and getting back to the old Duce." The past three of four games this season the Steelers have had trouble with the ground game. The correlation between losing and rushing for less than 100 yards is obvious – if they do not rush for over 100 yards then they lose. The causes of the Steelers not living up to their reputation as a running team are many. They include fumbles, lots and lots of fumbles, bad run blocking by the offensive line and playing against teams that just played better football. But last Sunday, against the Chicago Bears, the Steelers returned to form and rushed for 190 yards, 101 of which came from veteran Jerome Bettis. Willie Parker was the starting running back and Verron Haynes took his place as the third down back. This may spell bad news for Staley. The winning formula for a successful ground game and a victory doesn’t include the former Philadelphia Eagle. There is one bittersweet silver lining for Staley, though. His friend, teammate and the emotional leader of the team is probably retiring at the end of the season. If Bettis does hang up his cleats Staley will have the best chance of taking over his role as the big back who runs and carries defenders along the way. Supporters of Parker say he is fast and is able to break lose for long runs. His critics argue that he can’t run between the tackles and goes down too easily. Just call Staley the opposite of Willie Parker. Staley is built to take hits and keeping on running. He can produce yards as well as the best of them – so long as he doesn’t get injured. There have been other Steelers who were terrific at their positions only to be let go because they all too often appeared on the injury report and not on the field. Former Steelers linebacker Kendrell Bell and running back Chris Fuamatu Ma’afala are just two examples of how being good at your position means nothing if you don’t play. Still, there is hope that Staley will be back to 100 percent health soon. He has said, "It's not frustrating because I'm not active, but it's like the drive in me; of course I want to play, of course I want to be out there with my teammates, that's what I'm about, I'm a team guy.” And this team wants him back as soon as possible. If the Steelers don’t have an effective ground game they aren’t going to the playoffs or any super game that follows. |