Host No Bills

A lot of reminiscing over at the Post-Gazette about the 29-24 2004 regular season finale win over the Bills. What was most impressive about the game, other than that Tommy Maddox managed not to single-handedly lose the game, is that the Steelers, with their reserves or third-stringers, bested a team that needed a victory for a playoff berth on the road. That's gotta hurt.

Of course, it also presaged big things to come for Willie Parker, who had his first of, to date, 14 100-yard performances. The latest of which, Parker isn't all that enthused about his effort last week, vying that we're all going to see a "different Willie Parker in this game." If that's a Willie Parker who doesn't put the ball on the ground, then count me as super psyched.

Of course, the Bills have a pretty solid impressive rookie rusher of their own in Marshawn Lynch. Jamal Lewis never got a chance to get going last week, as the Steelers had already put upa sizeable lead by the end of the first quarter, forcing the Browns to, uh, well I feel charitable in calling it passing.

But Lynch, as this video shows, has a lot of explosiveness and drive that the older ex-con has lost.

Along with cruising through a cake opponent, the Steelers avoided any injuries last week and come in to their home opener extremely healthy, with only reserve linebacker Marques Cooper (OUT) on the injury list. The Bills, meanwhile, will be missing six players, including three defensive starters, including Ko Simpson, linebacker Keith Ellison and corner Jason Webster. One of the non-starters is, as you might expect, tight end Kevin Everett, who has thankfully made a lot of progress after being nearly paralyzed during the Week 1 game against Denver.