Jan 11th 2009 11:27PM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Maybe Willie Parker’s midseason knee injury will prove to be the key to the Steelers’ postseason.

If it hadn’t been for Parker’s injury, the Steelers would have possibly never discovered that Mewelde Moore is a very reliable and very solid backup. They may have not figured out that Gary Russell is the team’s best short-yardage back.

But most importantly, without that midseason five-game break, there’s a good chance that Parker could be gassed at this point of the season. Instead, on Sunday he looked as fresh as he has in a couple of years as he consistently ran around and through the Chargers’ defense. Parker’s 146 yards against San Diego was his best game since he broke the Steelers single-game rushing record with 223 yards against the Browns back in December of 2006.Continue Reading