View topic - The Hines Ward era is officially (finally) over

[No l Gravity l Profile]

Tomlin finally made an ballsy move against the Bengals on Sunday; much to my surprise and delight: finally benching the former Super Bowl MVP in favor of Jerricho Cotchery. Needless to say, he played the Hines Ward role perfect; if not better than the man himself. His two touchdown catches aside, the Cotch Rocket never gave up on his routes, played physical, and made an outstanding 3-man block to get Mendenhall into the endzone on his 9 yard run.

http://postimage.org/image/bnqxe3j2z/
Here you can see Cotchery pushing Gibril Wilson into Reggie Nelson, knocking both into the ground, while shielding Chris Crocker.


-Yes, Hines was the best blocking wide receiver in the game.

-Yes he is the best Steeler wide out to ever dawn the uniform.

-And yes he is a lock for the Canton.

But his time as a starting wide receiver were well over. You could see his productivity on the field diminishing with each year passing. Intangeables like blocking and leadership aren't enough anymore in this pass happy league. You can't afford to put a mini-fullback on the field every down. Put simply, Hines can't keep up with Ben's new offense. He lacks explosiveness and lacks the ability to get open quickly; something Brown has been getting better at each game. When asked by the media about Ward's decreased playing time, Tomlin responded that it "had nothing to do with injury" and he wanted to see "different packages with personnel." Sort of sounds like what MT said before benching Fast Willie.

With that said, Hines Ward will forever be one of mine, and many of your all-time favorite Steelers. He embodied everything you could ask for with his fearless play. He only has 19 more receptions to get to 1,000 so here's hoping he can get them. Kudos to Hines for an illustrious career.

[relictele Profile]

It makes sense for Tomlin to keep his options open and given his personality and history he's certainly not going to say any change is permanent. More passes thrown in a game mean more chances for a receiver to be injured and although Ward has his own concussion issues he is still a viable option in the event one of the gazelles goes down.

As the weather worsens the speed game will be augmented or even supplanted by the possession game especially in the playoffs and BR7 has relied on Ward many times for the short but vital completions that keep the sticks moving - no reason to believe that avenue will be closed off.

[No l Gravity l Profile]

Sanders is probably coming back after the bye or shortly thereafterwards. That bumps Ward down to the number 5 receiver. So barring any injury, who do you take out on the field? Even going 5 wide I'd have Miller lined up as a receiver. He's a bigger target with the equally as good hands (maybe slightly slower ).

[thesteelhammer Profile]

Nice post.
Fresh topic.

Just got to throw out there that ward was coming off the ray Lewis hit. Got to wonder if there are any lasting effects from that hit last week

[Pommah Profile]

Well, it has to happen sometime, and maybe this is it, but I won't believe it until he retires. Also we could easily have injuries to two or more recievers making Hines key once again.

I can't think of a player who more epitomized the Steelers. Maybe 58. None on offense though, not even 32 or 12, for me anyway.

[PGHeaven Profile]

Good blend of reality and sentiment. As far as declining production - all of a sudden in a game when it is needed most - Ben will find Hines for a pair of TD's

[Still Peon Profile]

Before anyone packs Hines up and ships him off to Canton, and a comfy recliner, just take a quick look at this play from 6 weeks ago vs Tennessee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJxH7txqNRY

I personally don't think his time is up yet.

[rick723 Profile]

I still would like Hines to get to 1000 catches and the next mile stone Can't remember the yards next, 12,000??

[isfry Profile]

981 catches. 11,970 yards.

[oldschoolhunkie Profile]

Hines showed up last night. He's not done.

I agree that he was still woozy from that hit last week. Personally I'm all for him being force-fed balls when possible... and I think they woulda done it last night if Wallace hadn't been dropping balls like an imbecile...

[No l Gravity l Profile]

Showed up? He caught 1 pass. Unless you count the 3 other 'get to 1,000' catches that went for 0, 5 and 2 yards showing up.

[PSUPERCY Profile]

Hines showed up. You missed a lot of the blocking on run plays. Also, Sanders was not nearly as sharp as he should have been and it looked like they were forcing him the ball. Don't 86 ol' 86 just yet.....January is a comin'

[steelandblood Profile]

Ward still goes after it, but I think the point here is that we're seeing the Steelers transition toward the newer talent in the receiving corp to move forward, but it's a smooth transition. Unlike some franchises who may just cut a guy like Ward in the twilight of his career and pray the new guys can fill the gap, Wallace, Brown, Sanders, etc. are given a chance to shine and we're not throwing the baby out with the bathwater in the name of progress.

The only point I disagree with here is that I still think John Stallworth is the greatest Steeler receiver ever. Ward's 2nd.

[PGHeaven Profile]

Hines will announce his retirement after the season ends. He will get his catches. Enjoy number 86 while you can. Sigh - we all get older