By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Hines Ward is having a nearly identical season to Patriots receiver Randy Moss this year.
The veteran receiver will take the field in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, still a threat, still productive, still one of the best at his position in the NFL in his 11th season.
Randy Moss of the New England Patriots? Yes, him, too. But, for all the reputation Moss has had as a game-breaking, big-play wide receiver, fellow 1998 draft-class member Hines Ward can stand toe to toe with him this season, even if he is four inches shorter.
At 32, Ward is on pace for his best season since 2003, his first 1,000-yard season since 2004 and virtually matching the faster, taller Moss statistically.
Each has caught 54 passes with Moss having just 22 more yards than Ward's 718. As it is, Ward's 13.3-yard average per catch would be the third highest of his career since he became a starter in 1999, his second season in the league.
"It's kind of fun because we came in together and we're still going," Ward said yesterday. "I get jacked up to see him. I try to tease him and challenge our defensive backs. He's 6-5 and has speed, he's everything a team wants to have.
"I always had tremendous respect for him as a ballplayer. People thought he was washed up in Oakland and he came back and got into a great offense with a great quarterback. He still has the skills to go out there and beat you."
The same could be said for Ward. Some thought he was on the downhill side when his average per catch dipped to the lowest of his career last season at 10.3 yards. He missed a career-high three games with injuries, and his yardage dipped to a seven-year low of 732.
A knee injury dogged him last year and, after offseason surgery, he has been healthy this season. He leads the Steelers in receptions, yards and with five touchdown catches. He is on pace for 1,044 yards, which would be the most since his Pro Bowl season of 1,163 yards in 2003.
"Hines is a complete player; he is a tough guy to play against," New England coach Bill Belichick said yesterday. "He has very good quickness, he is physical and he has tremendous strength for his position. He is a very experienced player that knows how to play and how to get open against man-coverage; he knows how to find the holes against zone."
Among the keys to Ward's effectiveness in his second decade in the league? He never was fast, so he did not have much to lose.
"I know with age people start questioning, but it's different at the wideout position," Ward reasoned. "My game has never been predicated on speed anyway. It wasn't like I was a blazing guy anyway. When a guy's game is based on speed and they lose it, they don't know how to react. A guy who doesn't have blazing speed but knows how to run routes, you can play in this game a long time."
This was supposed to be the season in which Santonio Holmes took over as the No. 1 receiver for the Steelers, but he has 15 fewer catches, 154 fewer yards and three fewer touchdown grabs than Ward.
There is no doubt that Holmes and Nate Washington remain the team's top two deep threats, but with umbrella defenses using cover-2 and cover-3 alignments against the Steelers lately, Ward is invaluable running the possession stuff over the middle.
"Hines is showing people this year it's not age, it's knowledge of the game," Washington said. "Hines prides himself on making big-time plays. We joke about him being the older guy but we know Hines is still doing a lot of things we're doing at a young age, and a lot of times he's doing some things we can't do.
"His knowledge of the game is impeccable."
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said he and Ward never have been as close on the field as they are this season.
"He's made me a lot better quarterback. Just the understanding and the level that we are on now, I think you'll see us communicating a lot better. You'll see us on the same page more than we've ever been, just because it's been five years together and we understand each other."
Ward vs. Moss
The Steelers' and Patriots' veteran receivers are puting up comparable numbers this season:
Ward.....Category.....Moss
54.....Receptions.....54
718.....Yards.....740
13.3.....Yards per catch.....13.7
5.....Touchdowns.....8
48.....Longest catch.....66
Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com.
First published on November 27, 2008 at 12:00 am
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