Fast Willie and Hines/The Duo against MNF Dolphins | jhartle's Blog

Running back Willie Parker surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the third consecutive season when he carried the ball 24 times for 81 yards against the Dolphins.

Parker, who now has 1,006 yards on the season, had to fight for every yard on Monday night because of the weather conditions.

"It was tough," said Parker.

"He had an exceptional game," said Max Starks, who started in place of an injured Marvel Smith. "He just said forget about it -- he saw the hole and he hit it. You weren't going to get any cutback runs on a field like that."

Parker becomes just the second NFL back to reach 1,000 yards this season and one of only three running backs in Steelers history to have three consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, joining Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris.

"You can't look at the stats in conditions like that," said wide receiver Hines Ward. "He did a good job. He didn't turn the ball over. That's one of the things we kept stressing. The weather, the field, it's not going to be perfect."

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On the final drive of the game Ward came up huge for the Steelers, pulling in three receptions for 38 yards that got them into Dolphins territory at the 12-yard line.

"Hines Ward was big," said head coach Mike Tomlin. "He was Hines Ward and we needed every one of those catches he provided for us, particularly at critical times, on third downs, finding open spaces in the zones."

Ward had nine receptions for 88 yards, including a 21-yard catch on that final drive for a first down.

"That's Hines for you," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "It's great having someone like that out there. I'm confident in him, but a lot of guys stepped up."