Steelers Colon: Team can spread its wings now and fly

October 27, 8:06 AMPittsburgh Sports ExaminerMatt Pawlikowski

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Lineman Willie Colon says Steelers still not where they want to be
AP/File Photo

PITTSBURGH - He won't make the chunky soup commercials, not to mention the fact when things go bad he'll come under high scrutiny. It's something that Pittsburgh Steeler lineman Willie Colon accepts.

Following the Steelers 27-17 win over the Vikings on Sunday, Colon had more than one reason to raise his head high. First, while the offensive stats weren't stellar  the line play once again was, and secondly the fact the team started 1-2 is now an after thought, as the team takes a 5-2 slate into the bye week.

"I think this means we can start opening our wings a little bit," Colon said. "Obviously we started off rocky, but we have enough talent on this team to potentially go far, but we need to take it one game at a time"

The Vikings have Jared Allen, who has been a beast when it comes to pass rushing this year. He entered the contest with 7.5 sacks on the year. On Sunday, Colon and crew pretty much held him and the rest of the Vikings defense in check.

''They are a good defense," Colon said. " They play hard and Allen and the other big three are some headliners. But we have a clear understanding that when (Ben Roethlsiberger) has plenty of time back there to do what he does, he is pretty much unstoppable, and we understand that as a line if we give him time, we can do well out there."

The line did allow three sacks, but the impressive thing was the ability they had to open up holes for the rush attack. On Sunday, the Steelers averaged 5.3 yards per carry.

"We started off stagnant, but we played hard," Colon said. "They played hard, but we are never content. We understand there are games that we aren't good and games where you are great. It's about us shooting for the ceiling."

While many billed the Vikings game a potential prelude of a Super Bowl matchup, Colon didn't see it that way. To him it was one of 16 and he would rather not see them come down to the final minutes.

"Everyone likes a thriller as a game, but we kind of like it as a blowout," Colon said. " Again, we got off to a slow start in this game because we were unsure of what we wanted to do."

He called the win an overall effort and credited his teammates.

"Justin Hartwig did a great job, our interior guys fought their butts off and I thought Max(Starks)did a good job," Colon said. "So today was an overall effort, you have to give credit to everyone."

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