Kriewaldt has big shoes to fill

Against Cleveland, the special teams player will start for injured James Farrior.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- To Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, excuses for failure aren't acceptable.
Doesn't matter if a player hasn't started for years.
Doesn't matter if the player being replaced is one of the best in the NFL at his position.
Doesn't matter if the opponent is New England or Houston, or if the circumstances would be trying for even the best of players.
"For us," Porter said Wednesday, "it's a different challenge every week."
Batch to rescue
So when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down for at least two weeks with a knee injury, replacement Charlie Batch was expected to go in and win despite not starting an NFL game in four years.
He did, even though he threw for only 65 yards and had an interception as the Steelers beat the Packers 20-10 last Sunday.
The Steelers will make a similar switch defensively this Sunday when they play Cleveland without All-Pro linebacker James Farrior, the 2004 Steelers MVP who could miss one game and possibly two with a sprained knee ligament.
Taking his place is special teams standout Clint Kriewaldt, who has started only one NFL game in seven years with the Lions and Steelers, yet will call the defensive signals.
For most teams, that would be asking a lot for a player whose playing time normally comes only in irregular 15-second bursts, and who almost never plays on defense.
"Everybody here prepares themselves as if they were a starter -- we actually have that many good guys on the same team," Porter said. "A lot of guys have been around here for a while. It's not a situation where a guy's coming in and doesn't know what he's doing. But it's hard sometimes to get on the field when the guy ahead of you is playing so well."
Gets a chance
Duce Staley found that out. A three-time 1,000-yard rusher in Philadelphia, Staley couldn't get off the bench until injuries to running backs Willie Parker (ankle) and Jerome Bettis (quadriceps) gave him the chance to run for 76 yards in Green Bay.
With Parker and Bettis questionable, Staley could join Batch in the Steelers' backfield Sunday after they spent most of this season playing for the scout team in practice.
That's the kind of depth most NFL teams don't have; as Batch said, how many teams have a 10,000-yard rusher on their scout team, as the Steelers do this week with Bettis?
To coach Bill Cowher, the Steelers' depth has been invaluable because so many of their key players have been hurt. He calls the team "resourceful -- the depth has been challenged and tested."
"At some point, it can catch up to you," said Cowher, who has gone into games this season with his No. 3 quarterback, No. 4 running back and No. 3 inside linebacker in the lineup. "When you start losing your first receiver, second receiver, third receiver, first back, second back, third back, all those are tough to overcome."
The Steelers have won three in a row amid a long run of injuries -- virtually every position on the field except the offensive line has been affected -- because they've persuaded veteran players who likely would be playing more with another team to stay around.
Eager for time
Batch is an example. He first started as a rookie in Detroit in 1998 and was the Lions' starter for most of his four seasons there, but has stayed in Pittsburgh for four seasons despite throwing only eight passes during that time until Sunday.
"These guys have been waiting to play, so you know they're going to give you their best and we're going to get it done," Porter said. "We have a lot of confidence in them and they know we have a lot of confidence in them. When they come out there, we don't change anything. We run our same things as if we were running it with the starters in there. I think that's one of our big assets, the game plan doesn't have to change."
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