Apologies to Rashard Mendenhall

I'd like to take the opportunity to personally apologize to Rashard Mendenhall. I, like many others on this MB, have been hyper critical of Mendenhall's performance in the past but it has become painfully obvious that our OL is the reason for our anemic running game. I've criticized Mendy for dancing in the backfield but when the defense gets such strong penetration on our OL and nearly beats the RB to the ball what choice does the RB have but to dance and try to create some separation. I've also criticized his somewhat low 4.1 YPC but after watching this OL the 4.1 YPC over an entire season is pretty impressive. It's obvious now that Mendy's athletic ability is the reason we've had a halfway palatable running game the last two years. Redman and Dwyer have been disappointing to this point but running behind this line is a challenge to say the least. I'm looking forward to Mendy getting back out there, hopefully after the bye week.

 

I've also been hyper critical of Mendy as well. I think with Haley calling the shots IF we can get out line together maybe he can give our O another dimension. I've always wanted to see what Redman can do but now I think I would admit that he's just a backup. That may be unfair to him but didn't he say that he was gonna have a monster game against Denver last year? So if my memory serves me correctly he is on record as saying he CAN run behind this line. However he actually gets WAY less yards than Mendy. The only break I am giving him is because he's probably pretty banged up with that groin injury. But otherwise I will now say that Mendy is better and always has been and probably always will be.

 

How many more years do we have to complain about our pathetic offensive line? There was such optimism after the draft this year but that's pretty much gone by the wayside with DD's injury and Mike Adams' performance. Why do you think our OL can't get it together?

 

It's a mystery to me also. I wish we would just pull some guys off the free agency market. I always thought that our o-line got a bad rap because it's really hard to cover and block for as long as BA's plays took to develop. I think Haley has helped somewhat in that it seems like Ben does stay upright A LOT more than previous years but we still can't open up lanes for guys to run through. Maybe Mendy will have that little extra boost to hit whatever hole is there and that will be a difference maker. But I would love to see us have a great line and make us a running threat again. I definitely feel your pain in that aspect.

 

Oh for the days of Marvel Smith, Alan Faneca, Jeff Hartings, et al.

 

Yeah! Remember that RED SEA of a hole that Willie Parker ran through UNTOUCHED in Super Bowl 40? If Alan Faneca makes it to the Hall that will DEFINITELY be a career highlight. What sucks is the Rooney's chose not to pay him to stick around. I wonder if they had it to do over if they would change their minds about that?

 

Faneca was done...the Steelers made the right call. I just wish they would have traded him the year before and got some value from him.

Hack

 

There is a chance that Mendy might make better use of this line, however small it is. Watching this line they can open a hole they just can't maintain it for long. I'm being a bit generous here but maybe, just maybe, with hope beyond hope it is enough for him to get through. On a side note...I have been pretty impressed with Pouncey so far this year.

 

Mendy is our best back, I know our line is horrible, but I haven't seen anything from Dwyer or Redmen to see that they are an every down back.

 

People falling off the Dwyer bandwagon already? I think Redman is hiding an injury he isn't running like he used to.

If Redman and Dwyer can't fight their way through the pile what can Medenhall do, the guy is soft. If anything I see Haley using Mendenhall as another receiver, can you guys say bubble screens? lol or short passes over the middle but I think Haley wants to use Mendenhall's speed on the outside.

 

Lets not crown him king yet. Very possible that Mendy comes back less than what he was in years past. I agree with the comment on Redman; that groin injury has been having an impact on his game.

 

I think Mendy will play a big role in the passing game too. Also he can help in pass protection. I've always felt Mendy was soft too but who knows. I've thought that Redman has been hurt this year too and doing all he can to seize an oppourtunity to be the starter. In the offseason we were all saying "TRADE MENDY NOW! TRADE MENDY NOW!" but I think we can see that that certainly would've been foolish.

 

I think there are several factors going into why the running game isn't working and while I think Mendenhall will help I don't think it will cure all ills. We had long discussions about this last season and the season before if I remember correctly, the type of running game they want to utilize takes time to develop in game and it takes persistence. You can't go out midway through the third quarter and decide to run the ball it just doesn't work that way. That also ties into the drawbacks of RB by committee one of them being that no one running back gets a feel for the game and gets into a rhythm. Finally yes the Oline is just not doing the trick but it is hard to be successful when you have broadcast to the world that you want to get back to running the football and teams have been selling out to stuff the run especially in the gaps where they typically run. Look at all the successful runs that have been made in the first three games almost all of them have come either when the RB has cut against the grain and bounced to a wide open outside(Dywer in the Denver game) or when they have faked inside and got the LB to bite and then went the opposite way for a ten yard gain(Redman in the Jets game).
If you go back look at the Raiders game they played an almost perfect defensive scheme for shutting down the running game. The had the DE and both DT's lined up tight to one side over the C, RG and RT and the remaining DE lined up way to the left and angled towards the middle basically leaving Colon with no one over him. All three of their LB's were five yards off the line and tight within the box. They basically overloaded the right side of the line and were daring them to run left and they never did except on a draw play where Colon got nailed for holding. So there are many reason why the run isn't working and I'm not sure that mendenhall will fare better if they don't work things out.