1. Hi Guest, Registrations are now open. See you on the inside.
    Dismiss Notice

Felix Jones vs. Rashard Mendenhall

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by defva, Apr 17, 2021.

  1. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

    16,211
    4,202
    Oct 19, 2011
    When he was drafted I knew nothing about him and I guy I worked with said the Steelers fans would like him, a power back at Indiana, decent speed, likes contact and falls forward when tackled. I was skeptical since Indiana was Big 10 and didn't remember a time where they gave PennState or Ohio a run for their money. Then when he got busted up by Ray Lewis in that first season he just was never the same, never saw him fight for yards, always looked to bounce outside instead of lowering the shoulder and hitting a guy.
     
  2. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

    16,211
    4,202
    Oct 19, 2011
    He is better with a TE security blanket than any time without one.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  3. HugeSnack

    HugeSnack Well-Known Member

    5,233
    100
    Oct 17, 2011
    You don't have to be kind. There's plenty of rage to go around. I once thought about it for a long time, watched the play over and over again. In the end I assigned 50% of the blame to David Johnson, 25% to Doug Legursky, and the rest split between Mendenhall, bad luck, and good defense. Yeah Mendenhall should never fumble, but at least he was holding the ball properly. Matthews really hit him just right, and I'm sure Mendy wasn't expecting it. He had the blockers. Legs whiffed. Then Johnson had two guys and split them like he was going out for a pass. It all happened in an instant.

    There's missing blocks, and then there's whiffing so bad at such a bad time that it's essentially sabotage. Ironically, that's the David Johnson Special, so maybe Mendenhall deserves more blame for being surprised that DJ whiffed so bad.

    I think of it like a receiver dropping a pass where he got laid out because his QB hung him out to dry and threw him into the defender. Or maybe a kicker missing a makeable kick because the snap/hold was so bad that he had to stutter step. Sucks that he didn't get the job done, but can't put him in that position.

    Plus, Mendenhall doesn't get enough credit for getting us into that Super Bowl, in my opinion.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  4. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

    29,865
    7,884
    Dec 23, 2020
    I still can't forget all the fumbles he had. Especially the fumbles without getting hit. LoL.
    Outside of that big thing.
    He had everything you want in a back. LoL.
     
  5. Busman

    Busman

    7,339
    876
    Oct 18, 2011

    People just had such a hate on for Mendy because of his political views. Fans could not get over it and had a tainted biased view about him,
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  6. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

    29,865
    7,884
    Dec 23, 2020
    I know you aren't talking about me, cause I didn't even know he had political views.
    How hard is it not 2 like a Rb that fumbles even when not being touched?
    Did I write that correctly??
    Not sure I understand. LoL
     
  7. HugeSnack

    HugeSnack Well-Known Member

    5,233
    100
    Oct 17, 2011
    Do you have a clip of that fumble you're referencing? I couldn't find it. I vaguely remember something like that. I think he was running down the sideline and he fumbled out of bounds? I think it might have even been a preseason game? At this point I can't remember if I ever saw it or just heard about it. I'd love to see it again if you have it. I thought I knew what play it was (against the Bears), but when I found it, he didn't fumble at all.

    Not sure if you were on the board back when he was playing, but the amount of hate he got from fans was completely out of whack with his actual abilities. Half (or more?) wanted Isaac Redman playing over him. Probably the same half that wanted Keyaron Fox over Lawrence Timmons. Some people were definitely allowing their opinion of his play to be affected by his unusual outspoken political views, which a lot of people thought were unpatriotic. Others were just hating or exaggerating for the sake of it. It's what people do. I hate on David Johnson. Difference being it's not an exaggeration to say David Johnson was a terrible lead blocker, which is how he was primarily used.

    People talk about Mendy as if he was bad, or as if he fumbled all the time, even portray him as a guy who was likely to just drop the ball for no reason at any time, because he fumbled out of bounds once and lost a few yards. They'd say he shied away from contact and was afraid to get hit, it was his fault our running game was bad, etc. It was strange for me to read that criticism, because I thought he was the best part of our running game at that time, because our OL was absolute trash, and when he was inserted, things got better. I saw no evidence he couldn't handle contact, and plenty of evidence he was just trying to make something happen, because getting stuffed at the LOS was getting frustrating.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. KnoxVegasSteel

    KnoxVegasSteel Well-Known Member

    6,037
    1,621
    Oct 21, 2011
    Average is being generous. And a delusional dumbass to boot.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  9. KnoxVegasSteel

    KnoxVegasSteel Well-Known Member

    6,037
    1,621
    Oct 21, 2011
    It didn't help that he liked to run his mouth about sh!t he was clueless about.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  10. Busman

    Busman

    7,339
    876
    Oct 18, 2011
    Correct. I am just making a statement that may apply to long time board members who remember Mendenhalls take on 911 being an inside job and such.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  11. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

    20,075
    4,358
    Nov 24, 2011
    Mendenhall had nine fumbles in five years with the Steelers. That’s not exactly terrible.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  12. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

    29,865
    7,884
    Dec 23, 2020
    You can't go by years.
    You go by how many times he carried the ball.
    You're also not mentioning that 2 of those years he hardly played, one not longer than a quarter.
    Also that's fumbles lost , not actual fumbles.
    Also 4 in Arizona in half a years work. Also that's just actual lost fumbles.
    If you think differently then
    1. You don't remember him fumbling more than once when nobody touched him.
    2. You didn't see the Games
    3. You don't care 2 , or want 2 remember
    4. It's just my opinion, and you my friend have yours. :thumbs_up:
     
  13. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

    29,865
    7,884
    Dec 23, 2020
    Hell. I never even heard about that, but I don't mix what a player does off the field with what he does on the field. Except if it causes him 2 get into trouble with the law , and causes him not 2 be there 4 the team.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  14. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

    16,211
    4,202
    Oct 19, 2011
    He considered himself something of a critical thinker. His comments about 9/11 drew some real backlash because it was his belief that no way two jets and jet fuel took down two buildings so it had to be a conspiracy. The wounds for the nation were still really raw and people didn't like his take on it. My opinion is that even as a critical thinker he wasn't looking at the architectural marvel that was the WTC and how the unique design with the outer shell being the main support which was why each floor was so open. Once that structure is compromised its like dominoes falling. A traditional stick built framework probably doesn't collapse completely.

    So with that still in people's minds he makes a comment after the raid that killed Bin Laden that it was strange to celebrate the killing of another human being. To a certain point he isn't wrong but still don't say it out loud especially about someone who had no qualms about killing men women and children in furtherance of his goals. Some people the world is safer without. Mendenhall should have expressed his views at a later date and perhaps would have had a better discussion.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

    29,865
    7,884
    Dec 23, 2020
    Crazy how I never knew he said these things.
    I've never missed a game since 1997, but I was playing out during that time ...so maybe I just missed it.
    I also helped build the support structure for the New building awhile ago.
    Was a welding contract we had got back awhile ago.
    Believe it was contracted out all over.
    Anyway I don't pay attention 2 conspiracy theories.
    Unless it's about Aliens. LoL. :smiley1:
     
    • Like Like x 1
  16. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

    26,991
    10,035
    Oct 26, 2011
    My wife is from New Mexico near Roswell if you ever read about that incident. I went to the museum down there and read what I could find. Now, I’m not saying aliens did or did not land there. I am saying something really weird happened that day that the government covered up and still is covering up today.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  17. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

    16,211
    4,202
    Oct 19, 2011
    I downloaded like 17 seasons of Ancient Aliens for my wife and after watching a few episodes it is really hard not to say it's Aliens......but it's aliens
     
    • Winner Winner x 1
  18. TuRnDoWnForWaTT

    TuRnDoWnForWaTT Well-Known Member

    7,705
    2,997
    Jan 1, 2018
    He fumbled. You can blame anyone you want, doesn't change the fact that Mendenhall fumbled.

    You can find excuses for anyone who commits any turnover if you really want to. Blocking was bad on the play. The ball just popped out. The ball got punched out. He never got the handoff clean. You get the point.

    David Johnson indeed missed a block, and Clay Matthews made a great play. That doesn't change the fact that Mendenhall needs to hang on to the ball. We lost the game because of the fumble, not the missed block.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  19. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

    20,075
    4,358
    Nov 24, 2011
    One of those years that he barley played he also didn't have a fumble that year.
    His fumble % isn't that different than most feature backs.
     
  20. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

    16,211
    4,202
    Oct 19, 2011
    They lost the game because BA wanted to feed Ben's ego and together they convinced Tomlin to do the last thing the Packers would expect, throw the football right into the strong point of the Packers defense, it's secondary. No coincidence that the Steelers got back into that game by running the football or that giving up two turnovers one for a pick6 in the first quarter set the tone.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Like Like x 1
  21. TuRnDoWnForWaTT

    TuRnDoWnForWaTT Well-Known Member

    7,705
    2,997
    Jan 1, 2018
    The fumble ended the comeback. It, for sure, wasnt the sole reason we lost.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  22. FootballAnalyst98

    FootballAnalyst98 Well-Known Member

    7,338
    504
    Jan 23, 2018
    Idk. Rodgers was playing on another level that day.
     
  23. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

    41,499
    8,939
    Oct 16, 2011
    Actually the missed block led to the fumble so it was just as important.

    When you are using text book form to secure the football, sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the defense. He pretty much got hit simultaneously from both sides. You can call it excuses, I call it facts.

    It’s speculation that they win the game had the fumble not occurred but it was a change of momentum for sure.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  24. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

    29,865
    7,884
    Dec 23, 2020
    Hes in top 25 all time by how many times he carried, if I read the list correctly.
    That's quite a lot.
    Doesn't matter he's not here, nor will he be.
     
  25. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

    29,865
    7,884
    Dec 23, 2020
    I watch that all the time.
    Not sure what I believe, because I never seen one, but it is highly entertaining forsure.
     

Share This Page

Welcome to the ultimate resource for Steelers fans. Sign Up Here!