Steelers win in Mendenhall’s return
I hadn’t realized how much I missed Rashard Mendenhall………until after he returned to the Steelers. Without Mendenhall, the Steelers struggled to gain yards on the ground. Calling their running attack impotent would have been an insult to impotence.
But in his first game back, Mendenhall reminded Steelers fans why he has been the starting running back for the Steelers since 2009. Mendenhall rushed for 81 yards on 14 carries. That may not sound particularly impressive, but it was an average of 5.8 yards per carry. Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer struggled to gain 5.8 millimeters per carry in Mendenhall’s absence.
Mendenhall would have had over 100 yards rushing in his return, but he had a 24 yard run called back due to an illegal formation penalty on Mike Wallace.
Not only did Mendenhall’s return rejuvenate the Steelers’ running game, but it also seemed to rejuvenate the Steelers’ offensive line. After each of his successful runs, you could see the offensive linemen smiling and congratulating Mendenhall.
Mendenhall runs wild!
But despite Mendenhall’s successful return, all did not go well for the Steelers. Troy Polamalu seemed to re-injure his calf muscle, and didn’t return to the game. LaMarr Woodley also went down with a hamstring injury.
The Steelers played pretty sloppily on both offense and defense, and they were penalized 9 times for 106 yards. Fortunately Michael Vick’s play was even sloppier than the Steelers’. Vick fumbled the ball 3 times during the game, and 2 of them were recovered by the Steelers.
The Steelers led the Eagles for most of the game. In fact, they led until there was only 6:38 left in the 4th quarter, when the Eagles scored a touchdown and took a 14-13 lead.
Fortunately, the Steelers still had time for one final drive. The Steelers marched down the field on a drive that consisted primarily of runs by Mendenhall and Isaac Redman. The Steelers drove the ball all the way to the Philadelphia 16 yard line, and then with 3 seconds left, they called on kicker Shaun Suisham to win the game. Suisham put the ball right between the uprights with no time left on the clock, and the Steelers had a 16-14 win.
The Steelers are now 2-2, and are in third place in the AFC North, behind Baltimore and Cincinnati. They only have 4 days to prepare for a Thursday night game against the Tennessee Titans.
Go Steelers!
It’s always great to beat Philly! Mendenhall looked great!
Any word on when Woodley and Polamalu will be back?
1I think Mendenhall will have earned his extension by the end of the year. It’s obvious now that the team does not have a back that’s half as good as he is.
Harrison’s return seemed to rejuvenate the front 7, too. I barely noticed when Woodley went down. Of course, the Eagles’ OL is abysmal.
Ok, so Troy is down again. Not surprising, as it’s about time to draft his successor. Just please, use someone not named Ryan Mundy in his place!
These penalties need to stop. The OL needs to learn to pass protect without holding, and the DBs need to learn to cover without PI calls or personal fouls. Also, what was up with Wallace this game? I think he dropped more than he caught.
Overall, I’m really happy about the win. But they have some issues to iron out. I’m worried about Thursday’s game. They have a lot of important guys battling injuries, and they have been sloppy with penalties. How will they react to a short week?
2Dan,
I think you’re right about Mendenhall’s extension. I never realized just how much better he is than Redman or Dwyer. Neither of them has the speed to get to the edge, nor do they have the elusiveness that Mendy has.
Harrison didn’t make much of an impact, but I’m still glad to have him back. And I think I must have blinked when Woodley got hurt, because I didn’t actually see it happen.
As far as Troy goes, I’ve been saying for the past 2 years that the team needs to draft his successor. As much as we all love Troy, he gets hurt too much. And as you said, Ryan Mundy is NOT the answer.
The penalties were just ridiculous. Willie Colon is the same old guy, regardless of where you put him on the line. His best move is the “blatant hold”.
I’m not sure what was up with Wallace. He couldn’t hold onto anything. And Antonio Brown wasn’t much better (although he wasn’t as bad as he was last game). Hines Ward may have been slow, but he almost never dropped the ball. What good is all of the speed that Wallace and Brown have if they don’t hold onto the ball?
It’s a good thing that we play Tennessee on Thursday. We should be able to beat them, even with injuries and a short week of practice.
3Andy,
4I haven’t heard anything about either player’s injury. However, I’m concerned because Troy got hurt without even being touched. That’s not good. And we all remember how many games Woodley missed last year with a hamstring injury. So I’m taking this hamstring injury seriously.
Overall a good win. Like everyone else, I’m concerned about Troy. And Woodley to a slightly lesser degree. We need both OLBs out there. Worilds actually did a few good things. I think Harrison presence was felt, but they could double or chip him all day long without Woodley in there. But without him, they would have been free to do more things to the defense.
Unlike Tomlin, I am concerned that when they really needed a stop, they couldn’t do it. Like the Raiders, like the Broncos, the Eagles simply walked down the field.
We may have to get by with Mundy for a while.
Mendy came in looking better than I expected. Other than running with the ball very loose, he was great.
Apparently Wallace’s hands and brain were holding out. Don’t worry Colon will holding them for him.
Hopefully we can smack Tennessee around and rest for a bit before beating on the Bungles.
5Yes Mendenhall is strong and fast. He ran strong.
I’m glad he showed no signs of being tentative or holding back.
He let it all hang out and it seemed to hold together well.
Great news!
The refs sucked big time!
Especially first half, killing momentum on offense and defense.
Even Aikman kept saying “he got away with that one” they missed that one” “the ref was right there.”
Tomlin wasn’t happy about it at all and could be seen chewing out and being chewed out by the refs at times.
Some of those calls and non-calls were ridiculous.
Hard enough beating a physical team like the Eagles without having to also beat the refs lousy work.
6Oh and Troy and Woodley is just terrible news.
I was worried about Troy going in and now he will either not play or play limited for a good while.
Woodley is also terrible. Hamstring reinjured/aggravated is at times worse than original injury. Recovery is long and mentally hard.
if last year is any indication, then prognosis is not good at all..
Injuries are off the charts this year, it seems. Nor just the Steelers but most every team.
Maybe these modern day athletes are a little too trained up and too tight.
Only four or five games in and the injuries league wide are something to be really concerned about.
7I think Harrison was responsible for a number of QB hurries and affected Vick’s game. James said he pulled up on at least one occasion because he’s worried about fines. Fortunately that pass dropped for a long incompletion. Also impressive he played every snap. He has some knee swelling so I wonder how he’ll perform on 4 days between games.
I think some of Mendy’s performance is due to solid run blocking by our unit, at least when Willie is not holding defenders.
8