Mendenhall yet to convince Steeler Nation

During last week’s game against the previously undefeated Minnesota Vikings, Mendenhall faced his toughest

competition yet; a stout top-5 run defense anchored by the Williams’ and himself (meaning Mendenhall).  Mendenhall wasn’t the same decisive back that we’ve seen in previous weeks.

Additionally, Mendenhall fumbled the ball for the second week in a row.  However, this time it almost cost the Steelers the victory.  Mendenhall went airborne, diving from nearly the 5 yard line to attempt to reach the goal line.  Not only did Mendenhall come up short of the goal line, he turned the ball over to the Minnesota Vikings.

Note to Mendenhall, we will NOT reach the goal line by leaving your feet at the 5 yard line.

Another note to Mendenhall..normally leaving your feet outside of the 1-inch line results in a fumble.  Don’t take it from me, watch the dozens of film available that confirms when running backs, wide receivers and especially quarterbacks leave their feet, they fumble.

In Mendenhall’s defense, he didn’t have a whole lot of opportunity to impress.  The Steelers aborted the run way too early and allowed Minnesota to dominate the time of possession which almost caused the Steelers to lose.  Chalk up more bad playing to our offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians.  In a game such as this one, Mendenhall should have had at least 20 carries which would have controlled the clock a bit more and would have allowed Mendenhall to come very close to 100 rushing yards on the day.

Timmons Injured (again)

Last week, Lawrence Timmons suffered his second ankle injury of the year against the Minnesota Vikings.  It is thought that a Steelers defensive lineman rolled up on the back of Timmons’ ankle in an attempt to tackle Adrian Peterson.  Earlier this year, Timmons suffered a nagging high ankle sprain that sidelined him for a couple weeks in which Keyaron Fox replaced him sufficiently.  However, this injury is the opposite ankle of the one he injured earlier this year.

According to Timmons’, the bye week will allow his ankle to heal and he’s expected to play against the currently undefeated Denver Broncos.  However, if Timmons’ can’t play expect Fox to start as his replacement.

Reed in trouble again?!?

Jeff Reed doesn’t seem to learn, does he?  According to sources, Jeff Reed got into a heated argument with a fan at Heinz Field.  It hasn’t been determined why or how the argument got started but I can take a pretty good guess.  I would think someone  called out Reed about his recent arrest outside of McFadden’s bar in Pittsburgh (i.e. outside of Heinz Field).

In this incident, Jeff Reed was sticking up for his “partner in crime”, Matt Spaeth who also was arrested at the same location for urinating in public.  In doing this, Reed was arrest for public intoxication, and resisting arrest.

This isn’t Reed’s only run in with the law.  Last year, he “beat up” a towel dispenser and made a scene at a rest stop.

Reed should focus more on his production on the field than off.  Reed hasn’t had the strongest of years thus far featuring a couple missed critical field goals, poor kick offs, and one of the worst attempts at a tackle I’ve ever seen which resulted in a Percy Harvin kick-off return for a touchdown allowing the Vikings to get back into the game.

Look for this to be Reed’s last year in a Steelers uniform. The Pittsburgh Steelers organization does not take well to players who are not good citizens off the field and produce negative publicity.  Especially players that turn down an extension offer in the offseason, as Reed has already done.

Troy Polamalu expects to start

Troy Polamalu practiced with the 1st team defense on Friday after missing practice on both Wednesday and Thursday. Polamalu is still rehabbing his torn MCL that he suffered against the Titans during week 1 of the NFL season.

Last week, Polamalu removed his knee brace during pregame warm-ups because he said it restricted his ability to change direction quickly. He also appeared to re-injure his knee after intercepting a pass from Joshua Cribbs in the wild cat formation. This week Polamalu said that he will wear the knee brace during the showdown against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.

Mendenhall to start against Vikings

Rashard Mendenhall, the second year 1^st round pick from Illinois is set to start against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.  This is the first time in Mendenhall’s career that he is set to start when both he and Parker are healthy.  According to head coach Mike Tomlin, Mendenhall has officially passed Willie Parker on the depth chart by indicating that Mendenahll has the “hot hand”.

This has been an incredible turn of events for Mendenhall.  Less than a month ago, Tomlin didn’t play Mendenhall one snap against the Cincinnati Bengals because he didn’t feel comfortable that Mendenhall knew his assignments and lacked game time preparation throughout the week.  Now, Mendenhall has impressed coaches, teammates, and fans alike with his running style that’s been averaging over 5 yards a carry.  Mendenhall has showed a great, and decisive burst through the hole, speed, hands (in the passing game), and the ability to break tackles.  He’s been one of the pleasant surprises this year along with Mike Wallace.

Mendenhall will have a difficult task this week against a very strong Vikings defensive front.  Many critics of Mendenhall say that his success is due to the weak run defenses of the San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Cleveland Browns.   This week, Mendenhall has the opportunity to silence those critics.