Mendenhall/O-line

[steelblood]

Re: Mendenhall/O-line

We certainly missed Flozell this weekend. I hope he is good to go for Sunday night.

Good article. I wish we had a Pittsburgh sports writer like Gosselin.

[SteelCrazy]

Re: Mendenhall/O-line

Dear God:

Can you please give us a running back with Jerome Bettis size & power, Chris Johnson speed, Barry Sanders elusiveness and Marshall Faulk versatility? That way maybe Steelers fans will STFU for once?

Thank you,
stlrz d

You are funny. But, I really don't see the problem with discussing a bad running game performance. I don't think anyone said that they didn't like Mendenhall. 2 yards a carry is down right pathetic; I don't care who the opponent is.

A football message board is not the place to discuss our running game!! Why do you think Wal-Mart sells diaries!!!??? Keep it to yourself!

Anywho, Mendy has been doing that patented spin move more than an Australian toilet. You are correct IMO, about getting 3 tough yards instead of lossing 1 trying to knock the shoes off the Defense. I think Adams going down hurt us more than Dallas would like to admit.

[buckeyehoppy]

Re: Mendenhall/O-line

Mendy needs to quit f---ing around with this lateral movement that gains no yardage and allows the D to size him up for the hit. If he lowered his level, ran straight ahead and delivered a well-timed shoulder pad or straight arm to a LB, we'd see a much more effective and efficient runner.

I have seen him run with authority but some times he looks a little hesitant to hit the hole hard. Redman does a great job of getting a hard 3. Mend needs to do the same and stop dancing.. dude is a beast in the open field but inside he needs to stop spinning and run like he is 230lbs

As have I seen Mendy take the reins and command authority in the run game. I think he will do so often in the future. Would just like to see that more consistently.

Dear God:

Can you please give us a running back with Jerome Bettis size & power, Chris Johnson speed, Barry Sanders elusiveness and Marshall Faulk versatility? That way maybe Steelers fans will STFU for once?

Thank you,
stlrz d

I don't take offense to this, D. FWIW, I think Mendy can be the running back the Steelers need him to be. Maybe not quite as you describe (really, which NFL RB is ever going to be like that?), but he just needs to not be so fancy when he runs.

In traffic, he is equipped to grind out the tough yards. That would be great if he did that consistently. We've all seen him do this before. In space, he can show all the flash he wants. This is especially true if he wants to fake a defender out.

If he can put all that together, the Steelers will really have something. Mendy is still young, so there's no reason to doubt that he won't fine tune his running style to complement his body style.