Monday Evening Quarterback - Week Four

Rashard Mendenhall might be a little meek off the field.

He might be a little too smart, a Robert Smith type whose character isn't defined by football.

He might not be the most rah-rah, involved teammate in the locker room.

As long as he keeps running like that, I could care less.

Mendenhall burst onto the scene last night, bringing balance to a Steelers running game that hasn't been truly balanced since Franco Harris galloped off to the Pacific Northwest.

Jerome Bettis was a great inside runner, but his inability to threaten the edges made the Steelers' running game one-dimensional.

Willie Parker has always been a talented slasher who can get through the hole in a hurry when it's there.  He does not have the build to run with great power or the vision to make intelligent cuts.

Rashard Mendenhall melds the two, and so much more.

While he certainly isn't as physical as Bettis was, Mendenhall has shown the ability to punish defenders (especially defensive backs) in the open field.

While he doesn't have Parker's 80 yard TD run potential, Mendenhall has better short area quickness and explosion.

Mendenhall isn't the receiver that Mewelde Moore is, but he's much better as a receiver than Parker, who is a better pure runner than Moore.

Simply put, Mendenhall has the complete toolkit.  Even though it was against a poor Chargers run defense, it was great to see him display those tools for all to see.

The Steelers have gone from having a beat up, aging starter and a big question mark to having a starter that can take his time and get healthy and a 1st round pick who just woke up.

So how does it all fit in for the remainder of the season, and does it really matter? 

Is this one of those nice problems to have?  Most definitely.

If I'm Tomlin, Parker gets told this week that he's sitting for the Lions game on Sunday.  Turf toe is the type of injury that can become a nagging issue if the player rushes back.

That gives Rashard Mendenhall another week to build his resume and his confidence.  It's one thing to have one good game in the NFL.  Many long-forgotten lesser lights have done so.  It's another thing to string together quality performances, while improving along the way.  Mendenhall can certainly stand to improve his pad level and his ball security over these next few weeks.

When Parker comes back, it's time to finally see a true splitting of the load, possibly with Mendenhall seeing the majority of the carries if he keeps playing like he did last night.

This is not a knock on Parker, and it's a shame that anyone would use this on-time, planned-for changing of the guard to knock Fast Willie.  There are 3 running backs older than Parker among the top 25 in rushing yards this year.  And those three (Correll Buckhalter, Ricky Williams and Thomas Jones) all split time and carries with younger backs. 

It was actually instructive to get yet another glimpse of the end of LaDainian Tomlinson's career last night.  He's about a year older than Parker, but fans understand in his case that a running back's life span is short and give him his due, whereas with Parker fans seem to trumpet his demise like they're proud of the fact that they were right about him, just five years late.

I could care less who is toting the ball as long as they're productive.  But at the same time, this organization was counting on Mendenhall to live up to his potential.  Taking a running back in the first round isn't something the Steelers typically do; they couldn't afford to miss at one of the easiest positions to project.

A respectable, productive running game does so much for this offense.  Ben Roethlisberger gets to really sell play action, as he did so effectively last night.  When Ben has time and room to throw, he is as effective a pure thrower as any quarterback in the game.

The running game opens up more room for Heath Miller to do his thing.  He had a great night last night.

More than anything, the running game saves the defense, a defense which has been leaky in the 4th quarter.  The Steelers have been winning the time of possession battle despite being pass-heavy.  Last night, they dominated time of possession due to the stellar running game.

There was more to last night's performance than just Mendenhall. 

Any of the Steelers running backs would have gone over 100 yards the way the offensive line was playing.  Max Starks had a violent, consistent game.  Chris Kemoeatu was not just pulling, but destroying linebackers when he got there.  Justin Hartwig played his best game of the year, though against a nobody of a nose tackle.  Carey Davis brought smarts and willingness to the FB position, and was an asset to the run game.

A lot of things went right.  But despite all the help, Mendenhall's performance was enough to make everyone league-wide stand up and take notice.

There's a lot to like about the offense right now, and Mendenhall just adds to that. 

It was only the Chargers, but it showed that this offense can be more than just Ben's arm.

FURIOUS FIVE

1.  New England Patriots

I was going to write about the New England quarterback's lack of composure in the pocket, but as soon as I typed the B and the R I got flagged for unnecessary roughness.

2.  Baltimore Ravens

Is anyone still impressed with the Ravens' win at San Diego?  Because other than that, they haven't beat a team that has won a game.

3.  New York Jets

Mark Sanchez.  Where are the retractions?  Where are the apologies from the media?  The guy had two decent games and got anointed.  Now, he's a 57 percent passer with a 71.2 QB rating who has more picks than TD's.

4.  New York Giants

They have a brutal schedule coming up, but they're beating up on lesser teams right now.  Steve Smith is on pace for 136 catches this season.

5.  Indianapolis Colts

Dwight Freeney is banged up, but this is still interesting - he has 8 solo tackles on the season, and five of those are sacks.

AWARDS

OFFENSE

Ben Roethlisberger

He was accurate, heady and spread the ball around.  A near perfect performance from a quarterback who is doing everything that is expected of him.

DEFENSE

James Harrison

I will not fault him for his failures in coverage against Antonio Gates.  Gates is the best TE in football and has been for the past decade.  Harrison was disruptive and played with intensity all game long, finishing with 2 sacks.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Jeff Reed

It was a lackluster night for the special teams, but Jeff Reed needed to make that field goal at the end of the game, and he did.

GOAT

Bob Ligashesky

His special teams units haven't been very special this season.  His coverage teams have given up long kickoff returns the past two weeks.  His punt returner got stripped in an important spot in the game.  And most importantly, he failed to put the hands team out with 4 minutes remaining.  Better to be over-prepared than unprepared in that situation.

 
QUOTABLE

"We never make it easy, it seems."

- Willie Colon

STATS, STAT

It took Rashard Mendenhall just 22 carries last night to take over as team rushing leader.  He came in with 7 carries on the season, but passed Parker with his 32 yard jaunt early in the 4th quarter.

MAKING THE ROUNDS

1.  I'm inclined to give credit to the opposing offenses the Steelers have faced instead of piling on the defense, despite three poor fourth quarter showings in a row.  Jay Cutler, Carson Palmer and Phillip Rivers all made great 4th quarter plays to give their teams life.  Rivers especially was brilliant late even though he was the one that didn't get the win.  The Steelers brought plenty of pass rush, Rivers simply stood firm and delivered the ball.  He showed tremendous courage that most quarterbacks simply don't have.  The Steelers have some issues they need to clean up defensively, especially their sub packages in the secondary.  But they're gaining momentum and will get their leader back in a few short weeks.

2.  Ben is the captain of this offense - before the snap, at the snap and even after the play.  Forget about his ability to recognize what the defense is doing.  Forget about his great performance these past few weeks as far as finding the open man after going through his progressions.  What impressed me most about Ben during the Chargers' game was simply his awareness.  After Heath Miller fumbled and Carey Davis recovered in the end zone, as the announcers were praising the touchdown Ben was giving his team the signal to huddle up, fully aware that the ball could not be advanced and that their work wasn't done yet.  That's an overlooked sign of a mature and involved quarterback.

3.  Hines Ward should send Santonio Holmes a thank-you note after every game they play against the Chargers.  That's three straight games where the Chargers have devoted their coverage to Holmes, allowing Ward to work free underneath to the tune of big statistics.  The 26 yard throw to Ward early in the 3rd quarter was a perfect example.  Santonio had three sets of eyes on him as he runs towards the middle of the field, with not a single defender paying attention to Ward.

4.  The defense has given up 873 yards passing on 90 completions.  Of that total, 40 completions and 398 yards have come from the opponents' running backs and tight ends, and that's just too much.  This is where the Steelers miss Troy Polamalu more than anything.  The Steelers tried everything in their bag of tricks to stop Antonio Gates, and nothing worked.  Timmons was good early but tired late.  Deshea Townsend did okay but was overmatched on the first touchdown catch.  Keiwan Ratliff looked befuddled.  James Harrison tried hard but got called for a ticky tack pass interference penalty on a ball that was overthrown.  Gates ended up with 124 yards on 9 catches.  In two games against the Steelers last year with Polamalu in the lineup, Gates was limited to 7 catches for 69 yards.

5.  After moving past the unlucky 4:15 games last week, there's another schedule nuance that appears to be in the Steelers' favor.  The Steelers only have four matchups against 43 teams left on their schedule, the Lions, Vikings, Bengals and Raiders.  Aside from those four games, it's a veritable parade of 30 fronts, which should help an offensive line that plays much better against teams who employ the defense they see in practice every day.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

6.  As the Ravens tried to mount a winning drive at the end of the Patriots game, I said to myself, wow, this is Joe Flacco's chance to lead his team to a big win against a quality opponent.  He hadn't done it yet in his career, he hadn't taken the team down the field for a winning TD in a big game.  And he failed.  Yes, Mark Clayton dropped a 4th down pass.  But it wouldn't have gotten to that point if Flacco hadn't shriveled up for the first three downs.

7.  I sat through way too much of the Browns/Bengals game.  I will say this about the Browns - they are a much better team with Derek Anderson at the helm.  It's not that he's that good, it's simply that Brady Quinn is that bad.  Shaun Rogers (for some unknown reason) is still playing motivated football.

8.  I didn't support Terrell Owens in his tiff with the Cowboys last year, but at the time I stated that the Cowboys' offense would shrivel up and die without him, and it appears that I'm right.  Owens demanded respect, and that respect allowed Jason Witten to catch a ton of balls.  Now, as the focal point of the offense, Witten is easily taken away.  Which reduces the Cowboys to having to put the game in the hands of Sam Hurd.

9.  Let's hear it for the aging cornerbacks around the league.  Champ Bailey appears to be re-born in Mike Nolan's system in Denver.  Charles Woodson and Al Harris are still playing well in Green Bay.  Antoine Winfield is playing shutdown football for Minnesota.  What do the four of them have in common?  They're all older than Ike Taylor, who has reminded everyone these past two weeks that there's a good reason for him to be swaggin'.  Taylor was all over Vincent Jackson from start to finish.  If I'm the front office, Ike would be at the top of my extension list next offseason.

10. Who is the worst team in the NFL?  I can't answer that, but I do know that the four worst teams I've seen all have one thing in common - new coaches.  Kansas City lacks talent and Todd Haley appears over-matched so far.  Raheem Morris' Tampa squad lacks talent, but he also lacks a degree of maturity and steadiness.  Steve Spagnuolo has a big rebuilding job to do in St. Louis, and Eric Mangini is Eric Mangini, and to top it off he's coaching the Browns.  I can't wait for Cleveland at Kansas City on December 20th, which might be the only chance for one of this foursome to get into the win column.

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Daunte Culpepper

It looks like the big guy will get the start for the Lions next week.  Culpepper still has the arm, but he's always been prone to poor decisions and big mistakes.  Look for the Steelers defense to continue to harass the quarterback the way they've been doing, but with Culpepper showing none of the poise or quick decision making that has killed the Steelers the last few weeks.