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Monday, August 4, 2008

Not Good

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Re-read my title for this post.

And again.

It cannot be stressed enough. Every training camp, the Steelers go for the early goal-line drill, hoping that someone will stand out as a versatile short-yardage back with substantial power. Since The Bus left, the drill seems to come up empty year in and year out.

This year, disappointment is leveled at rookie Rashard Mendenhall. Given three chances from the 1-yard line, Bizarro Beetlejuice failed each time. This might be unfair criticism heaped onto a rook, but much is expected when you score 17 touchdowns as a short yardage/power back in college.

"But Nick, our running game is fine. We have Beetlejuice, Fast Bill and a backup plan in Mewelde Moore that other teams would love to be afforded. And Willie was leading the league in rushing up to his injury in week 16 last season!"

I've tried to use this excuse in my mind, and it isn't working anymore. Willie scored two touchdowns all of last year, both on the ground. That's a massive drop in production, going between yards gained and touchdowns accumulated. You can run a 99 yard play every time you snap the ball, but if you can't punch in the ball while letting the other team score, well...it's hard to justify the lack of production in the points category.

Now, I'm not necessarily worried about the RB corps entirely. If Willie can shake off this, he should re-take his spot on the list of top RBs in the league, and Mendenhall could be a perfect compliment.

Stellar defense, Pittsburgh, but someone needs to break the plane.

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2 comments:

Hooks Orpik said...

We'll see. While it's not good Mendelhall failed it was widely attributed to be a learning experience.

With guys like Heath Miller, Hines Ward, Matt Spaeth and Limas Sweed the Steelers have many, many goal-line targets through the air.

It's not as "smash-mouth" but it could be just as effective.

tecmo said...

Agreed on the Mendenhall critique. He only gets blamed since he was the one taking the turn. I do think he'll be just fine, though.

It just seems like this happens every summer. The goalline D vs goalline O drill comes up, and the D wins more often than not. Yes, its a testament to our D, but the O needs called out from time to time. 2 TDs for Willie at the time of his leading the league in rushing in the next to last week of the season is disappointing.

Our goalline TEs have been fine, but it can be argued that they've taken on added responsibility because the coaches don't trust the RB corps with the job. Weak goalline rushing attack just sets us up for failure.