Suspendenhall

With the benefit of more time and clarity, I'm offering this second part to the Rashard Mendenhall supsension piece I threw into cybersports last night.  As the news and opinions continues to trickle in, the facts are clear:

1. Coach Mike Tomlin wasn't too happy about Mendenhall's fumblings and bumblings against the Brownies in the humiliating loss on November 25th, thus leading to Mendenhall's exile into street clothes.
2. Mendenhall is equally displeased by the benching and counter punches by hitting the snooze button about three dozen times last Sunday, missing the Chargers game entirely.
3. Tomlin, with heightened indignation, opts for the trump card and suspends Mendenhall for at least one game.

If you follow the logic path on this escalation, you will see that this will most likely end with either: 1) Mendenhall's complete knee buckling and a slew of submissive (and fake) personal apologies.  OR  2) Mendenhall's permanent removal from the team.  Any parent with teens understands this standoff all too well. 

The writing on the locker room wall is crystal clear on this one.  The Steelers' patience with Mendenhall is waning as rapidly as their number of opportunities to resurrect this soon-to-be lost season.  Don't think these issues are independent of each other.  As we've learned through the past years, story lines surrounding an NFL team often have some form of relevant interaction with each other.  Coach Tomlin, and even some of his players, have stepped forward and admitted to certain focus issues as of late.  Some of these admissions were shrouded, some were straightforward and in plain English. 

The team is now officially mired in a leadership quandary, with must-win situations looming on the horizon.  Tomlin has no room for a clubhouse cancer at this juncture, nor does he have any time for another distraction.  Mendenhall's reformation opportunities are long gone.  It's clear that the team is not considering any contract extension for him. The current running stable is adequately stocked with Jon Dwyer and Isaac Redman, even if the past few games have been questionable.  Speedster Chris Rainey could also become a bigger factor, and the team could always look for another big play type guy in the draft. If the Steelers were willing to dump former Superbowl MVP Santonio Holmes for a fifth round draft pick in return, they would be happy to watch Mendenhall stutter step his way out the door.

Nothing would surprise me after watching the drama of the 2012 Steelers' season, but I suspect that we have seen our last spin move from #34. 

Unleash Hell, Volume 2 ???

Let's just start by saying that it ain't a good day to be an agent for former Steeler offensive starters Mike Wallace or Rashard Mendenall.  Yes, I did say former as head coach Mike Tomlin demoted both highly skilled players in a new found level of testiness yesterday. Tomlin evoked memories of 2009 when he delivered the ill fated Unleash Hell promise along with his 'some heads are gonna roll/the standard is the standard' type jargon.  In '09, the only unleashing was that of the fury of Steeler Nation as the team staggered to a 6 win, 7 loss mark before finally finding it's pulse.  Along the way, practically no heads rolled, or even turned for that matter, as Tomlin's benchings were notional at best.

2012 may smack a bit differently, as Tomlin has reasonably proven commodities, such as Emmanuel Sanders and Jon Dwyer, to help him his hold line.  One take home message that can be derived from Tomlin's newly sculpted depth chart as that time is now officially running out on Mendenhall, a former first round pick.  His demotion to third string, his questionable health, his renewed willingness to put the ball on the ground, coupled with his zany and inexplicable social media gaffes, all work together to build a reasonably sound case that #34 ain't in the Steeler for Life category. 

As far as Wallace, well, as this blog delights in pointing out, that fat contract is on the Atkins Diet right now, and shrinking with each game.  I have to believe that Wallace would have to muster up an epic December/January for the Steelers to even consider either:  1) offering a contract that he finds remotely suitable, or 2)  ponying up the $10 mill + for the franchise tag.  Both scenarios seem far off at this point.  The cold reality for Wallace fans is that the game of musical quarterbacks that the Steelers are playing at the moment has been dramatized by the absence of Antonio Brown, the true #1 receiver, the true go-to guy.  Wallace could have stepped up over the last few weeks to help carry the load, the fact is that he didn't.  Don't think for a moment that the Steeler top brass will forget these past few games when negotiation time draws near.

We were assured in the summer that Wallace's holdout was strictly NFL business, and that since he was such a true professional, it would never be a distraction to the team or even to him personally.  Perhaps it's a focus issue,or perhaps Wallace simply doesn't want to risk injury on the eve of big money, but the man is playing at a level beneath him and the proverbial standard.  Time will tell on this one, as well as with Mendenhall, but methinks that some #17 and #34 jerseys will be available on the discount racks very soon.

Ike Figures it Out

Mike Tomlin and Dick LeBeau already had enough on their respective plates this week, trying desperately to yank the emergency brakes on a train that is careening out of control, both on the field and off, as panic continues to mount throughout Steeler Nation.  Starting corner Ike Taylor provided a little relief at least, as he shed a bit of rather astute light on what could be the root under his own seemingly overnight regression.  The media.  Yep, the Sultan of Swagger defied any resemblance of logic by suggesting that his string of poor performances, dating back to the Teboning he received last January, is simply a smear campaign stirred up by a local media community that doesn't want to play nice.

Ike went on to state (or ramble) that the numbers don't lie, a most intriguing statement coming from a guy who has gotten beaten and/or flagged with regularity through his last six games.  Taylor's conspiracy theory was leaked to the press just days after fellow motor mouth Rashard Mendenhall inexplicably chose to return from Tweeter purgatory to call out the commitment of various Steeler fans.  Unfortunately, Mendenhall's reign as moron of the week was cut short abruptly after rookie Alameda Ta'amu auditioned for Spike TV's Deadliest Chases on Saturday after downing a dozen or so Jager bombs out on the Southside.

It's high time for some of Tomlin's so-called men to behave as such, and stop blaming the critics and fans for their shortcomings.  If you or I screw up at our jobs on a consistent basis, we should expect criticism at a minimum, firing as the worst case.  The time for accountability is now, from the front office straight down to the locker room.  Steeler Nation is expecting results, not more excuses, theories, high speed chases, and if all else fails, apologies.