Mendenhall wants more support from Steeler Nation. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

What We Learned in Week 6 in the NFL:

• The honeymoon of the 2012 NFL season is over for some fans and players
• Even Andy Reid thinks Jason Garret has clock management issues
• Patriots can’t win anymore with just their offense
• Steelers release Wes Saunders and rookie NT gets arrested

The best and worst part about the NFL is the fact that you never know what’s going to happen each week.  You can do your best to predict and hypothesize based on stats and previous games, but once that game kicks off it could go in a completely different direction than what’s expected.  Sports are truly the only real reality television.  Who would have thought that after six weeks of football, depending on who wins tonight, there might be only 2 or 3 teams in the AFC with a winning record?  That might benefit the Steelers with their slow start, especially given the fact that all of their losses are to AFC teams. (more…)

Even Tomlin had some things to smile about last night. Either that or his dinner was still stuck in his teeth. Credit: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

There was some good, some bad and one big ugly to the Steelers preseason opener against the Eagles on Thursday night.  If you thought after last night’s comeback by the Eagles that the season is already at a loss – you need to get your head examined.  There was much to take away from a game like that – many things were learned and the coaches are sure to know where the focus needs to be for the next several weeks.  And let’s face it, it’s not like Todd Haley was going to show his full bag o’ tricks to a team that he will see later in the regular season.  Even Roethlisberger said that offense was a bit ‘vanilla.’

The best play of the night by far came from future rookie sensation, Chris Rainey.  His 57-yard touchdown from a swing pass was a great catch and run.  His returns were promising too.  This kid is going to go places while with the Steelers and it will be fun to watch.  The offense seemed effective but still needs to shake off the Red Zone blues – how about that 1st and Goal that resulted in 3 points? – and the defense showed some glimpses of what it might be capable of – especially Steve McLendon’s progression during the offseason.

There were some bad and ugly associated with the game to, as is to be expected in the preseason.  The Steelers’ rookie lineman had a bit of a rough night.  DeCastro was fairly quiet for most of the night, but Mike Adams got the brunt of the bad night blues.  Letting up 2.5 sacks – two of which were sack fumbles – Adams was slow to the edge and was beaten more than those two times.  He injured his right knee in the process of recovering a fumble, but reports say that it isn’t very serious.  Seems bad to me if a rookie lineman that’s expected to start can’t practice when he needs to.  The second and third team defenses allowed a comeback from a second and third team offense.  So, the older and slower and more done guys did better than the young’ins.

The ugly occurred when David Johnson suffered a major knee injury when Marcus Gilbert rolled up on his leg.  Ouch.  It looked bad and early reports are he could be done for the season.  So much for having a fullback.  Johnson looked promising as the 2011 season came to a close, and there have been bright spots early in the preseason training sessions – which is one reason why I think Tomlin may have announced that Johnson could be playing his dual role at TE/FB prior to the injury.  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, and depending on how things shake out after Wesley Saunder’s suspension, this could be Johnson’s final game in a Steelers uniform.

Well Steeler Nation, you’ve read numerous articles.  You’ve watched the news.  You’ve gone back and perhaps looked at some replays of the game.  What are your opinions of Thursday’s game?  Is the offense starving for a Mike Wallace return?  Is Chris Rainey going to be the newest sensation on the Steelers?  What’s the over/under on Roethlisberger’s sack total for the season?  I wanna hear it from you.

David Johnson faces off against Steven Sylvester at camp. Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

When the Steelers signed Leonard Pope to a contract during the offseason and then drafted David Paulson in the draft, I was pretty certain that David Johnson would be named the team’s fullback.  He was… but then Mike Tomlin pulled a bit of the ol’ switcharoo when announced that Johnson would be back at playing his dual role as FB/TE.  And, with that announcement brings even more uncertainty to an already crowded position for the Steelers.

The Steelers haven’t had a ‘real’ fullback since Dan Kreider in 2007.  Underutilized with the arrival of Bruce Arians, Kreider was quickly dismissed and was picked up by the Rams and then finished his career in Arizona.  David Johnson joined the team as a 7th rounder in 2009.  Johnson quickly began playing a dual role as TE and FB.  Seemingly a better blocker after getting a head of steam, Johnson appeared more comfortable in the FB position.  In May of this year, the coaching staff said that Johnson would be playing fullback in the upcoming season.  That was good news for Johnson, and I for one was excited for the change.  I liked Johnson – quiet but a continually hard worker throughout the season – and did not want to see him fall victim to elimination by numbers.

It only took less than three months of a few OTA’s, mini-camps and two weeks of camp for Johnson to get moved back to the dual role.  Ok so it’s not 100% official, but Tomlin said that Johnson would be taking significant reps at TE when the team returned from Philly.  I don’t think this is ‘bad news’ for Johnson.  I’m sure he’s been doing just fine at FB.  I think what it really means is that this is code from Tomlin stating that he’s not happy with his other tight ends.  Putting Johnson back at TE puts pressure on the others already there – would the team really carry 4 TE’s or more?  Doubtful.

So who’s the one not stepping up?  Heath Miller?  Are you kidding?  Newly acquired Leonard Pope?  Suspended Wesley Saunders?  Or is the rookie, David Paulson, out of Oregon already blowing it?  My money is on the uncertainty of Saunders state of readiness when he returns from a four game suspension.  He was an undrafted FA last season and had yet to really impress.  He could be on a short leash when he returns.  The team may be getting Johnson ready for the possibility of playing TE either until Saunders returns, or that Saunders absence becomes a permanent one.  David Paulson is probably safe for at least this year until he can develop during his rookie season.  Leonard doesn’t seem to be the right choice in this mix of ‘who’s it gonna be?’ because he’s come straight from Todd Haley’s system over in Kansas City.

I still believe that Johnson will ultimately get to play FB and only FB for the majority of the season.  The Steelers, as in Steeler fashion, are just doing a bit of CYA in case they can’t get three strong TE’s within the first few weeks of the season.