Defense steamrolled by Mendenhall
Rashard Mendenhall #34 of the Pittsburgh Steelers tries to avoid the tackle of James Ihedigbo #44 and Darrelle Revis #24 of the New York Jets during the 2011 AFC Championship. (Jan. 23, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
PITTSBURGH - Stop the run.
That's all the Jets talked about in the days leading up to last night's AFC Championship Game against the Steelers. And it's the one thing they failed to do.
For the second time this season, the Jets couldn't contain Rashard Mendenhall, who rushed for 121 yards on 27 carries in the Steelers' 24-19 victory at Heinz Field.
The Jets had no answers for the 5-10, 225-pound running back in the first half as he outmuscled defenders time and time again, busting his way through would-be tacklers. After rushing for 99 yards in the Steelers' 22-17 loss to the Jets in Week 15, he did even more damage in front of a raucous, towel-waving crowd of 66,662. The 23-year-old from Skokie, Ill., amassed 95 yards on 17 carries and two receptions for 32 yards before halftime.
"As a defense, if you can't stop the run, it's a demoralizing thing,'' Mendenhall said. "We felt confident in running against them. And since we were able to do that today, I am sure that hurt them a little.''
The Steelers' approach was never in question. Ground and pound all the way. The Jets knew it. But they couldn't stop it.
"We were just trying to do what it is that we do," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "Which, of course, is do enough to win. We executed at a high level early in that football game."
Although he had failed to crack the 100-yard mark since Week 12, Mendenhall finished seventh in the league in rushing with 1,273 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. After scoring two touchdowns in last week's comeback win over Baltimore in the divisional round, he came up big against the Jets, too.
"He was making plays," Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis said, listing the reasons Mendenhall was so tough to stop. "Catching the ball, running it very well, bouncing it outside on our defense, getting the ball on the edge."
Mendenhall gave the Steelers their first score of the evening, stretching his arms over the goal line with linebacker Bart Scott wrapped around his legs. The 1-yard touchdown run capped a 15-play, 66-yard Pittsburgh drive in the opening 9:06 of the game.
In a half in which Rex Ryan's crew struggled to generate any sort of offense - save for a 42-yard field goal by Nick Folk with nine seconds left - the Steelers ate up the clock against Ryan's vaunted defense, thanks to Mendenhall's relentlessness. They controlled the ball for 21:04 to the Jets' 8:56.
Mendenhall delivered another big blow in the second quarter, running 35 yards down the right sideline on a second-and-10 play before being pushed out by Revis at the Jets' 27. The Steelers got the ball to the 2, and Shaun Suisham kicked a 20-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.
