Rashard Mendenhall Injury: RB's Knee Injury Will Hamper Steelers in Playoffs

Injuries right before the playoffs can cripple teams.

After sustaining a right knee injury in Sunday's 13-9 win against the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall may be held out of the Wild Card Round now, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Mendenhall, who has rushed for 928 yards this season, has been a big part of the Steelers' running game the last few years, garnering over 1,000 yards rushing in his past two seasons. His absence would have second-year running back Isaac Redman starting for the team in the first round against the Denver Broncos.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been under duress at times this season behind the offensive line. If defenses aren't threatened by the run, he's going to have a harder time finding holes to exploit with teams gearing up against the pass.

The Broncos are in the middle of the pack when it comes to rush defense. They've allowed 4.2 yards per carry and allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to rush for just 3.5 yards per carry on Sunday. In that sense, they have the ability to limit the Steelers' running game with Redman getting the majority of the carries.

Redman has rushed for 387 yards on 91 attempts this season, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. The undrafted running back out of Bowie State has shown good spurts, but has yet to show what he can do with a heavy workload.

The Steelers will run the ball against the Broncos regardless. It's not in their DNA to completely abandon it. But there will likely be more of an emphasis on the passing game against the Broncos, especially when you have a quarterback of Roethlisberger's caliber.

The Steelers can beat the Broncos without Mendenhall.

But if he is forced to miss more time, they could have a serious issue on their hands.

Update: Sunday, Jan. 1, 11:35 p.m. ET

Jay Glazer reports that the Steelers believe Mendenhall is done for the season with a torn ACL.