Rashard Mendenhall Injury: Steelers Offense Won't Thrive Without RB

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall left the team's Week 4 game with a hamstring injury and did not return. His status for next week's clash with the upstart Tennessee Titans is up in the air. One thing's for sure, the Steelers offense will struggle without Mendenhall in the backfield.

He's averaging just three yards per carry in the early going and there's some concern that the 566 carries over the past two seasons are catching up with him. However, it's more likely a case of in-game rust that Mendenhall was trying to shake off like so many backs around the league.

The Steelers offense has sputtered out of the gate with Mendenhall struggling to gain traction. They are averaging 16 points per game, which ranks 27th in the league, despite being in the middle of the pack in most other offensive categories.

Neither Isaac Redman or Mewelde Moore are the answer to the problem. Only a healthy Mendenhall can save Pittsburgh's offense.

Redman is a good change-of-pace runner, but it's not likely he would be able to handle the same type of workload Mendenhall has made look so easy over the past two seasons. Moore is more of a third-down back at this stage of his career and would only serve the purpose of pass blocking.

The Steelers bye week isn't for six more weeks, which means Mendenhall will have to play through the pain for quite some time if he doesn't want to miss any games. He hasn't missed a start in either of the past two years, so he usually finds a way to manage any ailments that arise.

And it's not like Mendenhall is the only reason for Pittsburgh's struggles on offense.

Ben Roethlisberger has thrown five interceptions and just three touchdowns through four weeks. His peripheral stats are fine (62 percent completions, 8.3 yards per attempt), but for whatever reason the Steelers just can't push the ball across the goal line.

While we won't know Mendenhall's status until he undergoes further testing, if it's the type of injury where he'd be listed as questionable every week and play or sit based on pregame warmups, the Steelers would be better off giving him a few weeks to rest it than risk further injury.

Pittsburgh needs him to be healthy for the long-term viability of the offense, so one or two weeks now won't be much if he can be back to his old self for the stretch run.