I shared this Tuesday on the social network sites and had a request to post it here as well.
The Pittsburgh Steelers ran for 136 yards Sunday in their win over the Philadelphia Eagles, but the biggest run of the game may very well have been the 8 yard scamper on first down around right end by running back Rashard Mendenhall with 1:53 left in the game.
Those 8 yards put the ball at the Eagles 23 yard-line, and squarely in range for kicker Shaun Suisham.
What you may have missed on the play was the excellent pancake block that Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown had on Eagles safety Nate Allen that gave Mendenhall the edge. The Eagles knew the Steelers were going to run on the play and they had all 11 players on defense within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage as a result.
As you can see in the included animated gif, Allen creeps down to the line of scrimmage pre snap and Brown effectively turns him inside and then on his back. Also accomplishing solid blocks on the play were tight end Heath Miller and fullback Will Johnson.
Johnson takes care of defensive end Jason Babin, while Miller gets just enough of strong side Mychal Kendricks. Mendenhall does the rest as he jukes cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
Perhaps the only negative thing to happen on the play is that Mendenhall goes out of bounds, which in turn stops the clock.
That is the kind of block that Hines Ward would be proud of.
