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Steelers vs Giants: Offensive Line Analysis
By Dagger | October 30, 2008
Big Ben was sacked 5 times on Sunday but most were not his fault…or were they? We don’t know the protections called so it’s hard to say who is to blame when a DL is routinely getting to the QB unblocked. For my money…I give the OL a break this week and put more blame on Big Ben and the WRs than I usually do.
When you have a quick 3 step drop to execute a quick slant or pop pass, the ball has to be delivered the second the QB plants his back foot in the ground on his 3rd step. On many occasions this past weekend, Big Ben would quickly get to his 3 step drop and then hesitate, pump fake, shuffle his feet, and then get dragged to the ground. The sacks we saw vs the Giants were different than many sacks this season in that most were Ben’s fault. There have been occasions this season where Big Ben brought sacks upon himself, but this game in particular, with such an emphasis placed on reading blitzers and getting the ball out quickly…he really had a rough game.
As you may have noticed, the Steelers are now running the ball using a zone blocking scheme. You’ll see a Guard pulling to lead a run left or run right on occasion but 75% of all of our running plays come from a singleback formation where the RB gets the ball deep in the backfield and is supposed to read the OL in front of him. This has made our Offensive Line Analysis feature rather boring the last few weeks because there is not a whole lot of power running or one-on-one battles. In the passing game, quick passes, no-huddle, and bunch formations have made grading the OL in pass protection more difficult for us because Ben isn’t holding the ball as long. It certainly makes handing out grades and being critical of individuals a lot harder. The story of this past weekend wasn’t the OL….it was Big Ben, Bruce Arians, and the WRs. I want to give you a brief jist of overall Line Play in this post so I can quickly move on to Monday’s game vs the Redskins.
Chris Kemoeatu: The short passing game doesn’t fit Kemo as well as it fits some of the other linemen. When Ben is in shotgun and Kemo is allowed to get into his stance and give some ground before he starts to handle his opponent, he’s rock solid. When he is asked to basically “stand up” and be aggressive at the LOS in pass protection, he tends to struggle a bit….especially when facing a stunt. This past Sunday he had a few real nice blocks in the running game and we rewarded him accordingly. (+1, -2 = -1)
Max Starks: Didn’t hear his name too much did you? That’s a good thing. Starks was solid at LT and only had one or two plays where he was beaten in pass protection. He wasn’t asked to do much in the running game. On a day where his counterpart Willie Colon looked like the worst RT in the NFL, Starks got the job done on his side. Wasn’t it a mere 2 weeks ago that Starks was the 4th best Tackle on our team? I do believe that after watching the past 2 games (and watching Colon and Marvel Smith all season long) you could make a case that Starks is the best Tackle in the organization. Again, my lack of confidence in the coaching staff’s ability to handle personnel decisions is well documented (Moore, P Return, K Return, Tackle, etc…) but the Max Starks fiasco is one that I’m DYING to get to the bottom of once Max is a UFA in the offseason. Really, something has to have happened between him and the Offensive Line Coach or Tomlin. (+1, -1 = 0)
Willie Colon: Ah, speak of the devil. After giving him credit last week for holding down his edge all day long against an awful Bengal team, he makes me look like an idiot. I have been pro-Starks and anti-Colon (sort of) since Day 1 but Willie Colon just had a really really really bad afternoon. He isn’t THAT bad. Sure he cost the team a TD that likely would have won the game and he was beaten like a rented mule for most of the day, but he’s better than this. He was beaten to the inside….beaten to the outside….beaten with stunts and delayed blitzes…he was called for penalties….you name it, he did it. (+1, -6 = -5)
Darnell Stapleton: Another solid day from Stapleton. The coaches really liked Darnell as a Center, but perhaps he’s showing them that he can also play Guard if the team is unable to resign Kemo or they think he’s an upgrade over Kendall Simmons. How did Stapleton look in the power running game? No clue…the Steelers don’t run up the middle much. When the Steelers run to the edges with Mewelde Moore, he basically has to get his hands locked up into his man and “hold” him just long enough for Moore to kick it to the outside. He does that very well. In the passing game he was solid too, never really had a disastrous play (which is really saying something this week) and gave Ben the time he needed to get balls delivered. (+1, -0 = +1)
Justin Hartwig: A solid day from Hartwig, who has been a huge improvement over Sean Mahan. That debate is long over FYI. He is hardly ever pushed into the backfield, he gets a nice push on running plays, he doesn’t get shoved backwards on goalline/shortyardage situations, and in pass protection he gives Ben plenty of room to step up into the pocket. If you have noticed lately, Ben is getting pressured from the outside and teams are not really busting up the middle of the pocket. The play of Kemo, Hartwig, and Stapleton is part of the reason why. Sometimes a delay blitz or stunt will catch Hartwig napping or will get Kemo off balance but for the most part, Ben has a pocket to step up into and make throws. (+1, -1 = 0)
The Redskins are 28th in the NFL in total sacks, so perhaps next week will be like “Bengal week” for our OL. Let’s hope so.
Topics: Steelers | 2 Comments »
October 30th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
good analysis, thanks!
October 31st, 2008 at 4:03 am
was it only me or u also saw Hartwig snapping 8/10 times over Ben’s head vs the giants? that was lame!