Arizona DL vs Steelers OL: PIT struggles against fast/quick defensive lines

Let’s get away from the Cards offense real quick and give some attention to their Defense.  The last time the two teams met:

Parker was held to 37 yards rushing.

Big Ben fumbled two times and threw 2 INT.

Big Ben was sacked 4 times.

Arizona’s DLine absolutely dominated us.

We will once again pull some of the info we put together on the Arizona vs Pittsburgh game from last season.  One of the things that sticks out in my mind when I think back to the day the Steelers lost to Leinart/Warner in Arizona last year was how awful our Offensive Line played.  If you recall, Sean Mahan had the worst day of his career, the Cardinals DL was way, way,way too quick for our Steeler OL, and the playcalling was suspect at best.  I think many Steeler fans who pay special attention to our OL would agree that we play better when we face big/slow defensive linemen and we tend to struggle against DE/DT that can shoot gaps and have quick feet.  This is something that the media really hasn’t picked up on yet but perhaps it will be talked about next week.  If the Steelers let the Cards Dline cause trouble next Sunday, Big Ben is going to be in for a long day.

Take a look at the frames and analysis we put together after last year’s game to remind yourself how awful our OL was and how dominant their DLine was.  Sure both teams are different but the schemes, coaches, and strategies involved in the gameplans are likely to be somewhat similar.

Situation: Pittsburgh has just recovered a Kurt Warner fumble and has possession of the ball. 1st and goal from the 4 yard line. The Steeler fans in the stadium are going crazy, Steeler Nation sitting at home watching the game are saying “Finally….let’s pound this in, demoralize the Cardinals, take the wind out of their sails, remind them who the better team is, and get out of town with a WIN.” Unfortunately, the momentum swung the exact opposite direction after an Arizona INT in the endzone.

PLAY 1:

This is an obvious running situation. In previous games, you might see a 3TE set here, but with Spaeth not dressing for the game, the Steelers go to a more traditional look with 2 TEs at the top of your screen, 1 WR, and FB Carey Davis in the backfield with Parker. Notice that Arizona has 9 men in the box as a DB creeps up to the line. The Steelers ran to the right side of the line 6 times on Sunday. They ran up the middle 7 and they ran left 12. They gained 60 yards to the left (behind Faneca and Smith) and gained 18 yards on the right side and 1 yard up the middle. Staggering numbers. Most people are expecting a run left in this situation behind your two best linemen, but not today, folks. And you’d think Kreider would be in the game here for 3 or 4 plays in a row, too…..but no.

TE Heath Miller motions from left to right. At this point, Tuman is still a threat at the top of your screen and obviously, with Miller in motion, he must be accounted for as well by the Arizona defense.

The ball is snapped. LG Alan Faneca pulls, Davis lead blocks, Tuman takes the man in front of him, Miller kicks out a closing DB. At this point, there are 8 Steelers on 8 Cardinals. Notice #61 Sean Mahan getting pushed backwards into a pulling Faneca. Mahan frequently gets ZERO push. Nothing new here. Simmons at RG goes low and Colon takes off for a LB at the 2nd level. If Faneca can get through the hole vacated by Simmons/Colon and Davis can lead block, then we have a potential TD here. At this point, notice the line of scrimmage has not moved. Steelers offensive line really gets no surge here. A play-action pass to Tuman at the top of your screen would be a TD. I love throwing on first down, when the defense is not expecting it and there are 9 men up in your face. Look at the Cardinals here….they’re selling out on the run in a big, big way.

Here is the aftermath. Colon is in the endzone and has done his job by taking his LB out of the play. Davis has 2 men to block and picks one. Because the line gets no push, Faneca has to sift his way through bodies to get to where he needs to be. This is a theme we see throughout the game. The guards can’t pull and blast anyone because the line gets no push on running plays. Most of the time there are 8 men in the box and the Steelers were running on predictable running downs. This is the first time Arians’ play-calling can be called into question this season. The Steelers actually pick up 2 yards here and I’m thinking one more run and we got ourselves a TD.

PLAY 2:

2 yards to go. OK, pre-snap things look great. We have Kreider in the game (for once), Tuman, Miller, and Starks (where Spaeth would usually be).

Kreider comes in motion and parks himself next to Tuman. Kreider isn’t a receiving threat at all. Tuman and Miller can both go out for a play-action pass. Arizona must account for both of them.

Here we see Heath Miller motion from left to right AGAIN. Two motions in a row from him on 2 running plays. SPOILER ALERT: The Steelers 3rd play is going to be a pass and Miller also motions from left to right on that play. Was Arians setting up the Cardinals? Showing them 2 TE Motions on runs and then going to hit them with a TE Motion/Pass on 3rd down? hmmm…..

Back to the play. With Miller vacating the area, Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson is lined up opposite Max Starks. Starks isn’t a TE, he’s a tackle, he’s not going out for a pass so Wilson can sprint full speed towards Ben/Parker the second the ball is snapped. He has no reason to fear Starks or anybody going to his side of the field.

The ball is snapped and once again, Faneca is pulling towards the RG/RT spot. Did you guys read “Where’s Waldo” when you were younger? I did. I was terrible at it….but try this for me. See if you can find Sean Mahan in this picture. I’ll give you a few seconds……tick tock….tick tock….OK, did you spot him? Yep, thats him. Center of your screen lying on his stomach right at the line of scrimmage. If he’s going for a cut-block here then that’s all fine and dandy, but 1/2 of his body is blocking Faneca’s path YET AGAIN as he makes his way towards the right side of the line. Also notice that Kendall Simmons #73 is making his way towards the LBs in the endzone while Kreider and Tuman are engaged and Miller is about to take on an OLB.

Here we see Faneca almost 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage as he avoids the cluster of fat guys in the middle of your screen. I see 9 Arizona Cardinals in the picture standing on their feet. If you don’t count Ben and Willie I count 4 Steelers standing upright. I should have circled him but I didn’t, but please notice in front of Faneca is TE Jerame Tuman. On this play, he was pushed backwards a full 4 or 5 feet (which is a big deal at the goal-line). Kreider looks to have fallen and his man is swimming past him on his way to Parker. If Tuman and Mahan weren’t getting “negative push,” then Faneca might be arriving on the scene to pancake this guy.

Oh yeah, Pro Bowler Adrian Wilson is pretty fast. He’s about 2 yards from Ben as he makes the hand-off. Might want to get a hand on this guy next time around.

All of the lineman (except for Faneca and Miller) are on the floor. 2 Cardinals are about to fill the hole Willie is attempting to run through and Wilson is closing in from behind.

Willie is tackled from behind and brought down short of the endzone. Is this Grimm and Whis out-scheming the Steelers? No. This is Arizona PLAYING BETTER than us and out-executing. This is also the Steelers running the ball to the right side of the line where they had no success all day long leading up to this point. On another note: Do we really need all these gimmicks and motions and tomfoolery? Keep Kreider in the backfield. Keep Miller on the left side. Don’t pull with a guard. Just pound the ball behind Faneca/Smith ONCE on this series. I’m not jumping off the Arians bandwagon, I’m actually a big fan, but at this point in the game, when you can barely get past the line of scrimmage via the running game, just keep it simple.

PLAY 3.

A blind guy in Somalia who has never seen a Steeler game before nudges his buddy on the arm and says “They’re going to throw the ball to their TE here.”

Take a look at Arizona’s defense. Only 4 men with their hands down. They expect pass. Look at the endzone…it’s littered with defenders looking for the nearest TE.

But wait, what’s this I see? 2 WRs have entered the game. Holmes and Nate Washington are at the top of your screen…both seem to be in man-to-man coverage, no? If not man-to-man, then one of these guys will be open with a quick slant, right? Let’s see…

TE Heath Miller lines up at FB this time around to really make sure everyone knows we are passing (this is 4 down territory, so we could have run the ball).

Miller lines up next to TE Tuman at the bottom of your screen. Before the snap, notice how many red jerseys are in the area surrounding Tuman/Miller.

The ball is snapped and Arizona drops back into zone coverage, leaving only 4 men to rush the passer initially. A run might have been a TD here. Notice Ben is looking RIGHT all the way. Tuman is getting upfield and Miller is making his way to the right side of the endzone.

A Cardinal LB brings pressure up the middle a bit late and vacates the center of the field. Jerame Tuman and Nate Washington are setting picks that would make Dennis Rodman proud. If I had captured this screenshot a few milliseconds sooner, you could have seen Ben with the ball before he starts his throwing motion. Santonio Holmes was just as open then as he is now. Did you ever notice that all Steeler TD passes in the endzone come against the back line? Why no “quick slants”?

You can see at the bottom of your screen that Ben’s tunnel vision is right on Heath and the Cardinals read his eyes apparently.

Heath covered by 2 men. Interception. Don’t forget how much it hurts having Speath on the sidelines during these situations. Having another receiving threat on plays 1, 2, and 3 might have made a difference here. It allows you to dictate to the defense and make them “respect” multiple targets on each down. Giving a LB/DB one or two seconds of “pause” before crashing the line and chasing Parker might have been enough to allow a lane to open up on plays 1 and 2.

To conclude:

The problems we see on plays 1 and 2 sum up the running game for the entire afternoon (which is one reason why I chose this series in my breakdown).  The Steelers were not out-schemed here.  The offensive line was OFFENSIVE.  They couldn’t get any push, Arizona frequently outnumbered them at the line, they flew to the ball, their LBs swarmed to Willie Parker every time he touched the ball, and they flat out made plays.  Blame the offensive line for not getting the job done.  This is a matchup that will be key on Super Bowl Sunday.