The Steelers have the best offensive line in the NFL. It’s been repeated so often this season it must be true, right?
Well, let’s the pump the brakes on that.
The Steelers very well might have the best pass-blocking offensive line in the league, but if the Steelers really had the best offensive line, they wouldn’t have been embarrassed by a Raiders defense that entered the game Sunday afternoon with the worst rushing defense in the NFL.
The Raiders were giving up 153.3 yards per game. The Steelers gained 40 yards on 19 carries.
Fox Sports kept putting up a graphic with Oakland’s 5.0 yards per carry average and the Steelers’ running average throughout the game. At one point late in the second quarter, it was 0.7, then it was 1.3. They finished at 2.1, mostly because backup quarterback Josh Dobbs entered the game in the second half and had a couple of long scrambles.
That’s inexcusable.
There is plenty to dissect from the Raiders game, and we’ll get to those gory details later. But it’s important to note the problems with the line can be traced back to the Jacksonville game.
The Jaguars are the NFL’s 26th-ranked rush defense. The Steelers ran for 26 yards on 11 carries.
The next week, the Steelers faced Denver. The Broncos are 21st against the rush. The Steelers ran for 75 on 16 carries.
Notice a trend?
The Steelers are 29th in the league in rushing (89 yards per game). They’re 25th in yards-per-carry average (4.1).
The stats don’t lie, and neither does the video. This isn’t a very polished unit when it comes to run blocking.
Let’s go back to the Chargers game when the Steelers were leading 23-7 at halftime. The Steelers got the ball to open the second half. It was the perfect opportunity for the line to take control of the game.
And that’s what coach Mike Tomlin wanted them to do. Early in the drive, James Conner broke one for 22 yards to the Chargers’ 27-yard line, but it was negated by a holding penalty on left guard Ramon Foster.
It was a questionable call because it was well away from the play, but Foster’s technique was poor, and he invited the official to throw the flag.
Foster had to reach nose guard Damion Square and cut him off from the back side. He needed to step flat down the line of scrimmage, get his head play-side and keep his hands inside the framework of the defender.
Foster did none of those things. He did not gain any ground with his first step, picking his right foot up and putting it back down in the same place he started, which put him behind the 8-ball right away. That created more messy footwork that forced him to almost cross over in order to reach to Square.
By the time Foster got to Square, he felt like he had to bear hug him in order to prevent him from making the play, even though Square had no chance of running Conner down from behind.
If Foster does not hold there, the Steelers get points, run clock and force the Chargers to become one-dimensional. Don’t underestimate this penalty when it comes to writing this team’s obituary if and when the time comes. It was as big as any Chris Boswell miss or Ben Roethlisberger interception. And it was easily preventable.
OK, onto the ugliness in Oakland. The Steelers linemen had a terrible time executing double-team blocks on Raiders defensive linemen from start to finish. This led to penetration, negative runs and others for only 1 or 2 yards.
It didn’t matter if it was Foster and center Maurkice Pouncey on the doubles, Foster and left tackle Al Villanueva, or the right side of the line with David DeCastro and Matt Feiler. The double-team blocks were bad across the board.
On the first drive of the second half, with Dobbs at quarterback, the Steelers had second-and-1 at the Oakland 41. But tight end Jesse James was called for holding on a slow developing counter play.
It wasn’t poor technique by James as much as he simply was overpowered by 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive end Kony Ealy. Just as the Foster hold killed the opening drive of the second half against the Chargers, James’ penalty did the same.
On the next drive, the Steelers had first-and-10 at their 49. Feiler and James allowed 35-year old defensive end Frosty Rucker to split their double team and tackle Jaylen Samuels for no gain.
After Samuels caught a screen pass to set up a third-and-2, Dobbs pitched wide to Samuels, who only got one yard to set up a fourth-and-1. The linemen were not at fault on this play. Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster missed his block on defensive end Arden Key.
This is where play-calling and personnel can be questioned. Fullback Roosevelt Nix was not in the game for the second-and-1, the third-and-2 or the fourth-and-1, when Dobbs’ pass to McDonald fell short of the sticks. A fullback can clean up any garbage on plays like that.
Nevertheless, the blocking wasn’t good enough to pick up a first down on any of those plays with only one running back on the field.
On the next series, two runs netted one yard before Dobbs was intercepted. There was more of the same in the fourth quarter. We won’t bore with the details. Rest assured, it didn’t get any better.
Any way you slice it, the offensive line played its worst game of the season at the most inopportune time.
Maybe if right tackle Marcus Gilbert, one of the best run blockers on the roster, returns this week, the Steelers can regain some continuity in the run game. He’s missed the past seven games with a knee injury.
Gilbert has played in five games this season, and Conner rushed for more than 100 yards in three of those games.
But there is so much more than Gilbert’s absence that is sabotaging the run game. Poor play by the players is certainly one of the reasons, but it’s difficult to develop rhythm in the run game when you don’t commit to it on a regular basis.
The Steelers have the fifth-fewest rushing attempts in the NFL. They have the most pass attempts by far, 25 more than the Indianapolis Colts.
At this point, it’s fair to wonder if offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and line coach Mike Munchak devise game plans and calls plays with the realization their personnel is more finesse than power.
Either way, there is no arguing the Steelers have a one-dimensional offense.
What’s done is done. It’s too late to develop the running game now. The Steelers are a passing team and they’ll either make or miss the playoffs based on how Roethlisberger throws the ball over the final three games.
After that, the front office has many decisions to make on an offensive line that is descending rather than ascending late in the season. Foster, who will turn 33 in a few weeks, is in the final year of his contract. Gilbert is 30 and has dressed for just 12 of the past 29 games. He will count $6.8 million against the cap next season. Pouncey is 29 and will count $7.8 million toward the cap. Both players have one more year remaining on their contracts.
It’s only a matter of time before a full rebuild of the line commences. The results of the final three games of the season could determine if that process is sped up.
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: December 10, 2018, 6:30 p.m.