Matchup of the Week: Steelers O-line vs. Chiefs D-line
After last week’s disappointing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in a familiar position – facing the Kansas City Chiefs after a blowout. Looking at film of last year’s squads on both sides, there are plenty of potential one-on-one matchups this week that could play out. How will Marcus Peters and the Chiefs defensive backs handle Antonio Brown and the myriad of receiving options Pittsburgh has. Is this the week that Le’Veon Bell torches a Chiefs defense once again or will their linebackers be able to shut him down?
After careful consideration, there is one area of focus that will be a key to a win or loss for the Steelers. In this week’s matchup, Zach Metkler and Christina Rivers team up to look at how the Steelers’ offensive line responds to the Chiefs’ defensive line and why that is an area of concern that hopefully has been addressed ahead of the game.
Analysis of the Steelers offensive line
Rivers:
In Week Five, the Steelers were without Marcus Gilbert on the right side of their offensive line and they inserted Chris Hubbard into the tackle spot next to David DeCastro. While Hubbard has shown flashes of good play, he was overwhelmed several times in pass blocking against the Jaguars. In fact, the Steelers’ offensive line – one of the best pulling and pass-blocking lines in the league – was exposed and exploited.
Ramon Foster, typically solid, struggled in following through by engaging and maintaining contact on one block that resulted in Arby Jones being able to get vertical, tip a Ben Roethlisberger pass and it resulted in an interception. Zach actually did an intensive analysis of last week’s offense that is worth going back and reading with deeper film overviews. You can see the play by Foster here:
Metkler:
I think Hubbard is a great swing player and arguably our most valuable backup offensive lineman, but there is no denying the importance of having Gilbert back in the lineup. Having missed the last 2 weeks with an injured hamstring, it was smart of him to not prematurely come back, since he stated that he had practiced last week but didn’t feel as though he was ready.
The offensive line has struggled this season. We have come to consider them as one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, but injuries that have caused players (Gilbert primarily) to miss time has prevented them from making any real progress as a group. In my opinion, Gilbert is one of the most underrated offensive tackles in the NFL right now, as he excels as a pass blocker, but most importantly, is a standout run blocker. Since the run game has struggled so far this season, especially in Gilbert’s absence, it is important for him to be back onto the field to help lift up the offensive line.
Handling responsibilities in a responsible manner
Rivers:
Brain Roach also spoke in some depth about the Steelers’ offensive line in his ‘weakest link’ article that pointed out their flaws, but the finger was pointed more at the receiving corps – justifiably. The offensive line had only allowed a sack nine times in 2017 prior to the Jacksonville game. They allowed two in that game. As Brian mentioned, there is more to ‘protection’ than keeping your quarterback on his feet. Playing the gap, maintaining the block, handling double-teams and being able to transition between pass- and run-blocking while not allowing defensive linemen to encroach into your offensive backfield or get their hands into the passing lane is all part of the responsibility an offensive lineman has.
Part of playing responsible is limiting penalties. Typically, penalties – especially offensive holding – are a result of miscues, miscommunication along the line (especially when Roethlisberger audibles) and not reading what the defense is bringing. Sometimes they are the result of desperation – the player is not playing sound fundamentally or is inconsistent in technique.
Alejandro Villanueva allowed himself to get pushed into Roethlisberger against the Jaguars and the result was that Ben, feeling the pressure, threw another interception. Whether or not he thought he’d have help from Le’Veon Bell (who didn’t engage) or not is irrelevant. Villanueva got beat and it resulted in a turnover.
Metkler:
Had Villanueva not allowed Dante Fowler to beat him off of the edge and force a soft shoulder, that play may have gone a different way. That is a result of taking a questionable kick to start off the slide and underestimating Fowler’s pass rush off the edge. Instead of working him upfield, he allowed Fowler to work the shoulder and get into Ben, thus disrupting the throw.
The way you want to work (as an offensive lineman) is in keeping your shoulders square to the line while working your slide back and make the defender chose to run upfield (where you attempt to wash him out of the play) or come inside (where you attempt to power down and wash him down the line). Villanueva protected his inside shoulder too much, got himself slightly turned, and Fowler took advantage of it.
Moving forward against the Chiefs
Metkler:
This brings me to what the offensive line needs to do to have more success going forward. There have been reports of a lack of communication among the offensive linemen, especially whenever the backups (namely Hubbard and B.J. Finney) enter the game. This not only impacts the line but also Roethlisberger when he is trying to make changes at the line or doing pre-snap reads of the defense.
For the most part, the offensive line has been steady in pass protection, but like I previously mentioned, the run blocking has been less desirable. Villanueva started out slowly this season; he is coming along but needs to find some level of consistency in both phases. Same with DeCastro, Foster and Maurkice Pouncey; they have been steady for the most part but if the players around you are up and down, that drastically impacts your overall game as well.
I think most of that is because the offensive line hasn’t been together much this season due to injury, and that really hurts more than fans think. They have proven that they are a top-tier offensive line, so I am confident that they will get there sooner rather than later. It’s just a matter of becoming more consistent and stopping the silly penalties.
This is extremely important against the Chiefs, who boast a strong defense. In recent years, the Chiefs have been ‘meh’ against the run, but that appears to be a strength for them this year, even after losing Dontari Poe in free agency. Bennie Logan is an excellent run-stuffing nose tackle and Chris Jones and Allen Bailey are no slouches either.
On the edge, Justin Houston and Dee Ford (a player that has steadily improved so far in 2017) will present challenges on the edge, which is why it is even more important to have a healthy Gilbert and an improving Villanueva at the tackles.
This OL/DL matchup will be an exciting one to watch and is a great test to see how well a completely healthy offensive line can mesh together to keep Roethlisberger upright and to create lanes for Bell to run through.
Rivers:
Logan has been doing the dirty work of shutting down the gaps and had three tackles (one for a loss) and a quarterback hit against the Texans in Week 5. Jones forced his third fumble in the same game and was involved in one sack. Houston did not practice due to calf spasms but hasn’t be ruled out for the game as of Thursday evening. Ford returned to practice this week after missing a couple of games.
The Chiefs allowed the Texans to grind out 113 yards on 20 carries (5.65 YPC) and the run defense is a concern for Kansas City once again this week. The Chiefs are twenty-seventh in the league in total defense, allowing 366 YPG. They are twenty-fifth in passing (248) and twentieth against the run (118).
