Steelers Fans This Is Your Nightmare

With one game to go until the season starts, which Steelers fan out there feels comfortable with the offensive line?

There may have been a lot of discussion during the offseason about whether Ben Roethlisberger holds on to the ball too long. The Steelers offensive line cleverly figured out a way to difuse that controversy Saturday night. It's hard to worry about that when Roethlisberger never has more than a second or two before he starts dodging pass rushers.

The Vikings have arguably the best front four in football, with three potential Pro Bowlers among the four starters. The Steelers offensive line has one player (Marvel Smith) who has ever gone to the Pro Bowl, and if yesterday is any indication, no one who will challenge for a Pro Bowl spot this year.

The Steelers' first team offense gave up two sacks. By my count, Roethlisberger was also hurried four times in two quarters of action. That's six pass plays busted by the pass rush in 19 attempts (32 percent). And that barely explains how under the gun Roethlisberger was. Throw in some three step drops and the lack of holes for Willie Parker and it's clear that the Steelers offensive line was in over their heads.

So who was having trouble? You may think that Jared Allen would have caused carnage, but the Vikings' defensive end, last year's NFL sacks leader, was actually handled pretty well by Marvel Smith. According to the NFL.com stats, Allen did not record a tackle or an assist, and by my count, Allen had only one hurry. Allen was quick enough to beat Smith to the outside on speed rushes almost every time, but Smith was enough of a savvy veteran to give a well-timed punch that forced Allen to an around-the-world route to Roethlisberger. In addition to his hurry, Allen did have another play where he helped pressure Roethlisberger, but that came after Roethlisberger had dodged two other pass rushers, and there was one other snap where Allen again ran "around the world" to get to Roethlisberger, but Ben was still holding the ball only because he had no one to throw to, so he threw the ball away.

But the rest of the front four was busy destroying the Steelers' plans. Kevin Williams (4 tackles, 1 sack), Pat Williams (3 tackles) and Ray Edwards (2 tackles, 1 sack) were extremely productive. They held starting tailback Willie Parker to 18 yards on 10 carries, and disrupted the Steelers' passing game with timely pressure.

The Steelers problems came the right side of the line. Kendall Simmons simply couldn't block Kevin Williams, while Ray Edwards gave Wilie Colon problems. On the first drive of the game, Edwards knocked Simmons to the ground on a line twist, then grabbed Roethlisberger, who managed to get the ball off on what should have been a sack.

On the next drive, Williams beat Simmons for a second hurry, this time using his quickness and a rip move to get in the backfield before Roethlisberger had even finished his drop. On the third drive, Simmons did manage to get a hand on Williams after he flew by him, which helped ensure that Roethlisberger could step up and get the pass off. A drive later, Williams again tosses Simmons to the ground, but this time Willie Parker was able to back Simmons up and slow down Williams.

Edwards then beat Colon for a sack on the fifth drive. Colon got caught lunging, which allowed Edwards to beat him to the corner and get leverage. From that point, he simply drove Colon back to Roethlisberger. On the next play, WIlliams got his sack, although the initial pressure came because Colon blocked the blitzing cornerback, allowing Williams to come free from the inside on a stunt. Colon actually fell to the ground as he tried to block Antoine Winfield. Willie Parker's block on blitzing linebacker Chad Greenway wasn't much better.

Simmons was beaten on a running play soon afterwards, and Simmons, Justin Hartwig and Marvel Smith all combined to get beat for Roethlisberger's last hurry of the night.

What's disconcerting if your a Steelers fan is that these aren't easily correctable problems. Simmons was simply not quick enough off the ball, or strong enough to stop Kevin Williams. Colon struggled with the speed of a defensive end who's averaged four sacks a year. In Simmons' case, he won't face many defensive tackles better than Williams, so that's some consolation. But Edwards is an average defensive end at best. Colon will face several defensive ends who are quicker and/or stronger than him. And he'll still continue facing defensive ends who have longer arms where his lack of height will be a limiting factor.