Steelers Line Falls Apart Against Colts Mighty Mites

There are a lot of reasons the Steelers lost to the Colts. We've talked a lot about Ben Roethlisberger's turnover trouble, but just as importantly, the Steelers were stuffed on a pair of goal line running plays by one of the worst run defenses in the league. To try to figure out what happened, I went back and rewatched how the Colts stuffed the Steelers' running game.

Second And Goal: With the ball at the one, the Steelers line up with three tight ends (Trai Essex is in for Max Starks at left tackle while Starks slides over to tight end on the right side, Matt Spaeth is the tight end on the left side. Just before the snap, Tim McHugh goes in motion and stops at the left guard/left tackle gap at the snap. By the design of the play, right guard Darnell Stapleton is supposed to block linebacker Clint Sessions, while left tackle Max Starks is asked to block middle linebacker Gary Brackett. Strong safety Bob Sanders is left unblocked by the line, with the thought that fullback Carey Davis or McHugh would pick him up if he managed to fill the hole. In reality, Sanders had the responsibility for containment on any outside run, so he ended up running himself out of the play by sliding down the line to get on the outside shoulder of Spaeth and McHugh.

As far as the play call goes, it's not fancy. And you could question the decision of running to the side of Essex, whose reputation is as a pretty pathetic run blocker. But if they ran to the right, they would be depending on the inexperienced Stapleton, so there really necessarily a good answer, although it's worth noting that on first down the Steelers had run successfully to the right with left guard Chris Kemoeatu pulling as a lead blocker. And on both of the plays in question, Stapleton did a much better job than Kemoeatu of getting low and driving his man.

But if you look at the defense the Colts called, the play call works. If the Steelers linemen do they're job, Moore dances into the end zone--the Steelers have a blocker for every defender.

It didn't work that way. The Steelers offensive line may be below average, but this is a matchup they should easily win. The Colts staring defensive tackles, Eric Foster (265 pounds) and Kenyuta Dawson (254 pounds), are two of the smallest defensive tackles in the NFL. But on this play, Foster got lower than Kemoeatu. Kemoeatu attempted to counter by laying on top of Foster, but it didn't work. Kemoeatu ended up sliding off Foster's legs, Foster popped up and he was wating for Mewelde Moore in the hole. So was linebacker Gary Brackett, who has shrugged of a very ineffectual Essex block. Moore was stuffed for no gain, and we'll try it all over again.

Third And Goal: Given how well the second down play worked, you wouldn't expect to see the Steelers try pretty much the same thing on third down, but they did. Once again the Steelers were in a three tight end formation with Starks as a tight end on the right and Spaeth on the left. Once again McHugh came in motion and stopped to stand in the prospective hole at the snap.

And then, the same play ended up with a worse result. One bad thing about calling the same thing on back-to-back plays is that the defense is a little surer of its reads. The first time, Sanders went outside because he was worried about Moore getting to the corner. This time he aggressively flew up to try to stuff an inside run. Carey Davis went outside of Essex to block Sanders, and there was the possibility of a slight seem off of his outside shoulder, but Moore hit the center-left guard gap, where he found no room at all.

At the snap, Johnson managed to stand up Justin Hartwig and drive him back slightly, although Hartwig did maintain his block and turned his shoulders away from the hole. But beside Hartwig, Kemoeatu was absolutely beaten. Foster got under Kemoeatu's pads and kept his feet churning so that Kemoeatu ended up sliding up and over him. By the time Moore got the handoff, Kemoeatu was lying on the ground while Foster was into the backfield. This time Essex blocked no one in particular, as he found himself stood up at the line. Essex failed to get the block on Gary Brackett until he was already in the hole as well, while no one blocked weakside linebacker Clint Sessions. Moore didn't have a chance.

The Result: The Steelers have to kick a field goal instead of getting a touchdown in a game they lost by four points. If you're looking for someone to blame, Kemoeatu has to be the biggest scapegoat. Twice he was badly beaten by a defensive tackle he outweighed by 70 pounds. If Kemoeatu could have gotten a decent block on Foster on either of the two plays, Moore might score, but when you're best guard falls apart on two goal line running plays, bad things are going to happen.