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Steelers O-Line as Bad as Expected

Posted Sep 16, 2009 10:45PM By JJ Cooper (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Steelers, AFC North

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When I started studying the Steelers' offensive line in 2006, it sprung from a lot of frustration. Week after week, you heard TV announcers talking about the Steelers' dominating line and its smash-mouth running attack. But as I watched, I saw Sean Mahan being driven backwards play after play, Max Starks struggling to block speed rushers and Kendall Simmons looking much weaker than his reputation.

It's taken four years, but these days it's hard to find any NFL fan who isn't aware that the Steelers' offensive line is one of the biggest stumbling blocks that could keep Pittsburgh from defending its Super Bowl title. That's progress I guess. Nowadays if I write that Max Starks sometimes struggles with speed rushes, or that Chris Kemoeatu sometimes seems lost, I'm telling everyone what they already know.

In the opener, we pretty much saw what we expected. When the Steelers tried to run the ball, there usually was one or two screw-ups that ruined the play. On the key third and one in the fourth quarter, Mewelde Moore didn't have a chance because Willie Colon, Matt Spaeth and Frank Summers all whiffed on their blocks. On a third and one handoff to Willie Parker, center Justin Hartwig failed to block his man.

So who's to blame? You can blame offensive line coach Larry Zierlein if you want. Zierlein's resume before coming to the Steelers is not exactly Hall of Fame caliber and the Steelers have had problems with blown assignments, but it's worth noting that Russ Grimm, the Steelers' previous offensive line coach, struggled to coach much of this group in 2006.

You could blame the front office. Of the nine offensive tackles invited to last year's Pro Bowl, six of them were first-round picks and another two were early second-round picks. The Steelers haven't drafted an offensive tackle in the first or second round since they took the now retired Marvel Smith in the second round in 2000; it's also worth noting that he's the Steelers' only Pro Bowl offensive tackle in the past decade. The Steelers starting offensive line consists of a third-rounder (Max Starks), a sixth-rounder (Chris Kemoeatu), another sixth-rounder (Justin Hartwig), another third-round pick (Trai Essex) and a fourth-rounder (Willie Colon).

Or you could just accept the fact that, for now, Pittsburgh's offensive line can't run block against good teams and just hope that they can pass block well enough to pull games out.

• No one is really writing about it in the traditional media, but it sure seems like Mike Wallace has quietly beaten out Limas Sweed for the team's No. 3 receiver job. As Dagger notes at the excellent Post Game Heroes blog, Wallace took 52 snaps on Thursday night while Sweed played on 14 snaps. A 4-to-1 difference in plays makes it pretty clear that Sweed may be listed as the No. 3 receiver, but Wallace is the player who is more vital to the team's offense. The foot sprain that Sweed suffered at practice may just speed that transition.

• In a similar vein, it doesn't really matter if Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall or Mewelde Moore starts. If the Steelers play many more games like Thursday night's, Moore is the team's most important back. While Parker may have gotten the start, Moore was on the field for more snaps and was on the field in crunch time in the fourth quarter.

• Speaking of snaps, Frank Summers had an awful pro debut as he missed several blocks. But do remember that he only played on five snaps all night, so it's not like he was screwing up play after play. He wasn't on the field enough to screw up play after play, he just screwed up on the crucial short-yardage ones.

• The sprained ankle that Lawrence Timmons re-injured could be much more serious than Sweed's injury. If Troy Polamalu was healthy, an injured Timmons wouldn't be that big a deal against the Bears -- Polamalu is just as capable of shutting down tight end Greg Olsen. But if Polamalu and Timmons miss the game, Pittsburgh is left with few good options to handle the Bears' top target. Several years ago, Deshea Townsend would have gotten the assignment -- he used to cover Ravens tight end Todd Heap despite a significant size difference, but these days it's hard to ask him to handle that job. James Farrior would be facing a serious challenge to try to handle Olsen, while Tryone Carter, Polamalu's replacement, gives up eight inches to the 6-foot-5 Olsen. If the Steelers think he is ready, Keenan Lewis, the team's No. 4 cornerback, is a pretty good matchup physically, but it's highly unlikely that the Steelers would rely on the rookie so soon. Instead, Pittsburgh could play a lot of zone to try to contain Olsen, especially since the Bears receivers aren't particularly consistent.

Tags: Greg+Olsen, Lawrence+Timmons, Limas+sweed, Mike+Wallace, Troy+Polamalu

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