Below is the week 7 offensive line breakdown for the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday night.
This was perhaps the best effort I have seen from an entire unit in some time as the run blocking was excellent. Outside of the three sacks allowed, and a few deep pressures, there wasn\’t much to complain about as the group really did a good job in the power running game and above average in pass protection, which is aided by Roethlisberger getting the ball out quick most of the time. Those quick slants and wide receiver screens sure save wear and tear on a unit.
| PLAYER | #TOT | + | – | TOT % | # RUN | + | – | RUN % | # PASS | + | – | PASS % | S | P | H | F |
| Max Starks | 70 | 66 | 4 | 94% | 29 | 27 | 2 | 93% | 31 | 29 | 2 | 94% | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Legursky | 70 | 65 | 5 | 93% | 29 | 26 | 3 | 90% | 31 | 29 | 2 | 94% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Colon | 70 | 64 | 6 | 91% | 29 | 27 | 2 | 93% | 31 | 27 | 4 | 87% | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Adams | 70 | 64 | 6 | 91% | 29 | 26 | 3 | 90% | 31 | 28 | 3 | 90% | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ramon Foster | 70 | 63 | 7 | 90% | 29 | 25 | 4 | 86% | 31 | 28 | 3 | 90% | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 350 | 322 | 28 | 92% | 145 | 131 | 14 | 90% | 155 | 141 | 14 | 91% | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Max Starks _ Starks rebounded nicely from his pressure filled effort against the Tennessee Titans, and outside of a couple of pressures, all was quiet on the backside for Ben Roethlisberger. His run fails came in the form of a missed backside block and a miss out in space. While he did allow some deep drops a few times, he was able to prevent the rusher from coming completely across his face. I never saw balance issues for him or him getting caught on one leg. Solid technique and footwork.
Doug Legursky – Legursky could probably start for half of the teams in the NFL. He is very strong assignment wise and can read fronts as good as any center in the game. The only time I ever really worry abut his play is when he faces 3-4 defenses and has a good nose tackle over the top of him. Legursky did a great job working with both Willie Colon and Ramon Foster on double teams as Domata Peko and Geno Atkins were kept in check for most of the game. All 5 of his demerits were tough to find. Run game wise it was a few leverage problems and pass block wise a couple of fails in help. He was not charged with a pressure or a sack in the game per my grades.
Willie Colon – Colon was very aggressive in the run blocking department Sunday night and responsible for several of the big runs breaking loose as well. He pulled right much, much better in this game and appeared to be in the hole quicker. He worked very well on double teams with Legursky. Pass blocking wise he really gave up 1.5 sacks if you want to get technical and a few pressures. Those happen when he allows hands up high in his neck or chest area and then he is skated back, although he fights it hard the whole time. This was easily his most dominating game as far as run blocking went. He was a Bronx bully in this game. Just ask Vontaze Burfict.
Mike Adams – This was an excellent first start for Adams. On the sack-fumble he just outright had a bad angle and gave up the inside right away. Add in two other pressures and that was it as far as pass protection went and one of those was a hands inside issue while the other a balance issue as he was caught on one leg. He did not get the amount of help from the backs that I thought he did initially and that is a good sign. Run blocking wise he was really impressive. The touchdown run by Chris Rainey is a prime example of how he can bang left and then get to the second level. He showed his ability to get down field outside in this game as well. He doesn\’t lumber like Marcus Gilbert tends to do and showed no signs of being heavy footed. One of the early run stuffs I charged to him as it looked like he missed his reach assignment. It was either him or Ramon Foster that blew it and I charged him with it based on how Foster carried out the play. The two other fails were him not getting off of his double team blocks quick enough to get to the linebacker. He blocked down great inside when it called for it.
Ramon Foster – This was a fine game by Foster, he just scored less than the other four. One sack was charged to him and two pressures. This was mostly because he did not get off the ball clean and was on his heels as a result. The run fails were mostly minor in nature and really just one was a full blown up scenario. Foster plays the angles well and worked very well with Adams on the several double teams. I believe he was only asked to pull left one time and I thought that was clean. The fail on that play came from poor blocking outside of him on that play.
