Below is the week 6 offensive line breakdown for the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Tennessee Titans.
It\’s amazing how much better you can see the offensive line play via the All-22 view. The first few times through the regular game tape I don\’t focus too tightly in on the offensive line because I am looking at defenses and individual schematics of plays mostly. In short, the view of what went right and what went wrong on plays. My initial reaction in those views of the offensive line was that overall it played poorly, but once I watched the All-22 twice to grade the offensive line play, I came away with a much different opinion.
The line was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought the running blocking was overall above average on the 20 designed run plays. The running backs I feel, mostly Baron Batch, left yards on the field. I also did not think that tight end Heath Miller or fullback Will Johnson had their best run blocking games either. In fact I pinned 3 run fails on Miller alone. The Titans linebackers played the run well for the most part as they mirrored the Steelers backs well. A healthy Rashard Mendenhall is very valuable to this team because of his vision and cut back ability and it is obvious.
On to the grades.
| PLAYER | #TOT | + | – | TOT % | # RUN | + | – | RUN % | # PASS | + | – | PASS % | S | P | H | F |
| Maurkice Pouncey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Legursky | 62 | 58 | 4 | 94% | 20 | 17 | 3 | 85% | 42 | 41 | 1 | 98% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Willie Colon | 63 | 58 | 5 | 92% | 20 | 17 | 3 | 85% | 43 | 41 | 2 | 95% | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Adams | 48 | 44 | 4 | 92% | 16 | 15 | 1 | 94% | 32 | 29 | 3 | 91% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ramon Foster | 63 | 57 | 6 | 90% | 20 | 16 | 4 | 80% | 43 | 41 | 2 | 95% | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Max Starks | 63 | 55 | 8 | 87% | 20 | 19 | 1 | 95% | 43 | 36 | 7 | 84% | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Marcus Gilbert | 15 | 13 | 2 | 87% | 4 | 4 | 0 | 100% | 11 | 9 | 2 | 82% | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 315 | 286 | 29 | 91% | 100 | 88 | 12 | 88% | 215 | 198 | 17 | 92% | 1 | 13 | 3 | 0 |
Maurkice Pouncey – Just 1 pass play for the Steelers starting center before getting his leg trapped underneath Marcus Gilbert.
Doug Legursky – Legursky was ready to play in this game and overall I thought he played well. The best thing about the TV tape is that you can hear every one of his line calls loud and clear. I have found that Legursky plays much better against 4 man fronts and when he doesn\’t have a man lined up over the top of him. He double teamed well with both Willie Colon and Ramon Foster on run plays and his most glaring run fail of the 3 was a miss at the second the level on a linebacker. Mike Martin timed a snap perfectly one time on him and even looked like he timed it too good. Even quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had his hands out after the play as Martin shot the A gap between Legursky and Colon giving them both a fail. Legursky was damn near perfect in pass protection outside of 1 hit on Roethlisberger that he allowed on the same play where Max Starks also allowed his 1 hit. That was the tuck play where Martin blew up Legursky and stood him up.
Willie Colon – No penalties on Colon this week, so that is a plus right there. He did have 1 run fail on the play I already mention with Legursky and 3 in total. 1 of the other 2 he over shot the hole on his pull to the right and missed badly. Pass protection wise, Colon allowed just 2 pressures in the game. Colon is still not fluid on his pulls as he lacks the short area quickness and the agility. Chris Kemoeatu was a much better pulling guard than Colon or Foster is and this is why we are not seeing any of those counter pike plays bust wide open. I can\’t wait for a healthy David DeCastro to get back because at least they will be able to run it to the left via the trap and that threat will at least add the surprise element when they run it to the right. Not a bad game for Colon, but far from perfect.
Mike Adams – The rookie played well overall, but he had 3 straight fails in the second half. He was charged with the sack after a poor cut attempt by him and Starks on the other side. On his charged quarterback hit he fell for an inside spin move after he lost leverage. His run block failure was a result of failing to get off of his first double team block with Foster and get the linebacker at the second level. He is using his hands much better now and I liked his footwork and sets. He seems to be getting more comfortable on the right side and I feel the light is coming on for him. Sunday night against the Cincinnati Bengals will be a real good test for him.
Ramon Foster – 4 run fails and 2 pressures allowed in this game for Foster. On the sack of Roethlisberger he also allowed pressure. He was beat outside easily on 1 run fail and ineffective on 2 others. On one pull to the left he was slow getting there and the running back was in the hole before he was. Foster did not get to either linebacker that made the play. This was not an awful performance, it just wasn\’t anywhere close to the game he had the week before. He was not as quick off of the snap in this game.
Max Starks – It was a tough night for Starks, who allowed several pressures and a hit in the game. He missed bad on 1 cut block and was dipped underneath on a few others. Everything was outside and on the edge as Kamerion Wimbley really had a nice game. I should note that outside of the hit he allowed in the game, the pressures were not brutal as we all know how good Roethlisberger is at avoiding it, but they were pressures nonetheless. On the flip side, I thought Starks did very well in the run blocking department at turning Wimbley out when it was needed and blocking down inside when called for.
Marcus Gilbert – A short night for Gilbert. He was fine on all 4 runs plays he was in on, but allowed 2 pressures on pass plays, 1 of which he injured his ankle on. Not enough playing time to really critique.
