By Alex Kozora
A breakdown of all 31 plays from Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Mike Adams Saturday versus the New York Giants.
First Drive
Snaps: 7
Run Block/Pass Block: 4/3
Play-by-Play
– 1st and 10, 15:00 1st. Outside zone to the right. Doubles the DT with Ramon Foster.
– 2nd and 5, 14:17. Inside run to the left side. DE Cullen Jenkins shoots to the inside. Adams seals him off and washes him out. Finishes the play, keeps working until the whistle.
– 3rd and 3, 13:36. Quick throw so not much Adams has to do here. Mathias Kiwanuka seems to get a good first punch in but doesn’t faze Adams, who gets good arm extension and stays with the end.
– 1st and 10, 13:08. Power O to the right side. Looks like a “fold” block between he and Michael Palmer with Adams taking on the OLB and Palmer the end. Other than that, with the run away, not much going on.
– 2nd and 6, 12:22. Run. Adams works to second level but can’t find a target. Run ends quickly.
– 2nd and 16, 11:56. Screen attempt to Brown on Adams’ side. Adams releases into space, showing a good burst and getting out in space quickly. Play ends as quickly as it starts with the pass being batted down. Adams doesn’t even get the chance to make initial contact with a DB.
– 3rd and 16, 11:52. Kiwanuka rushing off the edge, gets lower and walks Adams back. Is able to recover a bit, getting his arms extended and take back a little control. Picture of the end winning the leverage battle.
Second Drive
Snaps: 12
Run Block/Pass Block: 6/6
Play-by-Play
– 1st and 10, 10:19 1st. Draw. Not much to note as Adams has to show high hat to sell pass.
– 2nd and 1, 9:57. Stretch to the left but Howling cuts it back to the right. Solid kickout of the OLB but bodies underneath him takes Adams down to the ground.
– 1st and 10, 9:10. Run to the right. Adams engulfs Jenkins. In control of the play.
– 2nd and 4, 8:34. Brief pass block. With two tight ends to his left, Adams blocks the DT.
– 1st and 10, 7:47. Outside zone to the right. Nothing for Adams on this play.
– 2nd and 4, 7:02. Down block on Mike Patterson. Washes him out of the play. Advantage here is also part schematic. With Adams having the angle on the DT, he’s able to put his weight into Patterson’s shoulder and seal him. Works here.
– 3rd and 1, 6:33. Run block. Kiwanuka again gets under Adams’ pads and gets him upright. But the tackle smartly gives just a little bit of ground to absorb and anchor. Shows the strength not to get driven back any farther and holds his block long enough to let Howling scoot for a first down.
– 1st and 10, 5:54. Screen to Dwyer. Good thing the ball came out quick because Adams was beat bad. Misses his punch and the end blows past. Adams doubles over trying to recover. Doesn’t bring his feet along, making his attempt pretty futile.
– 2nd and 10, 5:51. DE chipped by TE releasing, letting Adams come off his kickslide pretty clean and watch the end the whole way. So it’s pretty disappointing to see the end swim to the inside and beat Adams. The DE ends up running into Pouncey whose knee bends awkwardly. Luckily, an injury was avoided.
– 1st and 10, 5:15. Will be listed as a pass block but this was the hot route from Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown. Down block for Adams but nothing else to note with the play ending so quickly.
– 2nd and 10, 5:10. Clean kickslide, good bend. Solid pass protection.
– 3rd and 10, 5:05. OLB comes off the edge. Adams slides and picks it up no problem, slides with him. Again, shows good bend.
Third Drive
Snaps: 5
Run Block/Pass Block: 2/3
– 1st and 10, 1:10 1st. Offensive line faking zone off the snap, Bruce Gradkowski boots and hits Will Johnson in the flats. So nothing else to really note.
– 2nd and 2, :33. Power O with Foster pulling. Goal ere for Adams is to occupy the space in the gap Foster leaves and he does just that. Picture just to illustrate what I’m saying. Again, not about taking on a specific man as it is a space.
– 1st and 10, :08. Down block on the one tech. Again, uses the angle to his advantage on the tackle. Holds his block until the whistle.
– 2nd and 12, 15:00 2nd. Playaction with Paulson to his left and the DE dropping into coverage. Just a three man rush. Adams helps Foster keep the DT at bay.
– 3rd and 12, 14:55. Pass block with the the DE Tracy playing about one gap to the outside of Adams. Love the arm extension. Taking full advantage of his huge frame. Gets into the ends’ pads and sticks to him while moving laterally. A little bit of waist bend, sure, but that’ll happen against smaller rushers (Tracy is only 6’2) so it’s unfair to nitpick. Right before the throw, Tracy tires to turn back inside and Adams mirrors. Good play from start to finish.
Fourth Drive
Snaps: 7
Run Block/Pass Block: 2/5
Play-by-Play
– 1st and 10, 13:23 2nd. Pass block. Tracy drops so Adams doesn’t have an assignment. Can collect his thoughts, remember if he turned the oven off before leaving the house.
– 2nd and 10, 13:15. Middle screen to Dwyer. Bull rush from Tracy. Yes, he does walk Adams back a good bit. But that’s what a bull rush is supposed to do and the other guys get paid too. So I can’t be critical. Adams is able to absorb and slow down Tracy’s momentum. Doesn’t let him shed and holds up long enough for Gradkowski to throw the screen. Only real complaint here is Adams’ hands being too far to the outside but again, tough to be perfect against a bull rush.
– 3rd and 15, 12:06. Another bull rush from Tracy. Dwyer chipping him helps Adams out a little bit. Again, he does get walked back a little bit but doesn’t let Tracy come off the block.
– 4th and 2, 11:19. Facing undersized DE Matt Broha. Broha’s weak first punch does nothing against Adams, who gets his arms extended, shows proper bend (at the knees, not the waist) and moves well laterally.
– 1st and 10, 10:36. Looks like an inside zone run. Adams works to second level but no ‘backer in the area.
– 2nd and 4, 9:57. Run. Second level to the LB Jacquian Williams. Makes contact but falls off the block and Williams gets past. Adams doesn’t quit though, mixing it up with two DBs before the whistle sounds.
– 3rd and 5, 9:17. “Tex” (tackle/end) stunt with the tackle slanting to Adams. Strength vs strength means Adams usually wins and that’s the case for his final snap of the game. Absorbs the rush and makes it look easy.
Total/Conclusions
Snaps: 31
Run Block/Pass Block: 14/17
In run blocking, Adams is a monster. Aside from falling off the block at the second level, don’t think you could consider him having a “bad” block in this game. His strength makes him a force when working on angles and he has the burst off the line to do a pretty good job in space. Leverage in pass protection will never be perfect because of how tall he is and the space that provides ends to get into his pads. But again, his strength allows him to minimize those problems, absorbing and anchoring time and time again. He has a clean kickslide and aside from a blip or two, plays with good bend for a big man. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first of the team flipping Adams to the left side but am much more comfortable after combing through this game.
