By Alex Kozora
A breakdown of the snaps played by Pittsburgh Steelers reserve offensive lineman Guy Whimper versus the Buffalo Bills.
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First Drive
Snaps: 12
Run/Pass: 10/2
Play-by-Play
1. 1st and 10, :33 1st. In at RT for Marcus Gilbert. Helps double end in pass protection.
2. 2nd and 2, :03. Double team Kyle Williams with David DeCastro. Generates a good push.
3. 3rd and 1, 15:022 2nd. Pass set vs Mario Williams. Run off left guard.
4. 1st and 10, 14:16. Marcell Dareus with good first punch and knocks Whimper’s hands away, splitting him and DeCastro. Lucky for Whimper, the defender head up on DeCastro crashes inside and the right guard is able to turn his attention to Dareus, shoving him at the last second to let Ben Roethlisberger get the pass off.
5. 2nd and 10, 14:11. Run. Doesn’t pick anyone up.
6. 3rd and 1, 13:31. Heavy set with 1 WR, extra lineman (Mike Adams). Able to generate a good enough push on the right side to help Jonathan Dwyer pick up the first.
7. 1st and 10, 12:53. Lined up as the left tackle in an unbalanced line. Play was likely supposed to be a Jet Sweep lateral to Ben to throw but Emmanuel Sanders wisely decides to tuck and run. Confuses everyone though and Whimper looks around lost.
8. 1st and 10, 12:08. Back at RT. Little slow off the snap. Base block on DT – run away from him.
9. 2nd and 1, 11:32. Run. Base on DE. Good arm extension but defender able to shed. Keeps legs moving but not generating much power.
10. 1st and Goal, 10:51. Gets arms extended but defender sheds.
11. 2nd and Goal, 10:12. Base block and yet again, can’t hold his block. Overpowered.
12. 3rd and GL, 9:29. T/E stunt and Whimper allows sack. Pointed it out in my sack breakdown so won’t rewrite the whole thing here but one new thing I noticed watching it again. Kyle Williams nearly jumps offsides and in doing so, tips his hand he’s at least going to split the “B” gap. Have to know it’s unlikely both the DT and DE will slant outside so have to assume stunt, on top of the tells I pointed out in my breakdown.
Second Drive
Snaps: 5
Run/Pass: 1/4
Play-by-Play
1. 2nd and 11, 10:46 3rd. LG following Ramon Foster’s injury. Double team block in pass pro.
2. 3rd and 3, 10:02. Good stunt recognition. Both DTs lined up as three tech. Whimper picks it up with ease.
3. 1st and 10, 9:20 Double DT on run block.
4. 2nd and 7, 8:48. Looks to double Mario Williams in pass pro. Stops part way through; didn’t stay engaged the entire play. Always a pet peeve.
5. 3rd and 7, 8:41. Four man rush with DT covering Whimper on zone drop. Nothing doing.
Third Drive
Snaps: 6
Run/Pass: 3/3
Play-by-Play
1. 1st and 10, 6:05 3rd. Low hat, fakes zone block. 40 yard pass to Antonio Brown.
2. 1st and 10, 5:15. Tries to reach 2nd level but can’t stick in space working against faster/quick-twitch Kiko Alonso.
3. 2nd and 5, 4:33. Kyle Williams gets a good jump off the ball to the outside (left) of Whimper but run is to the right so it plays perfectly into Whimper’s hands. Just pushes him upfield.
4. 3rd and 3, 3:52. Walked into the pocket by a Kyle Willilams bullrush.
5. 1st and Goal, 3:48. Draw/screen option Ben has. Ben throws screen, OL with low hat.
6. 2nd and Goal, 3:08. Run to the right. Holds own on double team vs Kyle Williams.
Fourth Drive
Snaps: 3
Run/Pass: 1/2
Play-by-Play
1. 1st and 10, 2:25 3rd. Run block, doesn’t pick anyone up. Late LB blitz up “A” gap threw a monkey wrench into the blocking scheme.
2. 2nd and 9, 2:02. Screen to Heath Miller. Whimper tries to get out into space but pass falls incomplete.
3. 3rd and 9, 1:58. Overload blitz from the right side. Whimper not really involved. Ben sacked.
Fifth Drive
Snaps: 7
Run/Pass: 4/3
Play-by-Play
1. 1st and 10, 14:02 4th. Chip, works to 2nd level but can’t get square and stick. LB in on the tackle.
2. 2nd 8, 13:21. Run block. Whimper looks lost, doesn’t pick anyone up.
3. 3rd and 4, 12:42. DT drops, not much doing as Whimper tries to find someone else on his side to pick up. T/E stunt so has a hard time finding anyone until the looping linebacker basically runs into him.
4. 1st and 10, 11:57. Good seal by Dareus. Springs Dwyer for a gain of 17. Does help that Dareus is slanting down one gap with the LB replacing him where he lined up.
5. 1st and 10, 11:15. Run. Tries to get to 2nd level, whiffs vs Alonso.
6. 2nd and 11, 10:31. Kyle Williams good hand fighting, beats him in pass pro. Ball comes out quick so no pressure.
7. 3rd and 11, 10:27. Pass pro. Williams dip/rip and blows past. Whimper unable to move laterally.
Sixth Drive
Snaps: 3
Run/Pass: 2/1
Play-by-Play
1. 1st and 10, 9:31 4th. Whimper combo block and able to stick to Alonso in space.
2. 2nd and 14, 8:51. Kyle Williams shaded 3 tech pre-snap, to the outside of Whimper. Quick hands lets him shed the left guard to the inside which is particularly disappointing. Looks stiff trying to move laterally.
3. 3rd and 15, 8:10. DT slants inside and the DE looping around. No one for Whimper to pick up.
Seventh Drive
Snaps: 3
Run/Pass: 2/1
Play-by-Play
1. 1st and 10, 6:10 4th. Draw. Kyle Williams jolts him off the ball, pushing him back and blowing the play up. Le’Veon Bell with only a one yard gain.
2. 2nd and 9, 5:29. Good battle between him and Williams. Stalemate.
3. 3rd and 4, 4:44. Fade to Miller. Hard to say for sure but think Whimper picked up right blocker, LB coming up weak “A” gap. Bell ends up blocking Kyle Willilams but think that blown assignment is on Fernando Velasco. Whimper just trying to protect the middle. Velasco needs to pinch inside too.
Totals/Conclusions
Snaps: 39
Run/Pass: 23/16
In the last three weeks, Whimper has been forced to play LG, RG, and RT. Such is life as a backup offensive lineman. And this week, neither spot looked too big for him. He looks much different than he did in the preseason and that’s for the better. But by that token, he hasn’t been anything more than average. Is stiff laterally and doesn’t get much of a push in the run game. Strength issue is a combination of upper and lower body (simply not being strong enough and not generating enough of a leg drive). Clearly doesn’t work well in space. But has been asked to do a lot and filled in better than expected.
