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Steelers Film Room: Steelers vs Buccaneers Sack Breakdown

By Alex Kozora

Posted on October 2, 2014 at 6:15 am

By Alex Kozora

Below is a breakdown of the five sacks allowed by the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

2^nd and 10, 14:27 1^st. Shotgun, 11 personnel. Steelers have five blocking versus a four man rush. Ben Roethlisberger is sacked in 2.2 seconds. Hardly any time for the route to develop. Simple Cover 2 concept by the Bucs.

Gerald McCoy, with his busted left hand, clubs left guard Cody Wallace, knocking him off balance. Ugly for Wallace but to be fair, it sucks getting hit with a club like that.

Wallace never recovers and McCoy brings down Roethlisberger for an easy sack.

Blame: Cody Wallace

3^rd and 16, 13:51 1^st. Shotgun, 11. Five block plus the back’s block/release. Four man Tampa rush. Buccaneers sugar the “A” gaps, placing both inside linebackers over each “A” gap. It forces the Steelers’ offense line to slide and pinch in. It leaves defensive end Michael Johnson, lined up in a wider tech, free to rush off the edge. Then the ‘backers drop into coverage.

Play is a screen for Le’Veon Bell, releasing to the left flat from the offense’s point of view. It’s an obvious mismatch no matter what but he can’t even square up the end. He tries to shove him as they pass but Johnson does a nice job of dipping his shoulder and not getting knocked off balance.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to throw. Ben has the ball down by his waist and Johnson pops it out. Tampa Bay recovers.

Blame: Good defensive scheme

2^nd and 7, 9:48 2^nd. Empty set, shotgun. Five block against four rush. Sack happens in 2.27 seconds, another quick one. 3×2 look out of empty for the Steelers. Bubble screen to the bottom of the screen with a slant/flat combination at the top. That’s where Roethlisberger chooses to look, reading the flat and then the slant. Never looks at the bubble.

With the flat taken away, Ben looks to Antonio Brown on the slant. The corner is playing flat footed instead of going into his pedal.

Brown should be crossing the corner’s face underneath. That’s what Roethlisberger expects him to do. But for whatever reason, Brown runs over the top of him. Ben is about to throw the slant but sees Brown over top the corner, pulling back mid-throw. Still can’t believe how he hangs onto the ball. No one else in the league can do that.

Ben is pointing to Brown after the play, motioning for him to break the route in front of the corner.

By that point, the pressure is already there. Kelvin Beachum is beat by Scott Solomon. Initially, Beachum looks fine. Good base and shoots his arms. As Solomon dips, Beachum’s feet inexplicably stop moving. His upfield toe opens up, letting Solomon beats him and crunch Ben.

Blame: Half on Kelvin Beachum, half on Antonio Brown

1^st and 10, 5:40 2^nd. Empty, shotgun. Five blocking against a four man rush. Roethlisberger locks onto Antonio Brown on a dig for all of the 3.35 seconds before he’s sacked. There’s a window there but it’s small and Ben obviously decides not to pull the trigger. He needs to either thread the needle or get off his read.

On the line, we look back to Beachum vs Johnson. Again, his initial base is fine. Good base and he has his arms extended. But Johnson generates a good push, knocking Beachum off his base with his left arm. So much so that Beachum’s right leg flies up into the air, causing the tackle to lose his power and unable to mirror as Roethlisberger climbs the pocket.

Blame: Half on Roethlisberger, half on Beachum

3^rd and 6, :32 2^nd. Empty, shotgun. Five block versus a four man rush. Mirror concept with a slant/flat to each side. Markus Wheaton is open but the quick pressure doesn’t allow him to make the throw.