Two weeks, two rather disastrous performances from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line.
Against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football, Pittsburgh’s offensive line struggled to protect second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett and didn’t generate much running room for the second straight week. That keeps the unit at No. 26 overall in Pro Football Focus’ positional rankings after Week Two.
The Steelers rank ahead of only the New York Giants, Houston Texans, Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks in the trenches for PFF’s Sam Monson.
“No offensive lineman has surrendered more pressures this season than left tackle Dan Moore Jr., who is responsible for 15 through two weeks,” Monson writes regarding the Steelers’ offensive line ranking for PFF.com Wednesday. “The Steelers averaged -1.1 yards before contact on runs against Cleveland, which was the lowest mark in Week 2.”
Those two numbers are rather concerning and don’t show any signs of improving anytime soon.
Moore has had to go up against two great pass rushers in San Francisco’s Nick Bosa and Cleveland’s Myles Garrett in back-to-back weeks, a tall task for any left tackle in the NFL. At the same time though, Moore has graded out as the worst offensive tackle in the NFL in each of the first two weeks and currently ranks as the worst offensive lineman overall in the league through two games.
That’s a major concern.
So, too, are the struggles to generate any displacement in the run game. As Monson pointed out, the Steelers averaged minus-1.1 yards before contact on runs on Monday night, which means running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren were getting hit in the backfield far too often.
How, exactly, is the run game supposed to succeed that way? Spoiler: it’s not.
Along with Moore’s struggles, center Mason Cole and right guard James Daniels have been a mess for the Steelers in Year Two with the franchise, while right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor has been inconsistent, to say the least.
New addition Isaac Seumalo at left guard hasn’t been as expected either, but Monson still has him as the best lineman of the Steelers through two weeks. That’s not exactly saying much, though.
“Seumalo is expected to be the best player on this offensive line, but his Pittsburgh career is off to a rough start. He is on pace to allow 34 pressures this season after giving up just 21 with Philadelphia in 2022,” Monson writes.
That’s certainly an eye-opening pace for Seumalo is on. Granted, he was on the best line in football last season with a Hall of Fame center and right tackle next to him while playing right guard in Philadelphia next to Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.
Now, he’s next to Moore and Cole, which is a significant downgrade in talent around him.
This group was rather good down the stretch in 2022, but they unit has regressed so far this season. Hopefully those players get back on track — and fast.
