The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line continued its fall in Pro Football Focus’ offensive line rankings, as the unit fell two spots to No. 28 ahead of Week Four.
The offensive line was ranked No. 12 ahead of the season but has steadily dropped after poor performances to open the year.
“The Steelers’ offensive line has been consistently below average so far this season. The Pittsburgh unit ranked 26th, 25th and 25th in pass-blocking efficiency in the first three weeks of the season,” Zoltán Buday writes for PFF.
One positive for the Steelers is that Isaac Seumalo turned things around against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football. The free agent addition struggled over the first two weeks of the season, with a 40.1 overall grade in Week One followed by a 50.6 grade in Week Two. He finally had the performance the Steelers expected when they signed him against the Raiders, posting a 77.8 mark with impressive run blocking (72.4 grade) and pass blocking (81.9 grade) marks.
But as a whole, the offensive line has been underwhelming. Dan Moore Jr. in particular has been a problem, and while Sunday was an improvement for him, he still had a couple of reps where he was beaten badly by Maxx Crosby. With first-round pick Broderick Jones waiting in the wings, Moore is going to have to turn things around in the two games before the bye. His 29.2 PFF grade is one of the worst in football, and his pass-blocking grade of 19.9 is a detriment to QB Kenny Pickett and the offense as a whole.
Moore isn’t the only one struggling. Center Mason Cole (48.5 overall grade) has performed below expectations, as has right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor (50.5 overall grade). It’s a group-wide issue, and while it wasn’t as glaring on Sunday night, the line play was one of Pittsburgh’s biggest weaknesses. With a Houston Texans team that already has 11 sacks through three games coming up on Sunday, Pittsburgh’s offensive line is going to have to be prepared.
The Texans so far have been a middle-of-the-pack defense against the run, giving up the 16th-most rushing yards in the league. It would certainly be a good game for the Steelers to try and let their run game finally take off, but the offensive linemen are going to have to open holes and allow that to happen. If they can do so, they could see themselves rise in the pre-Week Five edition of these rankings.
