Heading into Pittsburgh’s Week Seven game against the Los Angeles Rams, the offensive line had taken its fair share of criticism for how they opened the season. The unit as a whole had underwhelmed as they went into their bye week while having individual members of the unit like LT Dan Moore Jr. and C Mason Cole play poorly to open the season, receiving unkind grades from Pro Football Focus.
Moore had his best performance of the season against the Rams according to PFF’s analytics as did Cole as he finished with a 65.0 overall grade from the site including a 59.3 run-blocking grade and a team-high 83.7 pass-blocking grade. It was Cole’s best performance of the season as well, having struggled mightily in the weeks leading up to Pittsburgh’s matchup with the Rams. Going back through the tape, you could see where PFF ranked Cole as a solid pass protector, but also saw issues with him as a run blocker, matching the lower grade he received.
The Film
Mason Cole was Pittsburgh’s top-ranked pass protector on Sunday against the Rams according to PFF, but going back through the tape, it’s easy to understand why. He received help from either LG Isaac Seumalo or RG James Daniels on nearly every pass-blocking snap, getting help to block the likes of All-Pro DL Aaron Donald as well as rookie DL Kobie Turner. Cole didn’t see many one-on-ones in the middle in pass protection, but that’s okay as Pittsburgh’s goal was to neutralize Donald’s impact, making other defenders beat them on the pass rush.
As a run blocker, Cole was a mixed bag against Los Angeles. There were plays where he worked to get good position on blocks like the play below on the quick toss to RB Najee Harris. Cole worked laterally to seal off Turner from crashing down the line of scrimmage to allow Harris to hit the hole and pick up a couple of yards on the run.
Still, Cole can do a better job finishing blocks by working to maintain position and sustaining his fits till the whistle. Watch this rep where Cole combos with Seumalo on the nose tackle before climbing up to the second level, locating LB Ernest Jones IV. Cole gets on Jones but fails to work across his face to seal him off or push him out of the running lane, ultimately having Jones work off the block and make the tackle on Harris who gets dogpiled by a host of Rams’ defenders.
We see Cole effectively work across the face of the defender in this next clip, getting the reach block on Turner to seal him off from pursuing Harris who takes the carry between Seumalo and Moore. Harris gets into open space and picks up a nice chunk gain in the second level of the defense.
It was a back-and-forth cycle with Cole on Sunday as some plays he would have good run fits, and in others, he wouldn’t get the desired positioning on the defender or be able to sustain his block to keep his man from getting to the ballcarrier. Watch this rep where Cole engages Turner after the snap, lunging forward and latching onto his outside shoulder rather than working with his hands and feet in unison to cut off his pursuit. Turner fights pressure across Cole’s face and gets in on the tackle on Harris, bottling him up for no gain on the play.
However, on Pittsburgh’s TD drive where RB Jaylen Warren runs it in, Cole makes two nice blocks on back-to-back plays. In the first play, we see Cole drive Turner back, controlling the line of scrimmage as Warren picks up positive yardage to the right. In the next play, we see Cole explode out of his stance and reach block Turner, cutting off his pursuit as Warren between Cole and Seumalo, finding the small cutback lane to his right as he accelerates into the end zone for the score.
Conclusion
It was a serviceable performance by Mason Cole on Sunday against the Rams, combining with the rest of the offensive line to minimize Aaron Donald’s impact as a pass rusher while making some key blocks in the running game to help spring Harris and Warren into the second level. While this was Cole’s highest-graded game of the season, he still did have noticeable struggles as a run blocker, being inconsistent at sealing off defenders as well as sustaining his blocks. He also received a lot of help in pass protection where in the past he struggled handling defenders one-on-one as a pass blocker.
Cole’s play was solid against the Rams, but it wasn’t exceptional by any means. Pittsburgh still could use a long-term replacement at the pivot who possesses more play strength and natural athleticism to make blocks in space as well as an anchor in pass protection, requiring fewer combo blocks and double teams to mask Cole’s deficiencies. This isn’t to say that Cole can’t be a serviceable starter as we saw from him last season, but that Pittsburgh would be wise to look for a higher caliber replacement to take their running game to another level as well as provide a more consistent pass protector.
Still, It’s good to see Cole have a rebound performance after a rocky start to the season. He will be Pittsburgh’s locked-in starter at center for the rest of the season, meaning that the Steelers hope that he can continue this serviceable play down the stretch, much like he did to conclude the season last year on Pittsburgh’s 7-2 run.
