After building some positive momentum and cracking the top 20 offensive lines in the NFL ahead of their Week Eight matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line fell three spots down to No. 21 in PFF’s offensive line rankings after a rough performance against Jacksonville.
The performances by Isaac Seumalo (54.2 overall grade) and Dan Moore Jr. (54.9 overall grade) were criticized in particular.
“Seumalo failed to bounce back from his bad game against the Rams. He allowed three pressures against the Jaguars in Week 8,” Pro Football Focus wrote.
One of those pressures was ugly, as Seumalo got completely manhandled by DL Roy Robertson-Harris.
As for Moore, PFF pointed out that he’s allowed pressure on 12.8% of pass plays, the highest rate of any starter in the league. Despite Seumalo and Moore getting singled out, it was actually C Mason Cole who was Pittsburgh’s lowest-graded offensive lineman. Cole hasn’t been good this season, and he managed to lower the bar even further with his worst performance of the year against the Jaguars. He had just a 41.4 overall grade, and after a solid year last season, Cole has seemingly fallen off a cliff. Center is going to be a need for the Steelers this offseason.
Pittsburgh’s opponent on Thursday, the Tennessee Titans, saw a bump from its offensive line after a win over the Atlanta Falcons. That bump got them out of the cellar though, as they now rank at No. 30 after ranking No. 32 last week. The Titans allowed just 11 pressures and zero sacks against the Falcons in what was their best performance of the season. The Titans could be without Chris Hubbard on Thursday though, as he suffered a concussion against the Falcons and has yet to clear concussion protocol. He’s been Tennessee’s best offensive lineman this season, per PFF.
The battle in the trenches could be the difference in the game on Thursday. The Steelers have two guys in T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith who can wreck the game off the edge, while DL Cameron Heyward could return after missing six games with a groin injury. Tennessee has Jeffery Simmons, one of the best defensive linemen in football, and he could take advantage of an interior offensive line for Pittsburgh that’s been shaky at best.
With the Steelers being at home, the Acrisure Stadium crowd could propel them, but the offensive line has to play better on Thursday than it did last week. The Steelers have been way too inconsistent up front this season and they need to find some measure of success that they can sustain throughout the season.
