The Pittsburgh Steelers got beaten by the Indianapolis Colts in humiliating fashion on Saturday, losing 30-13 after building an early 13-0 lead. The Colts roared back, with the combination of Tyler Goodson and Trey Sermon rushing for over 150 yards, while the Steelers’ offense once again sputtered to a halt.
The offense’s lack of execution on the day was greatly impacted by the play of Pittsburgh’s offensive line, which didn’t hold up well against the Colts’ defensive front. QB Mitch Trubisky was sacked three times and hit plenty of others while the running game only accumulated 74 rushing yards on 24 attempts (3.1 YPC). That was a far cry from what the Steelers had been managing to accomplish on the ground in the two months prior to this contest.
Multiple offensive linemen for Pittsburgh graded out poorly by Pro Football Focus. None were worse than RG James Daniels, who was given an overall grade in the 40s and a pass blocking grade of 0.0 from PFF. He also picked up a holding call in the game, only adding insult to injury as we go through the tape to be objective on Daniels’ rough day at the office.
The Film
Against the Colts, there were plenty of instances where Daniels was in position to make a key block but failed to execute. Take, for example, this play where Pittsburgh runs a screen pass to RB Jaylen Warren. Daniels helps chip on a defender who loops around the edge to RT Broderick Jones before getting out in space. DE Kwity Paye loops around the corner in pursuit of Warren, but Daniels doesn’t see him as he runs beside the defender. Paye starts to track down the runner in pursuit, and Daniels lunges forward in attempt to push him aside, falling to the turf as Paye tracks down Warren and makes the tackle to limit Warren’s yards after catch.
Here’s another example on Pittsburgh’s touchdown drive where Daniels climbs to the second level on the pitch to the left, running right past LB E.J. Speed. Daniels extends an arm toward him, but overruns Speed as the linebacker pursues Warren to the sideline, tracking him down and keeping him from getting into the end zone.
There were also instances where Daniels was unable to sustain his blocks for long portions of time against the Colts. We see in the example below that Daniels engages DL Taven Bryan on the snap of the ball but shoots his arms forward while remaining pretty upright in his stance. Bryan sees this and chucks Daniels to the side like a rag doll, getting in the face of Trubisky, who throws to Warren on the screen play, only to see it get deflected.
Here’s another instance where Daniels climbs to the second level to pick up LB Zaire Franklin, squaring him up and giving him a big shove. Franklin stays upright on the block and quickly redirects across Daniels’ face, making the tackle on Warren as he gets into the second level.
When it came to picking up twists and stunts, Daniels was a tad late on multiple occasions to transition from passing his defender off to pick up the one looping into his gap. We see this on this pressure applied by DL DeForest Buckner as DL Tyquan Lewis shoots to the right-side A gap between Daniels and C Mason Cole while Buckner loops around him to the right-side B gap. Daniels is slow passing off Lewis to Cole and LG Isaac Seumalo and getting back to Buckner. The two-time Pro Bowler clears the gap and gets into the backfield, putting pressure on Trubisky, who throws the ball high, almost into the hands of a defender for a pick.
Daniels did get better identifying and picking up stunts as the game went on, being quicker to transition to the defender running to his gap. Watch this rep where Daniels quickly switches to picking up Paye, who is stunting inside. Latching onto Paye’s shoulder pads, he keeps him from getting to Trubisky, who manages to climb the pocket and find WR Diontae Johnson down the field for the first down.
It wasn’t all bad for Daniels, who had some solid moments as a run blocker against the Colts. He is a strong, athletic blocker who can displace defenders off the line of scrimmage when he plays with good technique. We see Daniels execute here on this run by RB Najee Harris up the middle, pushing Bryan down the line while turning his shoulders to seal off the defender from the ball. That allows Harris to get to the second level of the defense for a successful run.
Conclusion
It wasn’t a great day at the office for Daniels. He looked much more like a journeyman offensive lineman than Pittsburgh’s best offensive lineman in 2022, struggling with the basics like pad level, sustaining blocks, and getting a body on a defender in the second level. He had moments where he did generate a push up front and got a better feel for stunt pickup as the game went on, but it was largely a disappointing performance by him along with the offensive line as a whole.
I don’t know if I necessarily agree if Daniels should’ve been given a 0.0 pass blocking grade from PFF, but needless to say, Pittsburgh needs its veteran offensive lineman playing better to have more success establishing the running game as well as keeping the quarterback clean. The entire offensive line has struggled this season, having many pointing to overhauling the whole unit. While Daniels is having a disappointing 2023 campaign compared to last season, like C Mason Cole, Daniels likely isn’t going anywhere. He has proven that he can be a quality starter in this league while Cole is in danger of the Steelers finding an upgrade over him this coming offseason.
Still, Daniels must play better than what he showed on Saturday to warrant getting extended after his contract is up following the 2024 season. With the Steelers needing to address center and the tackle spot opposite Broderick Jones, they need Daniels to play better to keep him in their long-term plans for the future. It would limit yet another position of need that they must address while having a young, experienced veteran in place who has shown he can do it before, needing that play to come back as soon as possible.
