Breaking down the four sacks the Pittsburgh Steelers allowed in Week 15 against the Indianapolis Colts.
1. 2nd and 10, 14:17 1st. 11 personnel. Five-block versus four-man rush (play-action).
Steelers trying to use play-action early with the false key pull of RG James Daniels. Four-vertical concept with sight adjustments, and it takes some time to develop. Daniels gets bullied back by the RDE, who has a runway off the snap, and the pocket collapses on QB Mitch Trubisky, taking him down.
Blame a little harder to assign here. Everything is sorta messy. I’ll put it on Daniels for getting pushed back that constricted the pocket on Trubisky, even if the RDE didn’t come away with the sack.
More importantly, the Steelers were again sacked on an early drive. It’s happened far too often this season. In fact, Pittsburgh has been sacked on an opening drive in seven of their 14 games this season, exactly half. It’s one of many reasons why they’ve struggled to open up games.
Blame: James Daniels
2. 3rd and 5, 11:59 3rd. 11 personnel. Five-block versus four-man rush.
Focusing on the tackles here. Rookie right tackle Broderick Jones gets swam over by the LDE here, which flushes Trubisky into the RDE, who is able to gain the inside on Dan Moore Jr. Really tough day overall for Jones, who isn’t able to make the first significant contact here and re-fit his hands well enough, though he tries.
Moore is a little better here but isn’t able to seal the end upfield and really gets taken for a ride. The d-end was able to get into his chest and then basically club Moore’s inside shoulder as to shed.
Blame: Half on Broderick Jones, half on Dan Moore Jr.
3. 2nd and 5, 8:05 4th. 11 personnel. Five-block versus four-man rush.
Jones’ day not getting any better here. Jones gets too wide and has too much depth on his set. And the LDE takes advantage, shooting inside and winning easily for a clear path to nail Trubisky.
Especially with RB Jaylen Warren chipping to the outside, Jones doesn’t need to set this wide. But he’s also getting too much depth here. That’s the real issue, and it’s typically a no-no under Meyer. Don’t give ground, and don’t go backward. And the DE takes advantage of that open door.
Blame: Broderick Jones
4. 4th and 7, 1:48 4th. 11 personnel. Five-block + RB chip versus four-man rush.
Final offensive snap of the game, Mason Rudolph mopping things up. Fourth and long, the Colts doing what they usually do with soft zone coverage. Dan Moore again struggling against a bull rush, always been his weakness, and he’s not even using the Meyer-taught “hop step” to try and stall it out. He’s really never able to make good first contact here and is playing on his heels. Like Jones above, giving too much ground.
But Rudolph isn’t helping a lot either. His pocket presence and movement have improved but have never been great, and he floats left and drifts into pressure instead of just hanging in the pocket. He floats into the sack, which sums up the day this offense and team had.
Blame: Half on Dan Moore, half on Mason Rudolph
Sack Breakdown (Game)
Broderick Jones: 1.5
Dan Moore Jr.: 1.0
James Daniels: 1.0
Mason Rudolph: 0.5
Penalty Breakdown (Game)
Mason Cole: 1
Dan Moore Jr.: 1
James Daniels: 1
SACK BREAKDOWN (SEASON)
Dan Moore Jr.: 5.5
Mason Cole: 3.5
Coverage/Scheme: 3.5
Jaylen Warren: 3.0
Kenny Pickett: 2.5
Broderick Jones: 2.0
James Daniels: 2.0
Matt Canada: 1.5
Chukwuma Okorafor: 1.5
Mitch Trubisky: 1.5
Isaac Seumalo: 1.0
Receivers: 1.0
Najee Harris: 1.0
Nate Herbig: 0.5
Mason Rudolph: 0.5
PENALTY BREAKDOWN (SEASON – ACCEPTED PENALTIES ONLY)
Chukwuma Okorafor: 4
Mason Cole: 2
James Daniels: 2
Broderick Jones: 1
Isaac Seumalo: 1
Dan Moore Jr.: 1
