In training camp, protecting the quarterback is easy. They’re off-limits. Can’t be touched, hit, or sacked. Step inside a stadium and it’s a whole new world. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were under constant siege in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills Saturday night. Combined, both quarterbacks were sacked four times, hit 10 times, and had little time to do anything meaningful in the pocket behind a Steelers o-line that didn’t get the job done.
“We didn’t do a good enough job of protecting the quarterback,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “We gotta do a better job in pass protection than we did. Not only in possession downs, but just in general. And I was really up front with the group about it in that regard. That can’t be a problem for us. We gotta be better than we were tonight in that area.”
“Do a better job” is an understatement. Combined with facing third and longs, Wilson didn’t have much time in the pocket. OT Broderick Jones was the weakest link, allowing two sacks and a pressure in the first half, struggling through an elbow injury and bulky brace on his right arm that seem to be hindering his play. Declining to meet with media post-game, he told reporters he was meeting with team doctors instead.
But Jones was far from the only guilty party. Most of Pittsburgh’s starting front five remained with Wilson through the first five series, though LG Isaac Seumalo was pulled out midway through.
With less mobility than Fields, Wilson had little chance to extend plays. The few times the o-line held up, no one got open. OC Arthur Smith dialed up one max protect play-action, calls that worked last week, but the two-man route combination got no one free and Wilson ate the ball for a short loss.
Fields offered more of a spark, using his legs to escape the pocket and make plays. He hit TE MyCole Pruitt and WR Dez Fitzpatrick on scramble drills, the latter a terrific play to avoid a sack and move the sticks.
But he felt constant pressure. Finishing the game behind the third-team o-line, RT Anderson Hardy was beat and gave up a sack on the first play of Pittsburgh’s final drive. After the game, Fields echoed Tomlin’s sentiment he shared with the o-line and presumably, the entire team.
“They know that we have to be better up front. Coach T made that statement after the game so like I said, there’s room for all of us to be better. Me included.”
The only bright spot up front might’ve been rookie center Zach Frazier, likely the team’s Week 1 starter given his play and Nate Herbig’s shoulder injury. While preseason returns don’t always align with regular-season results, it’s a discouraging sign given the investments the front office have put into the front five under GM Omar Khan.
