While the Pittsburgh Steelers allowed Myles Garrett to record three sacks in a 24-19 loss to the Cleveland Browns, don’t point the finger at Dan Moore Jr. At least that’s what OC Arthur Smith seemed to be saying yesterday. Two of Garrett’s sacks came lined up against Moore, but assigning blame isn’t that simple. After all, our own Ross McCorkle came to the same conclusion days ago.
“There was a couple plays where we obviously didn’t execute the plan. We didn’t leave him by himself. I think there was two quick gains where we did. Everything else, we had help”, Smith said, via the Steelers’ media relations department. “All three of those plays, you got chip help over there—was it clean? No. It’s not on Dan [Moore]. There was two of them where we’ve got to help him. We’ve got to be where we’re supposed to be”.
So let’s walk through Myles Garrett’s three first-half sacks against the Steelers and what Arthur Smith said about them and Dan Moore. He cited substitution issues on the first one, which left the Steelers using Jaylen Warren lined up off-tackle to try to chip. Garrett easily knifed through that, and I think we can safely say this didn’t exactly go according to plan. It didn’t help that Isaac Seumalo was collapsing into Russell Wilson’s lap, either, leaving no bailout lane.
Smith also said of that play that they needed somebody to get open, and they didn’t. To that point, the sack did take about three seconds. There has to be some read there to get the ball out—maybe to Jaylen Warren after chipping Garrett.
On the second sack, Arthur Smith cited interior pressure preventing Wilson from stepping up. The Steelers gave Dan Moore a slight chip on Myles Garrett here from Darnell Washington. It wasn’t much, however. With Seumalo collapsing again, this time Wilson did have an escape lane. Garrett just made a great play to reach around and tap the ball loose. It’s “not really all on Dan there”, Smith said.
And, of course, the last sack had nothing to do with Moore. Not only did Garrett line up on the offensive right side on that play, he also stunted inside, working against C Zach Frazier. Smith did say the Steelers overslid to compensate for his late stunt. But, again, a play where they “really need to get the ball out”.
I don’t think Steelers fans necessarily need to be sitting down to hear that Russell Wilson sometimes holds onto the ball. The only times he seems to throw the ball away are in the red zone. But I do think Smith is right here in saying that the blame isn’t all on Moore.
For one thing, Smith made it very clear that the Steelers’ plan was to give Moore a lot of help. When you set anticipating help, you’re going to play the block differently. That’s what happened to Jermaine Eluemenor against T.J. Watt some weeks back. Now, the Steelers got their chips in these cases, but they weren’t executed as intended. And if you plan to slow Myles Garrett down by chipping him, make sure you chip him.
