Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Dan Moore Jr. Started out the season as arguably Pittsburgh’s best offensive lineman, holding his own as a pass blocker while putting together respectable play as a run blocker. However, during Pittsburgh’s four-game losing streak, Moore’s play on the field has dropped off, surrendering multiple pressures and sacks to several playoff-caliber teams.
However, Moore’s recent struggles came to a head last night against the Cincinnati Bengals, experiencing his own rendition of the novel Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day against Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
THE FILM
Hendrickson came into Saturday night’s game in good position to finish at the top of the league in sacks, having 14 heading into the matchup with Pittsburgh. Hendrickson managed to rack up 3.5 sacks in the contest, comfortably extending his lead after having a heyday against Moore at left tackle.
Hendrickson’s first sack of the night came on Pittsburgh’s first drive of the game with the Steelers facing third down. Moore gets out of his stance and latches onto Hendrickson who attempts to beat more on a bull rush first. Moore keeps Hendrickson from getting the corner, so Hendrickson counters inside.
Moore adjusts to the inside counter, but overcorrects, getting off-balance as Hendrickson sheds the blocks and corrals QB Russell Wilson in the pocket for the sack. This play isn’t just on Moore as Wilson experiences a collapsed pocket shortly after taking the snap, but Moore needs to play with a better base to redirect with the rush to stay in-front of his man.
On Pittsburgh’s last drive before the half, Moore allowed another sack to Hendrickson, this time having it split between him and fellow edge rusher Joseph Ossai. On this play, Moore receives help from TE Pat Freiermuth on a chip before Freiermuth goes out into his route.
However, Moore is slow to adjust to Hendrickson coming off the chip, having Hendrickson rip right through Moore’s inside shoulder as Moore becomes a turnstile, allowing Hendrickson into the pocket to team up with Ossai for the sack.
The next two sacks that Moore allowed against Hendrickson came late in the fourth quarter as Pittsburgh was attempting to regain the lead. The clip below shows Pittsburgh driving into Bengals’ territory with the offense facing second-and-nine.
Moore gets out of his stance on the snap, but Hendrickson executes a cross chop/rip combo on Moore, cleanly beating the left tackle around the corner as Moore fails to get a hand on Hendrickson to stall his rush as Hendrickson rounds the corner into the pocket and sacks Wilson, putting Pittsburgh at third-and-long where they would settle for a Chris Boswell field goal.
Moore’s last sack allowed on the night came as Pittsburgh got the ball back with less than two minutes left in the game to get inside field goal range. On second-and-six on their own 45-yard-line, Wilson drops back to pass as Moore faces off with Hendrickson again. Hendrickson executes a clean rip move on Moore as Moore immediately turns his shoulders on the corner, allowing Hendrickson to rip all the way around the edge and right into Wilson who attempts to flee the pocket for the back-breaking sack.
Despite pitching a shut out against Hendrickson in the first meeting with Cincinnati, Moore gave up probably his worst performance of the season against the likely 2024 NFL sack leader. Moore’s poor performance was just an aspect of the offense’s struggles as a whole all night, as the unit couldn’t seem to find a rhythm for the fourth-straight week.
With Moore slated to hit free agency after the season, his recent performance against the Bengals may raise questions whether or not Pittsburgh should try to bring him back. He has become a serviceable starting tackle, but the inability to close out big games against some of the NFL’s best pass rushers may make it hard for Pittsburgh to justify giving him a notable contract extension this offseason.
