Steelers' Offensive Line Grinding in Run Game, but Pass Protection Still Concern

There’s nothing like a road showdown on Monday Night Football against a two-win team to bring out the best, and worst of the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive line. A 27-24 win over the Tennessee Titans might not feel like a huge win, but this victory puts the Steelers back into second place in the highly competitive AFC North going into the bye week.

However, the way the victory played out was a bit puzzling. It appeared as if the Steelers' offensive line was doing its very best Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde impersonation. It made for an exciting, albeit infuriating game for Steelers fans.

When it came to the passing game, the Steelers' offensive line really struggled, a fact confirmed in stats shared by ESPN Monday Night:

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Titans - 5 sacks Steelers - 0 sacks #MNF pic.twitter.com/ClSxhJ4Nsb

— ESPN Monday Night (@ESPNMondayNight) November 18, 2014"

Of those five sacks, two of them were at the hands of rookie inside linebacker Avery Williamson. Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton sent waves and waves of A-Gap blitzes at the Steelers' offensive front, and there seemed to be one man running free on just about every play.

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Fellow inside linebacker Wesley Woodyard chipped in another .5 sack, further illustrating just how poorly the interior offensive line accounted for the middle pressure the Titans were dialing up.

Off the edges, the Steelers tackles did a whole lot of bending and kinda breaking. Typically, tackles Marcus Gilbert and Kelvin Beachum are the prime offenders when Roethlisberger is taking hits. Against the Titans, things were slightly better. Outside linebackers Quentin Groves and Shaun Phillips each notched a sack using strong outside pressures.

However, let’s not put all this at the feet of the offensive line. Dale Lolley of the Washington (Pa.) Observer-Reporter highlighted Roethlisberger's actions:

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Roethlisberger had all day long and ran himself into a third down sack

— Dale Lolley (@dlolleyor) November 18, 2014"

If there is anything Roethlisberger is guilty of it is holding onto the football as long as possible in hopes of making a throw. It’s as if he would rather take the sack, hoping to get the big play than give up on the play a second sooner and throw it away. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh lives and dies with Big Ben’s style and traditionally it has paid off.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t all bad news. For all the problems the offensive line had with pass protection, it more than made up for in the run game. Running back Le’Veon Bell was the focal point of this offense to the tune of 204 yards on 33 carries. That’s old-school NFL football right there. And it wasn’t just pounding at the Titans. Bell was gashing the Tennessee defense, noted in his stats, provided by Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

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Bell had eight runs of 10 or more yards against the Titans, five in the second half.

— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) November 18, 2014"

As a former offensive lineman, I can vouch for the fact that most offensive linemen prefer to run block as opposed to pass protect. With the way the Titans were blitzing, it played right into the hands of offensive line coach Mike Munchak and his plan to use zone runs and counters to give his linemen a chance to chip and seal on the aggressive Titans defenders.

If you love watching a lineman do his thing, look at how guard David DeCastro did work in the second half of Monday’s game. Whether he was pulling (which he might be the best in the league at) or swallowing up a linebacker on the second level, he just kept on winning, and Bell kept on running inside. ESPN Stats & Info highlighted Bell's running:

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The Titans probably figured out which direction @L_Bell26 was running... but they still couldn't stop him pic.twitter.com/45CJk6aGXx

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 18, 2014"

In turn, when the run game had traction, the passing offense improved as a result. Teams can’t just tee off on Roethlisberger when the threat of Bell breaking off long runs is ever-present. There might be instances where it works the other way, but after Monday’s performance, does anyone doubt that this team can revolve around Bell and the run game?

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Moving forward, this game is a blueprint for the remainder of the season. Feed Bell and let the passing game develop off that. An interesting stat that backs this up is that Bell only had five carries in the second quarter on Monday—a quarter that saw Tennessee outscore the Steelers 10-0.

Obviously, the Steelers would love more balance from their offensive line. However, it is pretty clear that this group can be overwhelmed in pass protection. The Steelers are going to want to give serious consideration this offseason to upgrading the tackles; however, for now this team is 7-4, and the offensive line got Bell back on track.