Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Line Powers Improved Rushing Attack

One thing was very clear in the Pittsburgh Steelers' 42-21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The offensive line came to play and wanted to set the tone. This group paved the way for running back Le’Veon Bell to rush for 185 yards and kept quarterback Ben Roethlisberger clean all game long.

Much like last season, when the Steelers closed out going 6-2, this late-season surge can be attributed to improved offensive line play. This group is averaging 4.5 yards per carry and getting better each week. You can really see the mark that offensive line coach Mike Munchak is having on this group.

Frank Victores/Associated Press

In addition, in recent weeks the Steelers have also added a new and deadly wrinkle to their rushing attack. Whereas earlier in the year, Bell was getting much of his yardage from the zone run plays where Bell stayed back and waited for the blocking to set up, only to pick his spot and burst through the hole.

However, recently the Steelers have turned back the clock a little with the good, old-fashioned Counter OF. The OF in Counter OF stands for: O=offensive guard and F=fullback. For the Steelers, that means offensive guard David DeCastro, and the “fullback” in this set is actually tight end Heath Miller.

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

The Counter OF out of a power set is one of the most fundamental plays in all of football, and Sunday against the Bengals, the Steelers ran it to perfection.

By my count, the Steelers ran the Counter OF to the left out of that power set 11 times out of 26 carries for Bell, including both of his touchdowns. Cincinnati never unraveled the mystery of how to defend it, but with the way the Pittsburgh offensive line was executing, it might not have mattered.

Bleacher Report’s own Matt Bowen commented on the execution of the Counter OF by the Steelers. 

"

@T_Miragliotta The Steelers run Counter OF as well as any team in the league.

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) December 8, 2014"

Let’s take a closer look at the Steelers offensive line and the success of the Counter OF.

NFL Game Rewind

Here is the formation that the Bengals defense was seeing in their nightmares Sunday night. Pittsburgh brings Miller across the formation in motion, which, as you see, forces the linebacker to start toward the line of scrimmage before the snap. It didn’t matter how many times the Steelers ran this, the Bengals were never able to account for the counteraction coming back across the formation.

Looking forward to the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday, and the rematch against the Bengals, this formation offers the Steelers a great opportunity to run play action to wide receiver Antonio Brown at the bottom of the screen. In this case, the Bengals are in Cover 1, with a single-high safety.

The next time the Steelers play the Bengals, you have to assume that safety is going to shade the run, and Brown will be singled up with very little help.

NFL Game Rewind

Now we take a look at what happens at the snap. DeCastro pulls and seals the inside edge. Miller follows behind him and is the lead blocker for Bell. Depending on which way Miller seals determines which way Bell is going to go. This is a decision made easier by Steelers fullback Will Johnson, whom I’ve highlighted.

Johnson is one of the most underrated blockers on the team, and he must get to the second level creating a lane for Bell to run through. We’ve all marveled at Bell’s vision and patience on all those zone runs, but this type of play really highlights his agility and burst.

The improvement this offensive line has shown in recent weeks in the run game is tremendous. And it is just what the doctor ordered as Pittsburgh prepares its playoff push.