One of my absolute favorite movies from my college years -- and well beyond -- is 'What About Bob?'
Richard Dreyfuss plays Doctor Leo Marvin, a self-absorbed psychotherapist, while Bill Murray plays the part of Bob Wylie to perfection in a hilarious film.
Where am I going with this? Well, Murray’s character needs ... let’s just say, a lot of work in order to be able to function anywhere close to a normal level in society. Doctor Marvin has his hands full to accomplish this goal. His therapy is centered around making positive “Baby Steps" -- small little wins and improvements that eventually lead to major strides forward. And as you can see here, Murray’s character eats it up:
Well, you might not see it yet, and it isn’t overly obvious to the naked eye, but believe it or not, the Steelers' offensive line is very much making baby steps in the right direction. In fact, I think it is now in the “Below Average” category rather than “Just Plain Awful."
Baby steps, folks, baby steps.
Remember the preseason game in Jacksonville when the Steelers' offensive line couldn’t block a soul? That was the top offensive linemen for a high number of preseason snaps, and it was about as bad of a performance as you will see by an NFL offensive line. But there is context at play with that game.
As you might have noticed, Jacksonville has built a very good defensive front -- something that has translated for them in the regular season. Also, and probably more importantly, in that game, the Steelers didn’t help their line at all. That was on purpose. It was the preseason. A win is nice, but not the main goal. The goal was to get better.
So, what did the Steelers do? They left guys like Dan Moore on an island against much more talented players so he could learn and improve. If that were a regular season game, no way does Mike Tomlin watch his left tackle on an island getting beat time and time again without giving some assistance. Also, at that point, there were a lot of new parts to this offensive line, and we all knew back then that gelling and coming together was not going to happen overnight in terms of continuity and communication.
Remember, baby steps.
The following week against the Lions to finish up the preseason was better, and although Jacksonville’s defensive line (except for Aiden Hutchinson) is far more talented, the Steelers' line took a baby step forward against Detroit.
That carried over to their opening day game in Cincinnati. Mitch Trubisky was sacked once against the Bengals and the Steelers averaged 3.4 yards per rush. Last week against New England, Trubisky was sacked three times and the Steelers rushed for 4.1 yards per carry. Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, though.
The Steelers' two opponents thus far are also very important in this equation. More so than most defenses.
New England and Cincinnati stress size and power up front more so than explosive up-the-field types of defensive linemen. Their ends are big power players who excel against the run and force things inside. Their defensive tackles are throwback types.
The Bengals and Patriots aren’t exactly looking for Casey Hampton and Vince Wilfork, but their requirements at defensive tackle aren’t all that far off from those two all-time great pure nose tackles. Cincinnati and New England want beef and they have far more than most teams.
It is very difficult to back up offensive line analysis just with stats. And frankly, while I respect advanced metrics a great deal, like ESPN’s offensive line win rate numbers and everything Pro Football Focus does to determine grades for offensive linemen, it must be noted that those handing out grades don’t have a detailed knowledge of any NFL team’s protection schemes or every player’s exact responsibility on every pass or run play.
But there are some numbers that stand out in this equation. ESPN’s team pass-rush win rate has the Bengals as their seventh best pass-rushing team. Remember discussing the Jaguars actually now having a good defensive front? Well, they are currently third in this metric. New England’s team run defense comes in at ninth for ESPN.
While those rankings aren’t startling, this might blow you away: ESPN has the Steelers' pass blocking win rate tied for 10th in the league with Tampa Bay. Much less surprising is that the Steelers' run blocking ranking currently comes in at 23rd. Pro Football Focus has the Steelers' pass protection at seventh and run blocking ranked 19th.
Cincinnati’s DJ Reader, who is a menace against the run, also happens to rank third in ESPN’s interior defensive line pass-rush metric in 2022, and Trey Hendrickson is seventh amongst edge rushers. The Patriots' Deatrich Wise is third in their edge defender run stop rate and Davon Godchaux is eighth amongst interior defensive linemen.
Reader is in contention for the NFL’s most underrated player at any position. Here is a great example of what a special player the Bengals have in the middle of their defensive line.
Chukwuma Okorafor is 10th amongst all NFL offensive tackles in ESPN’s pass blocking metric. James Daniels is second (second!!!) amongst all guards. Not surprisingly, the Steelers don’t have any offensive linemen in the top 10 at tackle, guard, or center in their run blocking win rate. The Steelers' run blocking is far more worrisome than their pass protection.
As for Pro Football Focus, Okorafor is currently their fourth-ranked offensive tackle overall, behind only Andrew Thomas, Rashawn Slater and Laremy Tunsil, all former early first-round picks with immense physical talent.
While Okorafor doesn’t pancake anyone on this particular play, it is an excellent example of his athletic ability:
Okorafor shows great initial quickness, as well as agility and balance in the open field, influencing two different defensive backs (much smaller/quicker/athletic football players) from not being able to make a play on Zach Gentry on this tight end screen play for a big Steelers gain.
Amongst guards, Kevin Dotson and Daniels are tied as the 19th best guards in the league right now, with Daniels as their third-best guard in pass protection.
Few seemed to notice, but all three played quite well against the Patriots, and there is a very strong argument now to suggest that Okorafor, Dotson and Daniels are foundational players for years to come.
But what about the challenge coming on Thursday night?
Myles Garrett is ESPN’s third-ranked edge defender in win rate on passing plays, behind only Micah Parsons and Von Miller. Jadeveon Clowney won’t play in this game, but he ranks fifth in ESPN’s pass-rush metric. The Browns, as a team, rank second, behind only Arizona in team pass-rush win rate.
But here is the key: Do you really think the Steelers are going to ask Dan Moore to block Garrett one-on-one? Of course not. That would be coaching malpractice at the highest of levels, especially on called pass plays. We should all be highly critical of Tomlin and company if Garrett isn’t dealing with an obstacle course's worth of blockers on his way to Trubisky, while the Steelers leave Okorafor -- usually on an island -- on the opposite side.
Najee Harris or Jaylen Warren, both of whom are excellent young pass protectors for the running back position, will usually be aligned to Garrett’s side of the formation -- usually to Trubisky’s blind side.
The Steelers also should ask Gentry to increase his snaps for this game. Their best blocking tight end, Gentry also should see an awful lot of Garrett.
The Steelers might also ask Connor Heyward to come at Garrett in unorthodox manners as a movement blocker from unsuspecting angles.
From where this front-five was not so long ago, getting to “Below Average” is a huge win for where this group is right now. Few Steelers fans seem to realize it, or are willing to give the offensive line some credit, but the line just might not be the biggest reason for the ineptitude on this side of the ball.
This offseason, the Steelers could/should go all in via the draft or free agency for a left tackle and center. This line and offense as a whole at that point could look dramatically different and much better with Kenny Pickett behind center with a much more talented front-five and an exceptional group of young weapons.
But in the meantime, folks: Baby steps.
