Steelers’ O-line beaten in all three phases

By Robert Rousseau  |   Tuesday, September 23, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

Pittsburgh Steelers
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To be honest, the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive line had one of the worst days you’ll see from an NFL team this season during their 15-6 loss to the Eagles on Sunday. You’d think that the safety and the nine sacks Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson's bunch accumulated might tell the whole story.

Not even close. The fact is that it was a rare passing play in which Ben Roethlisberger was able to drop back and not run for his life or get hammered within an inch of losing it. Heck, on top of it all was the fact that Big Ben lost two fumbles as a result of the Eagles' immense pressure.

It didn’t help, of course, that the line wasn’t able to get any movement on the Eagles’ defensive front on running plays, either. Truth is, Pittsburgh's offensive line couldn’t block Eagles defenders on running or passing plays.

All told, Steelers running back Willie Parker had only 20 yards on 13 carries, reinforcing this notion.

But perhaps the worst of it was the fact that the unit simply seemed unprepared at times. Johnson, who's known for his complex blitzing schemes, had the Steelers on their heels the entire game.

"They had a great scheme," Steelers receiver Hines Ward said. "We didn't have all 11 guys on the same page. They had our whole offense confused at times."

In the end, the Steelers' offensive line was beat in all phases of the game -- mentally by missing blocks and making mistakes, physically in the running game and physically in the passing game -- and that’s simply terrible news for Pittsburgh. In fact, the performance probably has some wondering whether deciding to forgo the selection of an O-lineman in the first two rounds of April's draft was a good idea. Remember, the Steelers' blocking struggles aren't really anything new; this is a team that let Roethlisberger get sacked 47 times in 2007.

Of course, the unit's poor performance could compel it to bigger and better things the rest of this season; maybe not, though.

Bottom line: If Roethlisberger continues getting drilled by opposing defenders, he'll suffer a lot more than a hand injury.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or...
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