Between the Lines: It All Comes Down to Steelers Offensive Line

No greater authority than Mike Tomlin has admitted that the Steelers offensive line is the biggest question as the Steelers get ready for their seventh Super Bowl. Pittsburgh has an outstanding defense, a veteran quarterback and a solid group of receivers, but when it comes to the offensive line, the question is whether it could be one of the worst units to ever win Super Bowl rings.

Tomlin isn't going that far, but when asked about how the line has progressed this year, he didn't give them the standard coach-speak boilerplate about working hard and showing improvement every week:

"As far as I'm concerned, that's still the question as we sit here today," Tomlin answered.

It's the question that will likely determine whether the Steelers win or lose on Sunday. If the offensive line can force a stalemate with the Cardinals front seven, Pittsburgh will likely win. But if the Steelers can't open a few holes for Willie Parker, and give Ben Roethlisberger some time to throw, Arizona will likely win its first Lombardi Trophy.

So how did the Steelers get to this point? At the early part of the decade, the Steelers were considered to have one of the best offensive lines in the league. When the Steelers won the Super Bowl in early 2006, they had two first-round picks (Kendall Simmons and Alan Faneca) and three Pro Bowlers (Faneca, Marvel Smith and Jeff Hartings) on the line.

SACKS ALLOWED
Chris Kemoeatu	7
Willie Colon	6.5
Justin Hartwig	5
Max Starks	4.5
Mewelde Moore	4.5
Darnell Stapleton	4
Marvel Smith	3
Carey Davis	2
Willie Parker	1.5
Matt Spaeth	0.5
Play Call/QB	13.5

Because of that excellent line, the Steelers got the reputation as a mauling unit that could blow teams off the ball. You still hear about it when a television analyst who doesn't do their homework does a Steelers game.

Three years later, only one member of that line remains, and that member, Max Starks, is now the left tackle instead of the right tackle. Retirement (Hartings), injuries (Simmons and Smith) and free agency (Faneca) have gutted that line, and left in its place is a line consisting of a converted right tackle at left tackle (Starks), a strong but inconsistent left guard (Chris Kemoeatu), a solid if average veteran center (Justin Hartwig), an undrafted free agent at right guard (Darnell Stapleton) and one of the league's only 6-foot-3 tackles (Willie Colon).

The problems for the Steelers are relatively simple: their lineman are not particularly talented, and they struggle with keep straight their assignments, especially on blitz pickup. Other than that, everything is great.

For the Super Bowl, there are several weaknesses the Cardinals can try to take advantage of, and one of them fits very well with what the Cardinals do well themselves. Arizona likes to twist and loop its outside linebackers, using defensive ends as decoys to draw the offensive line's attention, hopefully allowing a linebacker to sneak in unnoticed. To combat this tactic, linemen have to keep their spacing, keep their head up and hand off slanting pass rushers to other linemen. It's not easy to do, and the Steelers are worse at it than most teams. So expect to see the Cardinals run multiple stunts and loops, especially in passing situations, where they see if guards Kemoeatu and Stapleton are on their game.

In going back and rewatching every sack the Steelers allowed this year, I tried to not only count them but also categorize them as to whether it was an assignment issue or a play where the linemen was simply physically beaten.

In Kemoeatu's case, four of his seven sacks allowed were blown assignments where he blocked the wrong man or failed to pick up a blitzer. In Stapleton's case two of his four sacks were blown assignments. So if the Cardinals are looking for confusion to help them, the guards are the linemen to attack.

But Arizona has another weak link it can attack in a more direct approach. Colon was physically beaten for 5.5 of his 6.5 sacks. If the Cardinals can get Bertrand Berry and Chike Okeafor on Colon one-on-one, that's a battle they can win.

There really isn't any spot on the offensive line where the Steelers have a solid anchor. Starks has been beaten for 4.5 sacks, four of which were plays where he was just beaten physically. But it's also worth noting that Mewelde Moore, the team's third down back, struggles in blitz pickup. He's very good at swinging out of the backfield for screens and other passes, but he struggles to figure out who to block in blitz pickup--2.5 of his 4.5 sacks allowed were assignment problems.

In the run game, Stapleton and Hartwig are actually pretty solid. Hartwig has handled Shaun Rogers and Jamaal Williams, so Gabe Watson won't give him too many problems. Stapleton lacks much power, but he takes good angles and is quick on his feet--that matches up with Darnell Dockett's strengths and weaknesses pretty well. Kemoeatu can destroy linemen and linebackers when he sets his feet properly, but his problems with blowing assignments and footwork issues sometimes keep him from being as good as he should be. Colon is a guard playing tackle, but that does mean he is OK in run blocking.