By Mark Kaboly, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 20, 2011
When Ben Roethlisberger looks around at his play-making receivers, his 1,000-yard running back and his pass-catching tight end, he knows that the sky is the limit for the Steelers' offense.
If the first two preseason games are any indication, the sky isn't going to be Roethlisberger's limit — that just may be the offensive line's ability to keep him upright.
While the still work-in-progress offensive line performed well during Thursday's 24-14 preseason win over Philadelphia by running for 144 yards, the pass protection left much to be desired.
And Roethlisberger has been taking the brunt of it, getting hit nearly 50 percent of the time he's dropped back to pass in two preseason games.
"We have been working on (pass protection) a lot," Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey said. "We missed a lot during OTAs and minicamp, but that can't be an excuse. Guys who have been around the whole offense have to go out there and practice every day and get better."
It's hard to imagine they can get much worse when it comes to pass protection.
Read more: Steelers' offensive line struggling with pass - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_752551.html#ixzz1VYHr2otg
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It's news that our O-line sucks at pass blocking? My response to that is
OK, not to instantly turn this into an anti-Bruce Arians thread, but I think this needs to be said. I'm going to bash him but then take some blame off of him.
Under Cowher, the Steelers were a run-oriented team. They were built for running the ball. When Arias became OC, he instantly tried to turn us into a passing team. We had the QB, but our O-line was built for run blocking, not pass blocking. Rather than changing his strategy to utilize the players he had, Arians stubbornly stuck with his philosophy and has nearly gotten Ben killed.
But over the past several seasons, the front office hasn't gone out and gotten linemen who are geared more toward pass blocking. Drafting where we do every year, we're not going to get many stud linemen. We lucked out having Pouncey fall to us. Although I remember most Steelers fans criticized the pick.
With the success we've had the past few decades, it's rare we'll be able to draft a lineman like Pouncey, so our only other option is free agency. With the weapons we've assembled at QB and WR, it's clear that we're a pass-first team. Yet the front office hasn't made much of an effort to bring in free-agent linemen to fit the system. Just as we aren't going to land studs in the draft, we aren't going to be able to afford the studs in free agency. But there has to be some affordable linemen out there who are better at pass blocking than what we have now.
So is it Arians' fault? Is it the front office's fault? Or could it be Ben's fault?
The Steelers are clearly Ben's team. And he's loyal almost to a fault. During the Super Bowl 43 season, our O-line was getting Ben killed, and people criticized them all season. After winning the Super Bowl, the first thing Ben said was: "Who's laughing now, O-line?" Ben clearly loves his guys, and I wonder if he's had a say in keeping some of them around. Just a thought.