mesaSteeler
12-15-2009, 09:06 PM
http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/12/15/between-the-lines-steelers-o-line-left-confused-by-the-browns/
Between the Lines: Steelers O-Line Confused By Browns
o JJ Cooper
Coming into Thursday night's game no one could have predicted that the Browns would sack Ben Roethlisberger eight times. Cleveland had record only 24 sacks, two per game, in its first 12 games. And as a 1-11 team should do, they have turned over the roster so much that many of the players they would be counting on Thursday night weren't even on the team when the season began.
But that didn't matter. Three different Browns recorded their first career sacks against a Steelers offensive line that looked confused all night. On four of the eight sacks, Cleveland managed to get a rusher to Roethlisberger nearly untouched. On two of the sacks the blitzer was completely unblocked.
But the Browns didn't do that by sending kamikaze seven-man blitzes. Cleveland never sent more than five rushers on any of the eight sacks and they picked up two of the sacks while only sending three. Instead, they made a veteran offensive line that has started the same front five for all but one game this year look like a pickup group of replacement players.
Sack #1: Third and 1, 10:59 1Q.
The NFL Network commentators and analysts made a lot out of the Steelers' decision to come out in a passing formation on their first third and one of the game, but that's been Bruce Arians approach for much of the season. Pittsburgh came out with one receiver to the left and a bunch formation with two receivers and tight end Heath Miller to the right. The Steelers did have Rashard Mendenhall in the backfield as well to help with blitz pickup.
Cleveland didn't try to fool anyone. They lined up with five defensive linemen/linebackers at the line of scrimmage and sent all five of them. But you don't have to fool anyone when you can win the head-to-head battles at the line of scrimmage. Corey Williams faked a rush to center Justin Hartwig's left, then cut back to the right immediately getting a step on the center. From there, he had a clear run to the quarterback. Roethlisberger's first target appeared to be tight end Heath Miller, who tried to use Hines Ward and Mike Wallace's routes to clear out room just beyond the first-down marker. It would have worked well if Cleveland was playing zone, but against a matchup man, Miller was well covered and by the time he started to look for his next receiver, Williams was in his face. Blame this one on Justin Hartwig.
Sack # 2: Third and 3, 5:45 1Q.
Once again on third and relatively short, Pittsburgh took away any pretense of a run option. This time the Steelers emptied the backfield, flanking out Mendenhall and Miller as wide receivers in a five wide receiver look. Cleveland again sent five rushers. With five offensive linemen, the Steelers had the right number of blockers, but it's nearly impossible for an offensive lineman to account for a cornerback blitz coming from the outside, so Pittsburgh was left with one man coming unblocked. A corner blitz falls to the quarterback and receivers to recognize it. On a third and short play like this one, the usual response is to throw to the man who was left uncovered by the corner blitz. That was Mendenhall, but he didn't cut his route off, and instead ran to the sideline. That left him looking away from Roethlisberger as Hank Poteat came unblocked. By the time Mendenhall was looking back at Roethlisberger, Big Ben was already trying to dodge Poteat. It didn't work, and Poteat pulled him down for a second drive-killing sack. Blame this one on the play-call and miscommunication between the quarterback and receiver.
Sack #3: Third and 7, 15:00 2Q
The first three Browns sacks all came on third down, killing any chance the Steelers had of developing a rhythm. Once again Pittsburgh went with an empty backfield as Pittsburgh put four wide receivers (including Mendenhall and Miller) on the right and Santonio Holmes by himself on the left.
Cleveland sent only four rushers, all of which were standing at the line of scrimmage at the snap. So there was no reason for any confusion, but Willie Colon sure looked confused. No one was lined up head-up over Colon, but rookie linebacker Marcus Bernard was lined up with a hand on the ground to Colon's outside. At the snap Colon looked inside to block, where there was no one, leaving Bernard to run free for a way too easy first career sack. Roethlisberger never had a chance as Bernard was on him in just over two seconds. Blame Colon and confusion.
Sack #4: Second and 12, 5:29 2Q
Pittsburgh goes with three wide receivers, a single back and Heath Miller lined up on the right side of the line as a traditional tight end. Cleveland goes with a nickel package with two down linemen, four linebackers, all of whom are up at the line, and three cornerbacks all up in a pre-snap look of man press coverage. Just before the snap the Browns also walk the strong safety up to the line of scrimmage on Miller's side, so Cleveland has seven men at the line. With seven men at the line, Pittsburgh does not have the blockers to block everyone if Cleveland sends an all-out blitz (Heath Miller has been assigned a pass route, not a blocking responsibility). But it's unlikely Cleveland will send all seven. The key is for Pittsburgh to determine quickly which rushers are coming.
At the snap, strong safety Abram Elam comes hard on a blitz from the Steelers right. But running back Rashard Mendenhall heads to his left to pick up outside linebacker Jason Trusnik, who appears to be rushing from the Steelers left. When Trusnik quickly bails on his fake blitz and drops into zone coverage, Mendenhall is left blocking no one. The Browns have also done a good job of disguising their coverage. What had appeared to be press man coverage is actually a Cover 3 zone.
On the other side, center Justin Hartwig saw Elam coming off the corner and very quickly hurried outside to pick him up. It's a difficult assignment to ask a center to beat a safety in a race to the corner, but there's one bigger problem--right tackle Willie Colon has already picked up Elam. So Pittsburgh ends up blocking a safety with two 300+ pounders. Understandably they manhandle Elam, but Corey Williams is left unblocked to manhandle Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger deserves a little blame as well. Miller had flared out two yards downfield on the kind of route that works well as a dumpoff. As Roethlisberger's right foot hit at the end of his five-step drop, Miller appears to be open and Roethlisberger looks right at him. But he pump fakes, brings the ball back down and starts to look for something downfield at the time Williams wraps him up. Blame this one on miscommunication, although Roethlisberger didn't help out his struggling offensive line.
Between the Lines: Steelers O-Line Confused By Browns
o JJ Cooper
Coming into Thursday night's game no one could have predicted that the Browns would sack Ben Roethlisberger eight times. Cleveland had record only 24 sacks, two per game, in its first 12 games. And as a 1-11 team should do, they have turned over the roster so much that many of the players they would be counting on Thursday night weren't even on the team when the season began.
But that didn't matter. Three different Browns recorded their first career sacks against a Steelers offensive line that looked confused all night. On four of the eight sacks, Cleveland managed to get a rusher to Roethlisberger nearly untouched. On two of the sacks the blitzer was completely unblocked.
But the Browns didn't do that by sending kamikaze seven-man blitzes. Cleveland never sent more than five rushers on any of the eight sacks and they picked up two of the sacks while only sending three. Instead, they made a veteran offensive line that has started the same front five for all but one game this year look like a pickup group of replacement players.
Sack #1: Third and 1, 10:59 1Q.
The NFL Network commentators and analysts made a lot out of the Steelers' decision to come out in a passing formation on their first third and one of the game, but that's been Bruce Arians approach for much of the season. Pittsburgh came out with one receiver to the left and a bunch formation with two receivers and tight end Heath Miller to the right. The Steelers did have Rashard Mendenhall in the backfield as well to help with blitz pickup.
Cleveland didn't try to fool anyone. They lined up with five defensive linemen/linebackers at the line of scrimmage and sent all five of them. But you don't have to fool anyone when you can win the head-to-head battles at the line of scrimmage. Corey Williams faked a rush to center Justin Hartwig's left, then cut back to the right immediately getting a step on the center. From there, he had a clear run to the quarterback. Roethlisberger's first target appeared to be tight end Heath Miller, who tried to use Hines Ward and Mike Wallace's routes to clear out room just beyond the first-down marker. It would have worked well if Cleveland was playing zone, but against a matchup man, Miller was well covered and by the time he started to look for his next receiver, Williams was in his face. Blame this one on Justin Hartwig.
Sack # 2: Third and 3, 5:45 1Q.
Once again on third and relatively short, Pittsburgh took away any pretense of a run option. This time the Steelers emptied the backfield, flanking out Mendenhall and Miller as wide receivers in a five wide receiver look. Cleveland again sent five rushers. With five offensive linemen, the Steelers had the right number of blockers, but it's nearly impossible for an offensive lineman to account for a cornerback blitz coming from the outside, so Pittsburgh was left with one man coming unblocked. A corner blitz falls to the quarterback and receivers to recognize it. On a third and short play like this one, the usual response is to throw to the man who was left uncovered by the corner blitz. That was Mendenhall, but he didn't cut his route off, and instead ran to the sideline. That left him looking away from Roethlisberger as Hank Poteat came unblocked. By the time Mendenhall was looking back at Roethlisberger, Big Ben was already trying to dodge Poteat. It didn't work, and Poteat pulled him down for a second drive-killing sack. Blame this one on the play-call and miscommunication between the quarterback and receiver.
Sack #3: Third and 7, 15:00 2Q
The first three Browns sacks all came on third down, killing any chance the Steelers had of developing a rhythm. Once again Pittsburgh went with an empty backfield as Pittsburgh put four wide receivers (including Mendenhall and Miller) on the right and Santonio Holmes by himself on the left.
Cleveland sent only four rushers, all of which were standing at the line of scrimmage at the snap. So there was no reason for any confusion, but Willie Colon sure looked confused. No one was lined up head-up over Colon, but rookie linebacker Marcus Bernard was lined up with a hand on the ground to Colon's outside. At the snap Colon looked inside to block, where there was no one, leaving Bernard to run free for a way too easy first career sack. Roethlisberger never had a chance as Bernard was on him in just over two seconds. Blame Colon and confusion.
Sack #4: Second and 12, 5:29 2Q
Pittsburgh goes with three wide receivers, a single back and Heath Miller lined up on the right side of the line as a traditional tight end. Cleveland goes with a nickel package with two down linemen, four linebackers, all of whom are up at the line, and three cornerbacks all up in a pre-snap look of man press coverage. Just before the snap the Browns also walk the strong safety up to the line of scrimmage on Miller's side, so Cleveland has seven men at the line. With seven men at the line, Pittsburgh does not have the blockers to block everyone if Cleveland sends an all-out blitz (Heath Miller has been assigned a pass route, not a blocking responsibility). But it's unlikely Cleveland will send all seven. The key is for Pittsburgh to determine quickly which rushers are coming.
At the snap, strong safety Abram Elam comes hard on a blitz from the Steelers right. But running back Rashard Mendenhall heads to his left to pick up outside linebacker Jason Trusnik, who appears to be rushing from the Steelers left. When Trusnik quickly bails on his fake blitz and drops into zone coverage, Mendenhall is left blocking no one. The Browns have also done a good job of disguising their coverage. What had appeared to be press man coverage is actually a Cover 3 zone.
On the other side, center Justin Hartwig saw Elam coming off the corner and very quickly hurried outside to pick him up. It's a difficult assignment to ask a center to beat a safety in a race to the corner, but there's one bigger problem--right tackle Willie Colon has already picked up Elam. So Pittsburgh ends up blocking a safety with two 300+ pounders. Understandably they manhandle Elam, but Corey Williams is left unblocked to manhandle Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger deserves a little blame as well. Miller had flared out two yards downfield on the kind of route that works well as a dumpoff. As Roethlisberger's right foot hit at the end of his five-step drop, Miller appears to be open and Roethlisberger looks right at him. But he pump fakes, brings the ball back down and starts to look for something downfield at the time Williams wraps him up. Blame this one on miscommunication, although Roethlisberger didn't help out his struggling offensive line.