Once seen as liability, Steelers offensive line has been driving force late in season

Soon after he accepted the Chief Award, given to the Pittsburgh Steelers player most cooperative with media, Mason Cole cheekily made note of his experience with reporters as his first year with the team progressed.

“The questions seem to have gotten a lot easier as the season has gone on,” said Cole, the team’s veteran starting center.

Cole was referring to his position group being an obvious target for probing questions befitting a unit that had been highly criticized by fans throughout the preseason and early portions of the regular season.

Remember the preseason game at the Jacksonville Jaguars? The one in which then-starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky was seemingly under siege throughout the first half, and the running backs combined for 10 yards on 10 carries?

At that point, many who follow the team believed the offensive line would continue to be a significant weakness that could hold back the entire offense while simultaneously stunting the growth of future franchise quarterback Kenny Pickett (if, the thinking went, they didn’t get Pickett injured first).

A funny thing has happened since those dog days of late summer. When the stretch drive of the regular season arrived, the O-line became a strength.

“Thinking back to standing out here in the preseason after a game when the O-line was labeled as they were, I think of the way they’ve come together and the job they’ve done,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said. “You win up front. That’s the fact of life. I think there’s a great credit to them for what they’ve done.”

The line was the first place Canada gave credit when asked about the improvement of the overall offense late in the season.

Since the bye week, the Steelers are averaging 4.3 yards per carry and 146.3 yards per game rushing and have allowed an average of 2.0 sacks per game. Those rushing numbers are up almost a half yard per carry and more than 50 yards per game all while allowing, on average, a full sack fewer per game.

“We just have guys that really just care about getting better,” right guard James Daniels said, “and that’s all they do every day is they come in and think about how they can help, how they can be a better employee of the Steelers organization.”

Daniels and Cole are five-year NFL veterans who signed with the Steelers in March as free agents. Each has been an upgrade at his position, but the holdover starters on the unit, likewise, have been better in 2022. Kevin Dotson won a training-camp competition against Kendrick Green to start at left guard, Dan Moore is a year wiser after being a rookie fourth-round pick starting at left tackle in 2021 and Chuks Okorafor is in Year 3 as the Steelers starting right tackle.

All five have started all 16 games this season — a rarity for an offensive line in the NFL — and coach Mike Tomlin attributed that yearlong cohesion to the unit’s upward trajectory.

“A collective like that, where cohesion is significant, not having a lot of lack of availability within the collective is significant for collective growth,” Tomlin said.

Statistical quantitative evaluation of an offensive line is never easy, but ESPN does calculate “blocking win rates” for linemen (and defensive players). Led by Daniels ranking as the seventh-best guard and Cole the 10th-best center in the category, the Steelers are the fifth-best offensive line in the NFL at pass block win rate.

ESPN ranks the Steelers 16th in run-block win rate. Footballoutsiders.com calculates that the Steelers have been the best in the NFL this season in converting short-yardage runs (defined as third or fourth down with 1 or 2 yards to go). The Steelers also have the sixth-best rate of fewest runs for zero or negative yards.

Since the start of December, the Steelers have allowed a total of five sacks in five games. The running game produced 198 yards during this past Sunday’s win at the Baltimore Ravens.

“I remember back in the preseason,” Daniels said Thursday, “someone asked me a question, and I said, ‘We’re not worried about peaking in August, because if you play your best ball in August or September … or even early the early part of December … you’re not going to be a very good offensive line and not be a very good team.’

“We knew — I knew — the guys would be focused on improvement, and that’s what we’ve done. To me, it’s no surprise.”

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.