Steelers Four Downs: No matter the method, offensive line rating among worst in NFL
1. The line is offensive
Fans complain about it. The playcalling appears handcuffed by it. Troy Aikman seemed incredulous by it.
And the number-crunchers agree: the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line is one of the worst in the NFL. Fourteen games into the 2021 season, sample-size is no longer an issue, and any early jitters or inexperience by rookies should have by now been mitigated. In other words, the Steelers’ line, at this point, is what it is. And what it is is not very good.
A sampling of respected outlets that delve into analytics:
• ESPN ranks the Steelers 30th among the NFL’s 32 teams in “pass block win rate” (50%) and 31st in “run block win rate.”
• Footballoutsiders.com ranks the Steelers 31st in “adjusted line yards” in the running game. Their breakdown of the run-blocking further shows it’s ugly across the board: 30th in “second-level yards,” 30th in “open-field yards” and 20th in “stuffed rate.” Footballoutsiders.com’s metrics for pass-blocking don’t go as in-depth, but they do rank the Steelers respectably in that area (12th in adjusted sack rate).
• Pro Football Focus’ grades are a little more subjective, yet still aren’t very complimentary to the Steelers’ offensive line in regards to run-blocking (27th in the NFL). They do grade the Steelers out as the 13th-best in pass-blocking.
• But that the best numbers that can be found still remain outside of the top 10 probably relays all that needs to be said about the Steelers’ offensive line this season.
Using basic statistics, the Steelers are 31st in the NFL in rushing yards per game (84.6), 30th in yards per carry (3.6). and tied for 19th in sacks allowed (33).
2. K.C. cooking
The Steelers opened up as significant underdogs for Sunday’s game at the Kansas City Chiefs. But historically, Arrowhead Stadium has been one of their favorite places to play.
The Steelers have won 12 of their 18 games (including playoffs) at the Kansas City venue, good for a .667 winning percentage that is tied for the best of any NFL team. The Steelers and Indianapolis Colts (10-5 at the Chiefs) are the only opponents to have a winning record at Kansas City. Only two other teams (the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee/Houston franchise) are even .500 in road games against the Chiefs all-time.
The only teams with more wins in K.C. than the Steelers over the more than five-decade history of Chiefs football are the three that currently share a division with them and therefore play at the Chiefs every year: the Chargers (22 wins), Raiders (20) and Broncos (20).
The Steelers have won their past two at Arrowhead (which this year was officially renamed “GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium”) — a divisional-round playoff game at the end of the 2016 season and again nine months later during a 2017 regular-season meeting.
3. No fumbles
Najee Harris leads the NFL in at least two categories: most touches and fewest fumbles. That’s a notable combination.
The Steelers running back has 249 carries and 62 receptions through 14 games of his rookie season. Only one other player among the top 20 of the NFL in touches has not fumbled — and that player, the New Orleans Saints’ Alvin Kamara, has 89 fewer touches. Harris is one of only five players who have at least 150 touches (less than half his amount) who have not fumbled in 2021.
For Harris, that’s just more of the same. Several published reports have noted he had only one fumble in 719 touches at Alabama. That means that since high school in 69 games and 1,030 touches that Harris has fumbled less than 0.001% of the times he’s had the ball in a game.
4. Defensively clean
The Steelers’ defense has its issues, but one area it doesn’t is in avoiding penalties. According to nflpenalties.com, only two teams (the Denver Broncos and New York Giants) defensively have been penalized fewer yards than the Steelers (216 through 14 games). Only four team’s defenses have been penalized on fewer occasions than the Steelers (26).
Breaking it down by infraction, no team has had more accepted penalties for defensive pass interference (three) than the Steelers.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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