Steelers offensive line’s run-blocking ‘below par’

After an early strong start to the season in the running game, the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t getting results from their run-blockers.

The men who take on the bulk of those responsibilities recognize the problem, too.

“They’re spinning the bit,” offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett said of his unit’s recent failings in run-blocking. “They know it. It starts at the top. We were below par on all of it. That’s something these guys take great pride in and the coaches take great pride in, you know. We’re the same way. We’re just going to keep working at it. We’re going to make it better. We have to get better at it. They know we have to get better at it. The players know. They spend as much time watching film as anybody else. It’s just one of those deals. Like you just said, jelling early. It happens sometimes. We just have to keep working.”

The Steelers have totaled 188 rushing yards over their past three games, an average of 62.7 per contest, while averaging 3.2 per carry.

For perspective, over the full season that would rank the Steelers last in the NFL in yards per carry and per game.

Even while taking into account the Steelers had a 100-plus yard individual rusher in four of their first five games, they have fallen to 19th in the NFL in rushing yards per game and 23rd in yards per carry,

The subjective data and more advanced metrics paint an even uglier picture. Pro Football Focus rates the line as the league’s second-worst in run blocking. Footballoutsiders.com pegs the Steelers as the sixth-worst in the NFL in “Adjusted line yards,” a metric that takes into account the length of carries, down, distance, situation, opponent and the difference in rushing average between shotgun compared to standard formations.

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