Tim Benz: Steelers putting the 'offensive' back in 'offensive line' when it comes to pass protection

A complaint you often hear from linemen who play in pass-heavy offenses like the Pittsburgh Steelers is that they don’t get to be aggressive enough.

If a team doesn’t run the ball very much, the offensive linemen aren’t firing off the line of scrimmage and attacking the defensive lineman on the other side. If you are constantly pass blocking, you tend to drift back and give ground and are simply protecting, instead of initiating.

But this year, the Steelers offensive line is looking to change that under new offensive line coach Pat Meyer. And that doesn’t mean just running the ball more often. That means being more assertive in their pass protection techniques.

“Definitely in the pass game it is going to be a little more aggressive when it comes to O-line play,” guard Kevin Dotson said. “We’re more in attacking mode than we were in the past. How we were usually sitting back, we’re more attacking. … We weren’t supposed to be passive anyway. But this is a little more head-on, hands-on type of thing.”

As Dotson pointed out, the goal is always to protect the quarterback for as long as possible. So, at times, a more passive, reactionary approach may give the offensive linemen a chance to get set, get in position to best align a block and counter the pass-rushing move of an opponent.

If done well, sure. That’ll work. That’ll extend pocket time for the receivers to get open and for the quarterback to make his reads.

But another way to buy time is to put the word “offensive” back in “offensive lineman.”

Strike first at the opposing defensive lineman before he gets to you. Initiate to gain position on the pass rusher as opposed to just hoping to maintain a clean pocket by giving ground and reacting.

“That’s exactly what the trade-off is. You take it to them,” guard James Daniels said. “Defensive linemen, all their drill work is working bags. Working bags. Well, the bag is standing still. The guy on the bag is never jabbing the D-lineman. While they are stuttering and doing all that stuff, you’re sticking them. You can really throw off their thought process, throw off their hands, throw off their rushes.”

Of course, the danger in that mentality is, that if you fire out and whiff in an attempt at getting a good piece of the man you are assigned to block, it’s all the easier for that opponent to blow by you and get to your quarterback. But veteran tackle Joe Haeg said the gamble is worthwhile.

“Make contact right away. Don’t just sit back and allow them to do all their crazy twists and games. Take it to them,” Haeg said. “The more we set back from the first couple steps, that’s just more distance and speed that the D-linemen can get to bullrush and create penetration. So it’s a little more about getting on guys quickly. Having good communication, while still allowing us to be more in control rather than us sitting back and waiting.”

The change may seem severe for the returning Steelers offensive linemen. But as right tackle Chuks Okorafor admitted, the overhaul is necessary.

“Having Ben (Roethlisberger) sacked 30-something times last year wasn’t great. Obviously, we have to change it up,” Okorafor said.

The 38 sacks the Steelers allowed last year were tied for 16th in the NFL, smack dab in the middle of the league. However, given that the Steelers attempted the fourth-most pass attempts in the league (664), that’s not so bad.

Yet, at 6.1 yards per attempt, only two teams — the Carolina Panthers (6.0) and New York Giants (5.8) — were less efficient.

That low number exists because the Steelers didn’t trust the offensive line to hold up for very long and absolutely couldn’t trust an aging quarterback such as Roethlisberger to elude the rush when it got through. So, for the past few seasons, the offense has relied on a preponderance of quick-developing, short passes.

According to Pro Football Focus, among qualified passers last year, Roethlisberger was No.1 in fastest average time to throw (2.26 seconds to release). The same could be said in 2020 when he was at 2.19 seconds to release.

That combination of factors didn’t lead to a very prolific passing offense despite the number of attempts. Along with the low yards per attempt average, the Steelers were a mediocre 15th in pass yards per game at 222.2. And the team’s collective passer rating was 85.3. That was 24th in the NFL.

So perhaps implementing more aggressive tactics up front is the answer.

“Coach Meyer has done this a long time. On my first visit, he was telling me how this has worked for him in the past. He showed me clips, and I’m a believer in it,” Daniels said.

To Okorafor’s point, I also believe what my eyes saw last year. It wasn’t good enough. So a complete change in technique, tactics and mindset may sound extreme, but it’s also necessary.