Evaluating the Steelers Offense vs Bengals: 1st Half

[Steeler Nation]

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense was anemic in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but who was to blame? Starting with the first half, we’ll evaluate and analyze the performance.

First Drive​

Najee Harris has a solid opening salvo running straight up the middle for a gain of 4. The play is everything we can hope for from our offensive line. The Steelers line up with a 2nd and 6 with an unusual formation that features 4 TEs that all go in motion, including Chukwuma Okorafor. Harris is stuffed for no gain and Okorafor is flagged for illegal formation. The blame should not fall on Okorafor as he lined up legally, but TE Eric Ebron was far too slow in covering up the line. There are no words to adequately describe how badly Ebron missed his block and Harris is stuffed for no gain. Chase Claypool regained the lost 5 yards with a nicely executed screen. On 3rd and 6, Ben Roethlisberger identified man coverage and targeted James Washington deep up the sideline. Washington had a step, but the ball was overthrown. One would wonder if Diontae Johnson could have made the play, but the bigger problem was how badly Kendrick Green was beaten and forced Roethlisberger to throw it early. Regardless, the Steelers have now gone 13 consecutive games without a score on opening drive.

Second Drive​

Harris takes a pitch and turns the corner for what should have been an 11-yard gain. The play is called back when Green was flagged for holding. Green’s hold was not severe but he drew attention to himself by putting both hands up as to look not guilty, because it was not necessary and likely would have gone unnoticed. After a designed screen to JuJu Smith-Schuster gains 3 against the Bengals nickel coverage, the Steelers offense exploits the Bengals with a designed pick play that got Harris into open space. But Claypool does not even attempt to make the contact look incidental by not running through his route. The soft play made a subjective judgment call objectively easy. The sloppy play continued when Claypool let short pass go through his hands on 2nd and 23 that had the potential for him to run over 90 yards untouched. The drive ended with a meaningless screen to Claypool for no gain.

Third Drive​

Roethlisberger is under center and gives to Harris for a grinding gain of two. A play action to Harris has multiple Bengals biting, but pressure was bearing down on him from Sam Hubbard when Pat Freiermuth looked confused about whether he should run a pattern or block. He chose wrong. Roethlisberger’s first two reads were Smith-Schuster and Claypool, but when neither adjusted, he was forced to throw an uncatchable ball to Ebron. Roethlisberger tried a hard count to draw the Bengals offsides, but the only to fall for it was Trai Turner. A delayed stunt blitz was recognized by Harris too late, and with Roethlisberger looking towards the big play with a pump fake, was hit as he threw it, leaving the ball hanging just enough to get intercepted.

Fourth Drive​

14 yards of offense with 26 yards in penalties. Roethlisberger is under center with play action to Harris. Dan Moore Jr. looks like he is trying to block T.J. Watt with his arm hooking the defender and Turner is initially badly beaten with pressure coming up the middle. Though he recovers on the block, Zach Gentry can’t maintain his block and is beaten for the sack while Freiermuth again is caught in limbo between blocking and running a pattern. Note to Freiermuth and coaching staff: Block. Okorafor is only lineman to stuff his man at the line of scrimmage. A pitch to Harris out of an I formation with Derek Watt at fullback results in a gain of 4. Okorafor has quick feet and gets out ahead and the opening and Watt has a nice block. The Steelers get a 1st down on a weak PI call as Ben was under heavy pressure, with Turner getting beat again. Watt reenters the game and throws a mean block, but Kevin Dotson lets his man blow by him and the run by Harris goes for -3. The Steelers finally go up tempo and get some momentum, but it comes to a quick end after Roethlisberger settles for a short gain to Claypool when Washington had a opening on a go route, followed by Claypool running the wrong route on what should have been an easy first down.

Fifth Drive​

Harris gets things going stiff-arming his way to a 7-yard gain off a screen. Another sit-down route, Freiermuth makes the catch for a 1st down. Roethlisberger finds himself in unfamiliar territory, with all day to throw but no one open deep and winds up taking a sack trying to extend the play. The loss is quickly made up for with Smith-Schuster in the middle of the field. Harris makes a killer stutter step to break a 14-yard run, only to have an unnecessary holding by Dotson call it back. Harris gets it back and more when he runs it up the gut for 20 and the OL is playing to its strength, simple straight forward blocking. The up tempo continues with a catch by Claypool and he drags the defender to a first down. Harris is held to no gain when Ebron as the lead blocker almost impossibly manages to make contact with nobody – there are kickers more willing to block than this guy. The Bengals collapse the pocket and force two quick passes by Ben, but Smith-Schuster and Harris make tough catches while covered. Harris takes a screen to the 4-yard line with a burst and jukes the defensive back so badly that only a grab of the ankle prevents Harris from taking it the final 4 yards for the score. A nicely executed flick to Freiermuth gets the Steelers on the board.

First Half Grades​

Green: D+. He gets graded on a curve playing as a rookie at center, because his early penalties combined with multiple missed blocks hurt and must improve.

Okorafor: B-. Despite surrendering a sack, it was on the only play Ben really tried to extend it and vs. one of the leaders in sacks this year. Overall, he was solid and showed quickness moving out ahead on multiple pitches to Harris.

Turner: D-. The veteran of the group has to play better.

Dotson: D. He did okay-ish early, but was blown up in 2nd quarter and holding was bad.

Moore: D+. Gets graded on a curve playing as a rookie at LT, made no big 1st half mistakes, but was not overly good either.

Roethlisberger: B-. For all the criticism, Ben had a man bearing down on him almost every play. His best throw was negated by a Bengals penalty and missed a chance to make a big play to Washington on the 1st drive.

Ebron: F-. If there were a lower grade, he’d get it.

Freiermuth: D. Needs to learn how to block, until then, no comparisons to Heath Miller please.

Smith-Schuster: C. Bengals wanted to take him away and mostly did.

Claypool: F. The mistakes on his routes, drops and penalties negated his one quality catch.

Harris: A+. He carried the team, literally and figuratively. Had nearly 45 total yards called back by penalty (about 30 rushing).

Washington: Incomplete. Either he didn’t even get a real chance or he’s 4th string for a reason.

Mike Tomlin: F. No team should start this sloppy.

Matt Canada: F. One good drive in 2nd quarter doesn’t negate the horrible performance of the rest of the half.



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[madinsomniac]

So every now and again I have to publicly state when I was wrong… and this offseason I defended retaining Ebron because of his big play potential in the passing game, which last year offset his drops and mediocre blocking…

But this year he has been atrocious… he isn’t even trying to block and his routes and catching has gotten worse. He isn’t a net zero.. he is a negative. Bench him for Radar or Gentry or a sack of potatoes… nothing could be worse

 

[TDX27]

Sounds about right although I'm surprised to hear Chuks actually did some good things. It seems in all 3 games, every time I focus on him, he is ******** the bed.

This type of 1st half has been happening since the beginning of last year. Early last year, Ben would still lead us back in the 2nd half typically to a victory. The last quarter of the season, not so much. And, this year not so much other than in Buffalo.

I mentioned in another post, this team does this all the time and it has been our achilles heel. We just can't get into a rhythm or recover from these poor starts (no matter the reason) over the last 6 or 8 games we've played.

 

[wig]

Matt Canada: F. One good drive in 2nd quarter doesn’t negate the horrible performance of the rest of the half.

particularly considering the one good drive was essentially up-tempo no-huddle where presumably Ben was calling plays.

 

[steelreeling]

"Moore: D+. Gets graded on a curve playing as a rookie". Damn dude. Damn. I mean he's a rook AND protecting the blind-side AND made no glaring mistakes. He's got an "average" C sewn up by not making any mistakes on the blind-side.

Your grades are whack i think. Because Moore gets an A++ if you think Chuks play was a B-; but then Turner would get an F-.

I think the O-line played poorly, perhaps a D. But not so bad that had we not a complete statue QB, Big Ben, then we would be talking about a W at the end of the day. I think Moore is the best lineman we have. I think things got SO much better when Chuks & Green went out.

i also think that MOST all the blame needs to be put on the coaching staff. In that regard i agree with you: F-.

 

[FSF]

So every now and again I have to publicly state when I was wrong… and this offseason I defended retaining Ebron because of his big play potential in the passing game, which last year offset his drops and mediocre blocking…

But this year he has been atrocious… he isn’t even trying to block and his routes and catching has gotten worse. He isn’t a net zero.. he is a negative. Bench him for Radar or Gentry or a sack of potatoes… nothing could be worse

I drafted the bum. My faith in him? I dropped him still having Le’Veon Bell.

 

[FSF]

"Moore: D+. Gets graded on a curve playing as a rookie". Damn dude. Damn. I mean he's a rook AND protecting the blind-side AND made no glaring mistakes. He's got an "average" C sewn up by not making any mistakes on the blind-side.

Your grades are whack i think. Because Moore gets an A++ if you think Chuks play was a B-; but then Turner would get an F-.

I think the O-line played poorly, perhaps a D. But not so bad that had we not a complete statue QB, Big Ben, then we would be talking about a W at the end of the day. I think Moore is the best lineman we have. I think things got SO much better when Chuks & Green went out.

i also think that MOST all the blame needs to be put on the coaching staff. In that regard i agree with you: F-.

Curious how much of the line did you watch to evaluate.

Moore was beaten like a rented mule all day. Even more so when I watched 2nd half. I’m not hating on him for it. It’s a damn hard thing they are asking of him.

Chuks greatest strength is being fleet afoot and getting out in front of Harris to block. He has improved from last year. And nobody has been more critical of him than me. Heck Im surprising myself even defending him.

I’m not averse to upgrading at OT and not advocating Chuks is upper echelon. But I’d advise watching the line and evaluating for yourself instead of reading “experts”… especially in an era where many content creators do better job than professionals.

If you think Moore was the best, okay, that’s your opinion. But I’ll just ask—who was the Bengals Edge rusher he was matched up with most of the day?

 

[steelreeling]

i don't know what you saw, but Moore kicked Hendrickson's *** the first half. Stoned his *** almost the entire game. Here's a good sampling thru the highlights.



@ 0:19 1. Like an All-Pro - but of course Moore is NOT an All-Pro yet - , Moore seamlessly jams Hendrickson backwards and then pushes off to throw the blitzer 3 yards behind the pocket. Ben, with acute pocket awareness these days, drops even farther backwards after a shotgun snap into the pressure. Though ultimately, the blitzer doesn't sniff Ben.
@1:08 2. Moore "Deebos" his *** - doesn't get called for holding. Ben, movin like molasses, steps right up to be demolished by a DT.
@2:35 3. Moore stones Tupou for 3 seconds (some help), lets him go to avoid holding. But by that time, the play is lost.
@2:57 4. Dan gets beat-up here on a bull-rush. But like a good pro he makes sure the DL is not running free in his QB's face.
@3:38 5. Dan gets beat with a speed-rush HOWEVER, Dan gets in a push at the end so that his DL is behind the pocket. Though Ben throws the ball before getting hit.

i'll say this. Ben's arm looks okay. His decisions are acceptable. But alot of this pressure is made so much worse by Ben's slow-*** and his diminished pocket awareness. More often than not, Ben drops back or steps up in the pocket DIRECTLY into the defensive pressure!?!@
C'mon, man.

 

[FSF]

Post a series of unavailable videos that provide no evidence, look I want him to play great but calling Moore All Pro is just ridiculous.

And “Come on man” — that’s the only response from a senile fool sitting in the White House when he has no standing to defend his policy. Credibility gone.

 

[Punxsutawney]

I saw a stat on Twitter today indicating the Steelers have not scored a single offensive point in the first quarter since week 11 of last season.

I'm not sure how such a stretch of incompetence happens at the high school level, let alone the NFL.

The execution of the personnel obviously hasn't been good, but to start games so poorly so many times in a row reflects horribly on the coaching and preparation.

 

[steelreeling]

Post a series of unavailable videos that provide no evidence, look I want him to play great but calling Moore All Pro is just ridiculous.

And “Come on man” — that’s the only response from a senile fool sitting in the White House when he has no standing to defend his policy. Credibility gone.

Well i thought the YouTube video link was gonna work. sorry. i'll edit the post with times.

"did you watch to evaluate." & "unavailable videos that provide no evidence" - Hmmmm? So ONLY YOUR tv/ game-tape provides evidence?

"only response from a senile fool sitting in the White House" - So you turn that right into something political and it must then follow that therefore my: "Credibility gone."
Let me ask you something. Do ONLY REPUBLICANS know how to evaluate execution from NFL tape? because... otherwise you're seriously bent.

I'll edit with the play times that i'm talking about. Go back. And honestly, objectively look at what Moore does and what Ben does. And then try to criticize my analysis and Moore's play. And FTR, i think Ben is still a good quarterback. Only during certain times does he show diminishing characteristics about his quarterback play.

 

[FSF]

Well i thought the YouTube video link was gonna work. sorry. i'll edit the post with times.

"did you watch to evaluate." & "unavailable videos that provide no evidence" - Hmmmm? So ONLY YOUR tv/ game-tape provides evidence?

"only response from a senile fool sitting in the White House" - So you turn that right into something political and it must then follow that therefore my: "Credibility gone."
Let me ask you something. Do ONLY REPUBLICANS know how to evaluate execution from NFL tape? because... otherwise you're seriously bent.

I'll edit with the play times that i'm talking about. Go back. And honestly, objectively look at what Moore does and what Ben does. And then try to criticize my analysis and Moore's play. And FTR, i think Ben is still a good quarterback. Only during certain times does he show diminishing characteristics about his quarterback play.

I watched every play. Each and every one. Multiple times. It's called NFL game pass - not selected highlights. It takes a while to watch a play and watch it multiple times looking at different players. I would think that was evident in describing all the possessions.

By the way, your credibility was already long gone with your All Pro statement. It's not political to call out weak arguments.

 

[FSF]

Sounds about right although I'm surprised to hear Chuks actually did some good things. It seems in all 3 games, every time I focus on him, he is ******** the bed.

This type of 1st half has been happening since the beginning of last year. Early last year, Ben would still lead us back in the 2nd half typically to a victory. The last quarter of the season, not so much. And, this year not so much other than in Buffalo.

I mentioned in another post, this team does this all the time and it has been our achilles heel. We just can't get into a rhythm or recover from these poor starts (no matter the reason) over the last 6 or 8 games we've played.

We got out to small leads vs. Giants and Broncos, then double digit leads 3 straight weeks vs. Eagles, Browns and Titans.

Since then... the common theme is we haven't had a 100-yard performance since James Conner had 101 yards vs. the Browns - and the highest single game total since then was the 89 yards he had against the Jaguars. This team won't win again consistently until they can run it with consistency. I would prefer they at least attacked and tried to run it multiple times even if it does mean a punt. At least try and be physical.

 

[steelreeling]

I watched every play. Each and every one. Multiple times. It's called NFL game pass - not selected highlights. It takes a while to watch a play and watch it multiple times looking at different players. I would think that was evident in describing all the possessions.

By the way, your credibility was already long gone with your All Pro statement. It's not political to call out weak arguments.

Takeaway:

• NFL game pass ONLY can be used NOT video of selected highlights.
• ''credibility was already long gone with your All Pro statement" and thus NO average player or slightly below could EVER, and i mean EVER, make one play that was All-Pro caliber. Never happens.

Get the **** otta here.
FSF, you're analysis is whack, dude.

 

[FSF]

Takeaway:

• NFL game pass ONLY can be used NOT video of selected highlights.
• ''credibility was already long gone with your All Pro statement" and thus NO average player or slightly below could EVER, and i mean EVER, make one play that was All-Pro caliber. Never happens.

Get the **** otta here.
FSF, you're analysis is whack, dude.

Takeaway: When someone tells you to **** off, they don’t want to have sex with you.

 

[Steeltime]

Steelreeling: I watched as much of the replay as I could stand on NFL Gamepass and have to agree with FSF. Moore is young and playing a tough position, but he seemed always to be blocking at an odd angle to the defender, like he is half a step slow getting to the ideal position. When I look at the replay and focus on the offensive line, I look to see if the player (1) beats the defender to the optimal spot, (2) uses power to win the matchup and (3) avoid bending or reaching, which will cause him to lose balance and lose the battle.

Moore right now just cannot seem to beat the defender to the spot. If the run is to the A-gap to Moore's right, the defender is inside his position. If the run is outside LT, the defender is on his outside hip, forcing the run back inside. On pass blocking, he gives up too much room. I think it's technique and possibly Texas A&M had their QB take a very deep drop or something, but Moore needs to set up his block at least half a step sooner. Also, he sometimes gets a good "pop" on the defender with his hands, but other times just reaches out like he is trying to tap a guy on the shoulder to say, "Excuse me" and the defender swats his hands away.

Don't hug the guy - hands need to POP into the defender's pads.

 

[steelreeling]

Steelreeling: I watched as much of the replay as I could stand on NFL Gamepass and have to agree with FSF. Moore is young and playing a tough position, but he seemed always to be blocking at an odd angle to the defender, like he is half a step slow getting to the ideal position. When I look at the replay and focus on the offensive line, I look to see if the player (1) beats the defender to the optimal spot, (2) uses power to win the matchup and (3) avoid bending or reaching, which will cause him to lose balance and lose the battle.

Moore right now just cannot seem to beat the defender to the spot. If the run is to the A-gap to Moore's right, the defender is inside his position. If the run is outside LT, the defender is on his outside hip, forcing the run back inside. On pass blocking, he gives up too much room. I think it's technique and possibly Texas A&M had their QB take a very deep drop or something, but Moore needs to set up his block at least half a step sooner. Also, he sometimes gets a good "pop" on the defender with his hands, but other times just reaches out like he is trying to tap a guy on the shoulder to say, "Excuse me" and the defender swats his hands away.

Don't hug the guy - hands need to POP into the defender's pads.

So THIS is a very credible and a wonderful critique. It refutes my analysis of Moore's play with concrete metrics and an objective review of performance. I cannot overstate how well this is put together.

I don't agree with it. And there is literally nothing i can say to refute this opinion. Steeltime's analysis is perhaps more generic but is much better than the one i put together. I am going to be hard-pressed to respond in similar fashion.

Steeltime, you have posted the best analysis i've seen on this board since TMC.

 

[steelreeling]

I look to see if the player (1) beats the defender to the optimal spot, (2) uses power to win the matchup and (3) avoid bending or reaching, which will cause him to lose balance and lose the battle.

Moore loses on 1-3. He does block on obtuse angles - because he is too slow to the edge. And most times he's bent, hunched-over and lunging. And Dan doesn't have the power to engulf DL or drive them back on running plays.

he sometimes gets a good "pop" on the defender with his hands, but other times just reaches out like he is trying to tap a guy on the shoulder to say, "Excuse me" and the defender swats his hands away.

Don't hug the guy - hands need to POP into the defender's pads.

Dan doesn't have very good technique yet. He holds and seems to want to push not punch.

The only thing i can say is that my metrics are different. ST's 1-3 measure technique and consistency as they relate to the ultimate LT. think Orlando Brown. I am outcome-based for now. i come in thinking Moore is gonna be average-to-good as a ceiling in relation to an O-Brown type and so i measure based on outcome. i'd say: any which but loose. Whatever gets the job done for now.

i say that because DL/OLBers are SO much quicker and agile now than before. And throwing the ball 55 times a game is not something that is so rare - teams throw so much more these days. Even the best LT of today get beat a few times in 50 attempts. But Ben can ill-afford for Moore to get beat cleanly even those few times so that's my metrics are more inline with outcome and whether the DL gets a good pop on Ben.

 

[steelreeling]

But Ben can ill-afford for Moore to get beat cleanly even those few times so that's my metrics are more inline with outcome and whether the DL gets a good pop on Ben.

Would you agree though, ST, terrible technique aside, that Moore almost NEVER lets his guy get a clean whack on Ben?

If so, i would argue that Moore is then the best OL the Steelers have. I say that because i've seen Green & Turner quit blocking at times only to have their guy peel off and whalop Ben.
- and also to a lesser extent, Chuks. But Dot i just think is out to lunch. Sporatically forgets his duties, ignores and lets some guy run right past him untouched to murder Ben.