LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – The Steelers scored 32 points (more than all but one game in 2021), 24 first downs, 7 of 13 on third down, rushed for 185 yards against Seattle Saturday. Yet it's not all compliments for the men up front who paved the way.
When Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked to describe the offensive line performance after spending hours reviewing the tape, plus the time watching it with the team Monday morning. He started with the compliment, which is normally foreboding. He said they played with good energy. Then came the rest.
"I think we're still growing from a cohesion perspective," Tomlin said. "I thought we gave up too many hits on the quarterback. Some of it is cohesion, some of it is guys physically getting beat. I want a cleaner pocket for our quarterbacks than what I saw, I think that's the standard."
He wasn't getting any arguments from the offensive line group.
"We need to keep the quarterbacks' cleaner," said guard James Daniels nearly quoting Tomlin. "I can speak for myself. I got kind of sloppy at times. I got Mitch hit a couple of times. I need to focus on not being as sloppy."
"Keeping our quarterbacks off the ground early," tackle Dan Moore said of what he wants to improve on. "There was a lot in the first quarter, he took some hits early on. We think it affected the tendencies of the QB and we want to make that a point of emphasis moving forward."
"Still some things we need to clear up communication-wise," said guard Kendrick Green. "That's some of the issues we had. You all wouldn't understand, you might think one person got beat but really, it's a communication issue. Those are some of the things we are working on today."
Tomlin admits the way he practices causes some issues for the team when they head into game scenarios. Not only can the defenders not touch the quarterback in team workouts, he yells at them to stay far enough away as to not get near his arm where the QB could hit a defender either winding up or following through.
"There's certain professionalism that you do in practice settings," Tomlin explained. "We encourage defenders and rushers to stay away from the quarterback, and specifically his arm action. So oftentimes, it will take the offensive line group a while, to warm up to in-stadium action from a strength standpoint."
Not that they are hunting or accepting excuses. They've spent as much time as possible in the offseason from OTAs, to mini-camp and now at training camp trying to build a trust and comradery. Saturday was the first time they were able to do it 'live'.
"We got to do better not making mental errors," Moore said. "We got to do better communication and follow up with technique. Trusting our technique and then executing and keeping our quarterbacks off the ground."
"Some changes are hard, some are easy," said Daniels, a 24-year-old veteran of 48 NFL starts. "Offensive line is a technical position, when any of us get beat, we know what we did wrong right when we got beat."
"(You need to be) Focusing when you are out there on doing exactly what you are coached to do. That the lights aren't too bright that you do what you are told and taught."
"Simple but not easy, that's what I like to say," Green said of making corrections. "When the bullets are out there flying, you got a million things going on, but you still have to stay on the same page. That's something we have to push through."
This group had never played together as a unit against another team until Saturday. They are still unsettled at Green's position, Kevin Dotson returned to practice Monday listed as a co-starter at left guard. They are also one of the youngest lines in the league with an average age of 24.2.
Left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor said Saturday wasn't their best. They still have a lot of improvement left, but he believes they will improve. Daniels said they are all working to get better and he sounded confident that will show at Jacksonville on Saturday. Even Tomlin said 'it's reasonable to expect those guys to be better'.
They need to be. For the Steelers budding young stars-Najee Harris, Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, Chase Claypool and George Pickens to reach their full potential, they must get more consistent play up front.
