Monday Evening Quarterback - Week Eight

It started to happen at the end of last season.  The much-maligned, rag-tag Steelers' offensive line started to come together a little bit.  First, it was a dominant run blocking performance against the Chargers in the playoffs.  Next, it was a respectable outing against the always-tough Ravens in the AFC Championship Game.  Finally, it was timely play to help win Super Bowl XLIII.

The line showed improvement.  But was it because they simply couldn't have played much worse than they did at times during the regular season, offering little resistance against the pass rush and opening no holes in running game?  At one point, they allowed 13 sacks over a three week span.

Make no mistake, the Steelers' offensive line was not "good" last season.  They were mediocre.

What a difference a year makes.

The organizational attitude as far as constructing the offense line was questioned all offseason.  The Steelers chose continuity over talent upgrades, passing over players like Eben Britten in the draft and re-signing players who struggled last year like Chris Kemoeatu.

The Steelers' philosophy appears to have paid off.  Some said that they couldn't improve with the same group of players.  They were wrong.

The Steelers have built an offensive line that will continue to learn and grow together.  Max Starks, Justin Hartwig and Kemoeatu are all signed for three or more seasons beyond 2009.  Trai Essex has one more year on his deal.  Willie Colon may or may not be a free agent depending on the status of the CBA, but he might get an extension either way.  These guys have been together for a while and the arrow is pointing up.  The Giants are typically lauded for their O line play, but their group of unwanted, unheralded linemen took a while to become productive after allowing 52 sacks in 2004.  The Steelers are seeing similar improvement.

The Steelers struggled mightily in the middle of last year with any type of stunt or game by the offensive line.  Assignments were missed, reads were incorrect and the team took sacks.  This year, those types of mistakes have been few and far between.

In today's NFL, run blocking as a unit is very much about timing.  Last year, the timing on running plays was poor, and the running game suffered.  This year, the blocks are being made in a precise sequence.  The downblock has happened before the pulling guard gets there.  The seal blocks are getting set up in time for the RB to get through the crease.  Football is choreographed violence, and this season the Steelers tend to all be on the same page.

The Steelers are spending $15 million a year on their current offensive line and they're getting better results than they did in 2007, with players of higher pedigree.  That line cost them $20 million.

But it's not just what this line is doing as a group, it's what they're doing as individuals.

Last season, Max Starks played very well but had his struggles in certain matchups.  This year, Starks is winning his matchup week in and week out against top talent, while rarely getting help from TE's and RB's.  Starks earned the nickname "Gentle Giant" in middle school - he's never going to turn into Conrad Dobler.  But as long as he keeps erasing pass rushers like Jared Allen and Elvis Dumervil, I could care less about his disposition.

Kemoeatu has come on strong after many questioned the wisdom of the five year contract he signed this offseason. He has proven to be worth the loot.  Kemoeatu was good for at least one missed assignment a game last season.  This year, mental errors have decreased while aggression has increased.  He's thinking less and destroying more.  Still, there are times when he has a mid-game dormant spell that makes it hard not to wonder if there's a way to flip his switch on all the time.  Against the Broncos, he was beaten badly by Kenny Petersen for a sack and strip that went back for a TD.  He was lights-out violent from that moment on.  Many forget that despite being in his fifth season, Kemoeatu is only 26 years old.  As he gets more comfortable, the sky's the limit.

The Steelers have put together two dominant running performances this year, against the Chargers and against the Broncos.  In both games, Kemoeatu played like a man possessed, blowing people up in the pulling game.  He's the key to what the Steelers want to do on the ground.

Justin Hartwig's biggest asset is his intelligence.  His role in the improved ability to pick up inside blitzes cannot be overstated, and he seems to be helping Ben with the line calls more and more.  Hartwig hasn't taken a penalty yet this season, which is a testament to his solid play.

Willie Colon is having a big year as a run blocker, and he's been getting it done with better technique in pass protection.  Speaking of penalties, he's on pace to come in well-under his team-leading 11 last season.  He's got four so far.

Trai Essex has been great in pass protection and adequate in the run game.  He's very good on combo blocks and has a real feel for interior pass protection.  The push he gets on run plays isn't great, but when compared to Darnell Stapleton and Kendall Simmons, he's been a major improvement.  I grew far too used to the idea of the right guard getting walked back into the backfield once or twice a game, and that hasn't happened with Essex.

When each player is playing better while they're all playing better as a unit, improvement is to be expected.

Now, Ben isn't getting sacked any less.  He's still on pace for 46 this year, same as last year.  But there's been an evolution.

For the past two seasons, I've put together videos at the end of the year showing each sack on Ben.  In 2007, the video was stunning as far as how many quick, first-move sacks the offensive line allowed.  The whole "holding the ball too long" canard was trotted out that season, when it simply wasn't the case.  Ben wasn't getting enough time to hold onto the ball too long.

Last year, the change began.  Sure, there were still plenty of quick schoolings of offensive linemen that led to quick sacks.  But many more were on Ben and/or the wide receivers, plays where there was time to throw but Ben couldn't or wouldn't pull the trigger.

This season, half the sacks are on Ben and/or the receivers.  In fact, the unofficial sack statistics (where they typically will hand out sacks allowed like candy) show the offensive line being responsible for just 12.5 of the 23 sacks.  I think it might even be less than that.

The Steelers with the addition of an offensive line capable of stellar play is kind of like Happy Gilmore learning how to putt - it's just unfair to the opponent.  If they continue to play dominant football, there are more rings on the way, soon.

FURIOUS FIVE

1.  New England Patriots

Tom Brady claims that the Patriots were motivated by Joey Porter speaking the truth about the Patriots' cheating.  Just curious Tom, how come the Pats weren't motivated enough to beat the Jets after Kerry Rhodes' ranting in week two?  I don't buy the idea of bulletin board material.  It's just words.

2.  Indianapolis Colts

Another week, another narrow escape for the Colts at home.  This time, it was Matt Schaub throwing a costly pick and Kris Brown missing the tying field goal.  How long before Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark are worn down into little nubs?  They're both on pace for 120 catches, and they aren't running down the field without getting hit, these are catches in the tough areas of the field where they're getting smacked routinely.

3.  New Orleans Saints

Note:  the Saints can't stop the run.  Eventually that catches up with a team.  If not in the regular season, than in the playoffs.

4.  Minnesota Vikings

They gained on their entire division without playing, as the Packers, Lions and Bears all lost.  They might have enough wins to take the NFC North right now.

5.  Cincinnati Bengals

I love the fact that while Chad Johnson and Ray Lewis focus on building personas, preening for the media and generally blathering on, they each have a very large hypocycloid-shaped shadow hanging over the entirety of their careers.

AWARDS

Offense

Santonio Holmes

He took Champ Bailey to school.  The Broncos were counting on Bailey to take Holmes out of the game.  It didn't happen.  Holmes looks poised for a very big second half of the season.

Defense

Brett Keisel

On a night when the Steelers were short-handed on the defensive line, Keisel came through big time, registering 2 sacks while playing tough against the run.

Special Teams

This award has been cancelled.

Goat

Josh McDaniels

You have to at least pretend like you have an interest in stretching the field, pal.  Your team is extremely easy to defend, and you've made them that way.  Not taking advantage of Brandon Marshall in the vertical passing game is a shame.

QUOTABLE

"I wake up every morning and thank God I play with people like this. It's not only the kind of players they are, but the kind of people. To be able to play on a defense with a tradition like this is just unbelievable. It's a blessing."

- Ziggy Hood

STATS, STAT

Brett Keisel has 14.5 career sacks in 84 games played.  He has 4 sacks in 3 games at Invesco Field.  He's the Andres Galaragga of pass rushing, at his best in the thin air.

MAKING THE ROUNDS

1.  Rashard Mendenhall is starting to remind me of Franco Harris.  A big slasher with great vision who is more interested in running away from tacklers than running into them, which is absolutely fine.  When Mendenhall gets the ball and identifies where he wants to go, he's gone.  I'll be extremely interested to see him against the Ravens in two weeks, especially after they got gashed by Cedric Benson on Sunday.

2.  When Travis Kirschke gets back, he and Eason need to play plenty of run downs while Ziggy Hood and Brett Keisel play every single passing down as the two man line.  Hood was extremely impressive in packages as an inside pass rusher, registering four pressures.

3.  The move to the no-huddle to start the second half was gutsy in a loud environment, but it paid off.  The Broncos had to move away from their blitzes, pulled their corners off the line of scrimmage a little bit and had to play much more zone than they played in the 1st half, adjustments that allowed Ben more time and allowed his receivers to finally start getting open.

4.  There might be a better defensive player somewhere in the NFL (if there is, it's probably his teammate Troy), but no one is as relentless as James Harrison.  Despite being held without a sack, Harrison's level of effort pushes the team to another level.  He makes plays that no other defender even tries to make, consistently tracking down runners on the other side of the field due to sheer force of will.  Harrison gets a ton of accolades for his ability as a pass rusher, but a cut-up of plays Harrison has made against the run this year would be just as jaw-dropping.

5.  When the Steelers called time out with 18 seconds remaining in the first half, my first thought was "trying to block Berger's punt" and my second thought was "by sending Joe Burnett."  Unfortunately, it became obvious quickly that he wasn't going to get there and then that he was going to hit Berger.  It was some nice aggressiveness from the special teams, though I would have liked to have seen the punt block called again at a less obvious point of the game.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

6.  Wearing their classic orange jerseys complete with the creepy winking pirate logo on their helmets, Doug Williams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Lynn Dickey and the Packers for their first win of the season.  Seriously, Josh Freeman looked very good and the Packers looked very bad.  The Bucs had 11 sacks on the season coming into the game and yet they sacked Aaron Rogers 6 times.  Lamarr Woodley might be able to reach the 10 sack landmark simply by playing against whoever the Packers are throwing out at RT that week.

7.  My take on the tabloid items:  Mike Smith was out of line, but if I was a Falcons' fan I would have loved it.  Tommie Harris lost his cool, it happens.  George Kokinis was fired because he kept calling Eric Mangini "Chunk" while begging for him to do the truffle shuffle.

8.  It's shocking that the Chargers have resurrected their season to get to 5-3.  I believe that even with their defensive problems, the Chargers are a better team than the Broncos and will win that division.  What a huge step Vincent Jackson has taken, he's dominant.  He's a good lesson for those who get impatient with wideouts - it took Jackson five seasons to break out.

9.  The Cardinals are eerily similar to the Chargers - they've been written off a few times already, have had some embarrassing performances and yet they're sitting at 5-3.  Despite the win, they couldn't stop the Bears' offense at all.  Some bad football teams are going to make the playoffs this year.

10. Tight end is the deepest position in football league-wide.  There's a group of about 15 star-caliber guys at the top, then there's a group of about 30 guys who are all capable of being solid starters, then there's a glut of talented young guys just waiting for a chance.  As far as who is the best, I would say Vernon Davis right now.  He doesn't play with Manning or Rivers and doesn't have stats like Clark or Gates, but he's been impressive this season and has unprecedented athleticism for the position.

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Chad Johnson

He's used to being shut down by the Steelers, but Ryan Clark just had to sit around and watch a game he was technically healthy enough to play in and will be looking for a pound of flesh.  The Steelers have been challenged by the Bengals, and I'm guessing there will be some words exchanged this week.  I expect the Steelers' defense to shut Johnson's mouth by punching him in it.