Don't be in a rush to sack the line
Don't for a second believe the rumor circulating that Byron Leftwich begged to be released from his Steelers contract when he became aware of the number of quarterback sacks the team has allowed over the past two seasons.
Of course, if it were true, the reaction of Leftwich, who joined the Steelers this week, would be perfectly understandable.
To paraphrase Woody Hayes, when you drop back to pass for the Steelers, four things can happen and three of them are bad, with the bad being: incompletion, interception and incoherence.
It's a marvel Ben Roethlisberger was still standing at the end of last season after the Steelers allowed 47 sacks, all of which were taken by him. The year before the Steelers allowed 49 sacks, but Roethlisberger was the recipient of only 46. No AFC quarterback has gone down more over the past two season than Roethlisberger.
The wonder of all this is the Steelers managed a winning season, 10-6, last year with their quarterback so susceptible.
The six teams that allowed more sacks than the Steelers -- Kansas City, San Francisco, Detroit, the New York Jets, Philadelphia and St. Louis -- were a combined 35-77 and none had a winning record. The season before, when the Steelers were 8-8, the three teams that allowed more sacks -- Oakland, Detroit and Cleveland -- were a combined 9-39.
The Steelers had this marked inability to protect their quarterback despite the presence of perhaps the greatest guard in franchise history, Alan Faneca. And, as is well known, Faneca is gone.
So, after two years of having their quarterback regularly tossed around like a rag doll, it looks like more of the same for the Steelers.
Don't be so sure. There is some talent on the offensive line and, even with Faneca gone, there should be some improvement.
The fact that the Steelers were third in the NFL in rushing and that Willie Parker led the league until breaking his leg in the 15th game is clear indication Steelers offensive linemen are up to the demanding standards of the NFL. Sure, run-blocking isn't the same as pass-blocking, but it makes no sense that linemen would be so deficient in protecting the quarterback and so proficient in opening holes for running backs.
Tomlin made it clear last season, unlike some in the media and fan base, that he was not pointing fingers at just the offensive linemen for the high number of sacks. He said pass protection is far more complicated than that.
For starters, it's not just the five offensive linemen who are responsible for protecting the quarterback. The tight end and running back often are involved. Beyond that, a line can only protect so long. It's possible, Roethlisberger was holding on to the ball too long and/or the receivers were not getting open quick enough.
"Protection of the quarterback is a unit thing," Tomlin said yesterday. "It's the offensive line, the blitz pickups of the running backs, the potential sight adjustments of the wide receivers and the quarterback and wide receivers being on the same page. It's an evolution of all our men in the offense."
When the Steelers play the Buffalo Bills tomorrow night in Toronto, Tomlin will send out what figures to be the offensive line that will open the season. From left to right: Marvel Smith, Chris Kemoeatu, Justin Hartwig, Kendall Simmons, Willie Colon.
There is competition at center, where Sean Mahan, the starter last season, is challenging Hartwig, and at right tackle, where Max Starks is competing with Colon, but not much is likely to change.
Kemoeatu has the challenging job of replacing Faneca. He's high on potential, but short on experience. He's in his fourth season, after being a sixth-round draft choice in 2005, but has started only twice. But if there's a fall off at left guard, the Steelers hope to improve elsewhere.
Smith, the left tackle and a Pro Bowl performer in 2005, is healthy after a back injury, which required surgery, caused him to miss four of the final six games. He's in his prime, also in the last year of his contract, and has much to play for. Simmons is a solid seven-year veteran who has started every game for the past three season. Beside him is Colon, who should improve after being a regular for the first time last season. Hartwig looks to be an upgrade over Mahan, who couldn't handle big nose tackles.
"I think we'll be better in year two than we were in year one," said Tomlin, referring to his tenure. "We'd better be because protection of our quarterback is critical to us being successful. I think we're taking steps in that regard. I've been pleased with the pocket in training camp."
This doesn't mean Roethlisberger or Leftwich is going to get Dan Marino-style protection, but the sack total -- for a number of reasons -- should appreciably decline this season.
