As I said previously, yes. The. line. was. bad. I was wrong about our center. Instead of Okobi or Mahan, it was Hartwig. Not a big difference.
Here are the stats for the 2009 Offensive Line:
[URL]http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=true&conference=0011&role=TM &offensiveStatisticCategory=OFFENSIVE_LINE&defensi veStatisticCategory=null&season=2009&seasonType=RE G&tabSeq=2&qualified=true&Submit=Go[/URL]
As you can see, we ranked 16th in the AFC (last place) and 31st out of 32 in the entire NFL.
More Steelers 2009 O-Line stats:
[URL]http://www.steelersdepot.com/2010/02/steelers-2009-offensive-line-stats/[/URL]
Can we move on?
__________________________________________________ ___________________________
So, anyways, I got a hold of that 2009 Steelers/Browns game (12-10-2009) and watched it. Here's my take on the 8 sacks in that game:
2009 Steelers vs Browns 12-10 recap:
[URL]http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=291210005[/URL]
1st sack: 10:57 in the 1st quarter, we have 3rd and 1 on our 24 yard line, Ben is in shotgun. Hartwig gets beat like a drum by Corey Williams, Moore (or Mendy) doesn't even slow him down a bit, everyone is covered downfield, and Ben takes a sack. He didn't try to get out of the pocket at all. He didn't have the time.
2nd sack: 5:39 left in the 1st quarter, we have another 3rd down, this time at our 9 yard line, Poteat comes in unblocked and sacks Ben before he can do anything. The protection was screwed up on this play, as they let the defender come in untouched. Whoever called the protection is to blame, whether it was Arians or Ben. Again, Ben didn't "leave the pocket early" or try to extend the play. He was sacked pretty much immediately after the snap.
3rd sack: 1st play of the 2nd quarter. We're at their 41. It's another 3rd down and 7 and we go shotgun again. Marcus Bernard comes in unblocked and gets Ben immediately. There is no time for him to roll out of the pocket or do anything. Looking at the play, Bernard had no one line up across from him at the line and it looks to me that Colon just blew his assignment. Instead of blocking Bernard (on his right) he gives help to the left where it doesn't seem needed. Maybe Heath was supposed to stay in and block? Either way Bernard is given a free shot and he takes down Ben immediately.
Here's where they are pre-snap:
Attachment 669
Notice no one lined up across the line from Bernard. Colon is to the left. Heath is on the right but farther away.
Here's where everyone goes:
Attachment 670
Colon turns left and Heath goes out. The result is an immediate sack.
4th sack: 5:32 left in the 2nd quarter, we're at our 40 with a 2nd and 12. From what I can tell it seems like a combination of two things: Instead of hitting Heath when he can, Ben looks like he's staring Hines down (who doesn't get his head turned around) AND Hartwig lets Corey Williams get around him by choosing to help Colon instead. I guess you could say this one is also on Essex as he initially gets a push on Williams and then releases to block someone else on the left which allows Williams to come in on Ben.
Here's the line pre-snap:
Attachment 671
Here I've highlighted both Hartwig and Corey Williams:
Attachment 672
Here you can see Essex initially blocking Williams and Hartwig looking for someone to block. On the right side you can see both Ward (I think it's Ward) and Heath going out.
Here's right before the sack:
Attachment 673
Looks to me like Ben is staring at Hines' back, who doesn't get his head around. However, Heath is in a perfect position to make a catch and in my opinion Ben should hit him. But, from Ben's perspective it looks like the line has the D blocked so my assumption is that he was trying to make a bigger play. You can also see where Essex turned to the left to block someone and Hartwig turns right to help Colon, which frees up the lane for Williams to come in on Ben. I see this sack on both the O-Line and Ben, as Ben had a chance to get the ball to Heath, but the line plays like a comedy of errors. "Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?"
5th sack: The very next play we have a 3rd and 19 from our 33. Shotgun. This one is particularly sad. The Browns only rush 3 and drop everyone else into coverage. What happens here is that Bernard puts a move on Colon and blows right by him. Ben is sacked...again immediately. This is most definitely not on Ben. Colon gets abused and hits the ground in frustration at his own ineptitude.
6th sack: 6:09 left in the 3rd quarter. We're at our 31. 3rd and 7, in the shotgun...(anything starting to sound familiar? 3rd down...shotgun...sack). Browns lay off but beat us with four. Bowens puts a stutter step on Kemo and then gets around him without being touched. Goes straight in on Ben. Both Heath and Moore stayed in on either side of Ben initially and then when it looked like the line was holding they took off. It was then that Bowens came in and got Ben. I don't see how this one was on Ben either. If our line can't hold against a four man rush when we leave both Heath and Moore in to help, then we're screwed. The commentators keep talking about how good the Browns' coverage is and that Ben has nowhere to throw the ball. From what I see, it looks like they're getting away with a lot of contact past 5 yards. Oh well. Maybe Ben could have thrown it away but I think Heath and Moore need to get their heads around faster.
7th sack: :58 left in the 3rd quarter. 2nd and 5, we're in the shotgun at the Browns' 23 yard line. Browns go man under/2 deep (according to the commentators lol) and have all of our receivers covered. Ben tucks the ball, tries to run, and gets dropped a yard shy of the line of scrimmage. Looks like the line had the Browns blocked initially but are out of position because Ben tries to run. Earlier Ben faced this coverage and was able to run for 11 and the 1st down. Not so this time. Not sure who to really blame for this one. The Browns have good coverage, our line seems to pick them up alright, Ben has nowhere to throw the ball...so he tries to run but gets tackled. Seems like less a sack than a run that results in a tackle for a loss. Just happens to be Ben with the ball.
8th sack: Easier to show this one then try to talk about it:
[URL]http://youtu.be/zJpvlw0RElo[/URL]
Looks like Ben might have been able to get it to Heath short, but other than that I don't really have anything to say about this one.
So, in summation, I did not see Ben "leaving the pocket early" on any of those sacks. I did, however, see a couple of times when Ben might have been able to get the ball to Heath for a short pass or possibly throw it away. The main thing that I saw was our O-Line sucking and sucking badly.
Anyhow, I'd appreciate it if you kept your comments confined to this game alone for the time being instead of moving the goal posts to a different game. This was the specific game that I saw being discussed so this is the one I took a look at.
Whether anyone else gets anything out of it doesn't matter to me because I enjoyed doing it.
A couple of other things I noticed while watching the game:
-Brady Quinn hahahahahaha
-Nice to see Mendy on the field.
-I wish Sepulveda could have stayed healthy. While not what you necessarily need in a punter, that guy could tackle (used to be an LB etc). He took Cribbs DOWN and prevented a TD on a return in the 1st.
-Troy on the sidelines. Bah.
-Watching Silverback getting held every friggin down is pissing me off even now.
-While I like our WRs now, Ward/Holmes/Wallace/Heath is one hell of a receiving corps.
-1 quarter in and Ben has the longest run for the Steelers at 11(?) yards.
-Noticed some uncharacteristic drops by our receivers. Hines drops a well thrown quick pass that could've turned into a big gain towards the end of the 1st half. When we have 1st and goal at the end of the 1st half Heath drops a pass that hits him in the chest that would've been a TD. We settle for a FG instead (because there's only 2 seconds left on the clock). Huge drop by a wide open Mendenhall on 3rd down in the 4th quarter. It would have put us in field goal range but instead we had to punt. Wonder if the cold has something to do with it.
-Ben to Holmes was money.
Bookmarks