Offensive Line Pass Pro vs. Bengals

The Steelers' OL looked better in pass pro against the Bengals than I've seen them look in a long, long time. Ben had all day to throw the ball and the Bengals pass rush didn't even get close to Ben all night. What's even more encouraging is that the Bengal D is one of the top defenses in the league and normally gets good pressure on the quarterback.

Anyway, I don't remember the last time our OL protected Ben so well and that is extremely encouraging heading into the playoffs. Munchak has done a tremendous job with that unit. Kudos to Colbert and Tomlin for a great hire.

Whatcha wanna bet that the Rats will be daring the Steelers to run the ball on Saturday? They'll be throwing everything at Ben because they don't fear our run game with Bell likely not playing.

 

I hope they do.

 

I think the rats rush the passer better than the bungirls. it's going to be a battle that's for sure.

now after saying that, I know bell is keyed on heavily by them when they game plan against us. hopefully we don't play into that. hopefully they put in a plan to pressure ben more and we actually use harris, tate and archer in ways they don't expect. once they have to adjust to that, then we can go over the top. we need to keep them off balance with bell out and not the other way around. it's a short week, but I think this is imperative to our success against them. we know each other well but we can use this uncertainty to our advantage and not theirs.

the strength of our line with 3 out of 5 is mobility, so use it to our advantage with the quickness of our backs. no need to try and power against them.

 

Yeah the Ravens pass rush is nasty.

 

I'm fine with the Ravens blitzing. Ben shreds teams that blitz. The colts and Ravens blitzed Ben more then any other teams. How'd that turn out.

 

According to at least one Bengal fan I know, this is because the refs didn't call any holding penalties on us. Indeed.

 

The Bengals pass rush is pretty weak. THeir strength is in their defensive backfield which is the opposite of the Ravens. Our offensive line has their work cut out for them on Saturday night. If Haley uses quick hitting passes and spreads them out it should negate the Ravens pass rush and we should be okay. If not then it's probably going to be a long night for us.

 

We have played well against the blitz when we picked up the blitz. We will depend on doing that Saturday with a midget, an UDFA and a new guy. That doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

 

Baltimore blitzes Ben more effectively for some reason. They almost always manage to come straight in on him.

 

I was listening to Carl Banks talk about the Steelers O line. He said it has been the key to their success especially the pass blocking. He said they were right up there with the cowboys with the way they have protected Ben. We have seen this with our own eyes as well. As long as they can keep it up we will be in great shape moving forward.