4 takeaways from Pittsburgh Steelers win against Philadelphia Eagles

Steelers offensive line could end up being an issue

If you were to only look at the box score in this contest, you would think that Pittsburgh’s offensive line did a pretty good job against one of the best defensive lines in football. Ben Roethlisberger took just one sack that came early in the game, and the Steelers quarterback stayed upright for most of this contest.

However, the play from the offensive line is a bit concerning to me. Though Ben wasn’t hit nearly as often as Carson Wentz this week, much of it had to do with how fast he was getting the ball out of his hands. Gone are the days when Roethlisberger takes 5-step drops and holds on to the ball all day to extend the play. Though he occasionally held the ball a few extra seconds in an attempt to make a play, this is an offense that tries to mask weaknesses on their offensive line by getting rid of the ball quickly.

As a result, Ben averaged just 6.0 yards per attempt for most of the game until he finally got it up to a modest 7.0 after the final touchdown pass to Chase Claypool.

In addition, the running backs couldn’t find any space to move on the ground. While Ray-Ray McCloud’s 58-yard run on a reverse jacked-up Pittsburgh’s rushing average, James Conner, Benny Snell, and Anthony McFarland combined to carry the ball 25 times for just 69 yards (2.7 yards per carry). Pittsburgh’s offensive line is doing enough, but they need to improve.