Offensive line
It’s hard to point the finger at just one or two players here, and the Steelers offensive line has been a bit of a mess all season. While they have done a good job at keeping Ben Roethlisberger upright, this unit may be a bit overrated in their ability to consistently pass block – largely because Ben is asked to get the ball out of his hands faster than any other quarterback in the league. When he is asked to hold onto the ball longer, we can see this pocket start to collapse quickly.
In terms of run blocking, this unit has been downright bad this year, and I can’t really explain why this is the case. There seems to be hardly any holes for the running backs, and everything seems to be tough sledding on the ground.
Part of the reason for this could be that teams know how little Ben has thrown the ball down the field and are able to play much closer to the line of scrimmage. Their rushing attacks were affected in a similar way last year. However, if something doesn’t change soon, this unit could prove to be the weakest link on the Steelers during the playoffs this year.