Steelers offensive line still has work to do
There weren’t a ton of knocks on the Steelers on either side of the ball against the Lions, but the offensive line was one of them, in my mind. I didn’t think this performance was terrible, but there’s still plenty of work this young unit needs to do before the season.
I thought Kevin Dotson once again was terrific. He held his own against interior defenders and bulldozed a few guys back to create some space. His pass protection may not have been quite as dominant as it was against the Eagles, but he had another strong performance and is easily the best lineman on the team right now if you ask me.
Unfortunately, there was some shaky play outside of him. I really wanted to see Kendrick Green take another step forward in this game, but he had a few really questionable snaps in pass protection – one of which nearly resulted in a sack.
The offensive line is hard to evaluate in live time, and I’ve already gone back and watched some film on the OL, but they didn’t do a great job creating running room on the ground, and the Steelers averaged just 2.9 yards per carry. Najee Harris had a long run of 8 yards but finished the night with just 10 rushing yards on 4 carries (2.5 per carry).