One of the big stories of the first two weeks of preseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers was the disappointing play of the offensive line. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were each sacked three times, which was a major reason why the offense never really got into rhythm. That changed in the last preseason game against the Detroit Lions.
The first two drives resulted in touchdowns. One was led by Wilson, the other by Fields. But when the quarterbacks were replaced, the first team remained in the game on both drives. No play showed the improvement from the previous two weeks better than George Pickens’ third-down conversion on the opening drive.
Wilson gave the offensive line a lot of praise for the play, which ended with a 29-yard pass to Pickens.
“They fought (Pickens) man to man. He did a great job and won,” Wilson said in a video posted on the Steelers’ YouTube page. “The guys up front did a really good job of protecting me on that play and giving me time.”
I don’t have official snap-to-throw numbers yet, but my home estimate is Wilson on this play at about 3.31 seconds. That may not seem like much, but it’s about 25 percent longer than the average snap-to-throw time. Wilson had a very clean pocket and probably could have waited another second or so before coming under serious pressure. You can see Wilson go through several steps in his development before pulling the trigger on Pickens for a big conversion.
With Wilson and Fields having the longest snap-to-throw times in the NFL last season, the line will have to get used to these longer plays.
Wilson was interviewed by Missi Matthews on the sidelines during the game and talked about the offense stepping up and blocking out the noise. Especially after last week, Wilson and the offense felt like a lot of “noise” was coming from the media. Much of that noise was directed at the offensive line, particularly OT Broderick Jones.
It’s difficult to give an overall grade without watching the All-22 video, but Wilson and Fields were both held up during the two scoring drives to start the game. Fields ended up taking two sacks, but one of those was to Devery Hamilton, who likely won’t make the roster. Another was the result of an untimely snap by Zach Frazier in the shotgun.
Jones didn’t play a perfect game, but he was more aggressive with his shots in pass defense and didn’t get exposed like he did last week against the Bills.
The Lions were unable to use their starters, so the offensive line had the advantage of playing against weaker opponents. Still, it was a nice turnaround and a good confidence boost heading into the regular season in just a couple of weeks.
