When the Steelers had an undrafted rookie quarterback in Devlin Hodges making his first start on the road, they relied on a resurgent ground attack in their 24-17 win over the Chargers at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday night.
James Conner and Benny Snell totaled 116 rushing yards from the running backs. That's the first time this season they rushed for over 100 yards, and it helped them pull off their first win in the Pacific time zone since beating the Chargers in San Diego in 2015.
Let’s look at how that ground game got going for the first time in 2019:
The performance of the offensive line shares equal importance with the running backs in the success of their ground game. Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster, Alejandro Villanueva and Matt Feiler hadn't asserted their dominance in the ground game this season, even though they have given up the fewest sacks in the NFL (5).
But this game changed that as they helped Conner and Snell find the space to build momentum and run downhill against a Chargers defense that ranks 24th in the NFL. Plenty of that space was created by well-timed and executed combination blocks to control the Chargers' defensive line and get to the second level of their defense.
Watch how Foster and Villanueva chip off Jerry Tillery so that Villanueva can get to linebacker Kyzir White. While that's working, Zach Banner does a great job to seal Isaac Rochell to the outside. Their work opens the space for Snell to accelerate into the Chargers' defense for a seven yard gain:
Part of the ground game's struggles had been because of how aggressive the defenses they've faced attacked the line of scrimmage and clog any rushing lanes. The Chargers were nowhere near as quick to jump to the line, and the Steelers took advantage.
Conner's 12-yard touchdown run went right at the Chargers' best defender, edge player Joey Bosa. The Steelers used Vance McDonald to chip off Bosa and help Villanueva seal him to the inside. McDonald chipped to get safety Roderic Teamer and push him to the outside. As Pouncey holds up Brandon Mebane and Foster gets a hat on Thomas Davis, Conner gets the space to build up the momentum he needs for his power run style:
The offensive line's performance is a great sign for Mike Tomlin and Randy Fichtner moving forward. But it's also reminiscent of the point I've been making about the offensive line in these early weeks: They've been overwhelmed.
But in this game we could all see what happens when a defense isn't throwing their entire roster at the line. Watch how the Chargers' linebackers are just slightly hesitant as Davis remains backed off the line until it's too late to stop Snell from converting. DeCastro and company completely dominate the defensive line, but had Thomas come flying to the hole Snell might not have gotten this seven yard gain:
That's a sign that if Fichtner and the offense can find a way to back off defenses from forcefully attacking their ground game, the Steelers may have hope for re-establishing themselves as a strong running team.
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MORE CLASSROOM
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