The Steelers' offense was knowingly going to be limited in 2021 starting four rookies in Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth, Kendrick Green and Dan Moore Jr. alongside a 39-year old Ben Roethlisberger.
But in the team's home stretch, Green's contributions have been the most limiting of the group of new players. As he's grown into the role of an NFL center, Green has regressed from early progress made in his season instead of building on his progress. That's led to problems which leaked to other parts of the offense, discouraging what plays can be called and what Roethlisberger can do in the pocket.
Green showed good early signs in his debut with the Steelers and midseason studies of his play showed that he was taking steps forward, but needed to improve how he used his hands as a center to establish and maintain leverage against defensive linemen.
Now, it seems like he's taken steps backwards as the season's continued. It's not uncommon for rookies to lose the fundamentals focused on during training camp as a season continues, as focus on fundamentals shifts to focus on week-to-week adjustments and game plans for each new opponent and potential matchups. T.J. Watt experienced that in his rookie year when he went from showing several pass rush moves in the first weeks of his rookie season to having just one move in the final weeks.
Green will have to work with interim offensive line coach Chris Morgan to close out the season after Adrian Klemm's departure. But he has to be able to execute the basics, especially in pass protection for what might be Roethlisberger's final games in the NFL.
Watch this pressure he gives up to Chris Jones, who lined up overtop of John Leglue and was Green's only concern on the play. Leglue also needs to do more to help on this pressure, especially against one of the NFL's best defensive tackles in Jones, but Green has the perfect chance to line up Jones and give him a strong shot that would've stopped his inside rush move.
Not only does he not apply enough power, but Green is also late, hitting Jones' back and allowing him to collapse the pocket:
It's one thing if Green just physically was overpowered, but reacting and fighting to get to the right spot are the least that could be done there.
This goes back to the observations made midseason about how Green's lack of experience at center were proving costly as he couldn't get his hands up from snapping the ball quick enough to accurately place his hands where he can establish inside leverage on opponents.
Now he's not even getting them up to get his hands on his opponents at all. That's what led to the sack he surrendered when Tarran Reed walked right past him into the backfield to sack Ben Roethlisberger, force and recover a fumble before Green would tackle him to save the touchdown:
That's about as poor as a center can get when it comes to accountability.
It's been a theme for Green this season, as Pro Football Focus' stats show he's allowed four quarterback hits and three sacks directly from his assignments in games this season. That's the third-most quarterback hits and fourth-most sacks allowed from an NFL center this season.
While the center holds a lot more responsibilities as the communicator and connecting part of the offensive line who's supposed to bring everyone together, it's also the position that naturally gets the most help in pass protection as there is help to either side of the center. That's why those numbers should even be lower than they are for Green.
But Green was supposedly drafted for his mean streak and ability to be physical and set a tone for the offensive line. Green certainly has a chippy side to his game that antagonizes opponents and shows that he can be mean. But he hasn't shown enough of how to be that mean player while also actually making blocks.
That's forced the hand of Matt Canada on run plays for the Steelers to avoid attacking the interior A-gaps and pushed Harris to find holes outside. Green's still part of those plays, but the Steelers have shown they clearly wanted to run more to the outside, especially in recent weeks.
Here's an example of that when it worked, as Harris was able to rely on Zach Gentry making a block at the point of attack and then using his acceleration to rip off a 21-yard run, his longest of the day:
But as we saw Sunday, that doesn't always work.
The Steelers' offense saw in 2020 how teams adjusted to their short passing attack when they realized there weren't many other legitimate threats by the offense. Teams seem to have realized a similar opportunity when facing Green with the Steelers' offense and how they're calling more run plays that don't rely on him to win at the point of attack.
Here's the stop on 4th and 1 when you could see three Chiefs defenders rush outside to take care of Harris before he can get started. They know if the run goes inside that they'll most likely win such a battle, and that notion was reinforced on the play when you could see Green get driven back behind the line:
Although Green's job wasn't what killed the Steelers on that play, it was still a bad sign for things to come.
Crazy enough, the Steelers got a perfect example of how to control the middle of the line from J.C. Hassenhauer, who filled in for Green after he allowed Roethlisberger to be walloped on the sack and fumble he created.
Watch how Hassenhauer made sure to win with his hands and establish leverage against Tershawn Wharton, keeping control of A-gap. You can see he controlled his man just long enough for Harris to slip by for a six-yard gain:
Although Green was said to have a calf injury to finish the game, it seemed odd that the injury came right after giving up such a big play.
Now, Green is going to have to show in practice he can fight off Hassenhauer to retain the starting center position for the next two weeks or more. But if he's put back out there against the Ravens and Browns, he has to at least handle the basics of the job with hand placement, proper snaps and at least getting a body on interior pass rushers.