Steelers Offensive Line Breakdown Play By Play Versus Jets Week 15

Below is the play by play break down of the offensive line from the Sunday afternoon week 15 game versus the New York Jets. It is merely a pass or fail grade on if I think the lineman did his job or not. It also should be noted that we go under assumptions that we know what the assignment on each play was and sometimes it is not obvious. We have to grade on what we see and go from there. We added small notes to each play as well. As always if you disagree with any play, do so respectfully in the comments and give your reason so I can go back through and re-watch your disagreement.

This by far was the best collective game all season by the line. I did not include the 3 late spike plays in the stats as they did not need them to pad their stats. Both the pass and run blocking was on the money. Only the one 15 yard penalty was called on Flozell Adams as well. I had to grade a little faster this week because of the short week, but stand behind the strong scores as it was hard to find fault on several plays. The line benefited on the final drive of 3 and 4 man soft pass rushes, but they did their job just the same.

Overall Rating

Run Blocking Rating

Pass Blocking Rating

First Half Rating

Trai Essex – Before you get too excited about the perfect score for Essex it should be noted that 12 of his 13 credited snaps came on the final drive. In total he was in 16 plays with 3 being spikes. Also 6 of those were just 3 man rushes. While he performed well in those snaps in relief of Jonathan Scott, it is what it is. Hard to grade his play based on just these snaps.

Chris Kemoeatu – I had a feeling Kemoeatu would rebound, it just took one game longer than what I thought. He had some massive buries on trap pulls to the right and was damn near perfect on the might. While I am not naive to think it was the perfect of all perfect games, it was impressive the way I grade. He did benefit from the quick passes on the night and the late 3 and 4 man rushes on the final drive as well. He was on the money though and it was a great overall performance and his best this season. No holding calls either.

Ramon Foster – By far the best game of the season for Foster. Any time he is over 80%, it is great and for him to score 94% is outstanding. I had him as damn near perfect in the pass protection and his 4 mistakes I had were in the running game. Could I have missed 1 or 2 mistakes? Perhaps, but he really looked good turning guys out of the running lanes and worked really well with Maurkice Pouncey and Flozell Adams in pass protection. If he has games any where near this quality going forward, it is a gift.

Flozell Adams – Flozell was nails too on the right side and looked like he had played right tackle 10 years. He gave up his usual pass pressures and also had a stupid penalty, but really looked more mobile and on his details. I do not remember any plays that he just took off as he is known to do. He also was there for a fumble recovery. He benefited late in the game of the 3 and 4 man rushes, but you can not fault him for it. It would be nice to get him some rest before the playoffs if they can. When he is healthy and wants to play, he can dominate.

Maurkice Pouncey – Hard to believe Pouncey scores 93% and finishes 5th on this list. Make no mistake he was his usual strong self. I might of nit picked, but none of his mistakes were major. He certainly knows the line calls and knows how and where to help on the line. He worked real well with Foster and Kemoeatu on Sunday. This kid is exciting to watch, especially when he gets out in space.

Jonathan Scott – Outside of the missed block of Jason Taylor on the safety, Scott really had a complete game. He was yanked after the safety, but did not look bad except for a handful of other plays. Him scoring 89% is like a 100% in my eyes. The Jets pass rush talent was not overwhelming mind you, but these guys are in the NFL and paid to play. I suspect this was the most complete game he has ever had in the NFL and would not expect him to match this any time soon, but who knows. It will be interesting if he loses his job to Essex this week. I say give him one more shot against the Panthers. We shall see.

Play By Play Breakdown