The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Jets to begin their season 1-0, but there is clearly a lot that needs to be cleaned up. The defense had the lion’s share of issues, allowing 32 points to a Jets team that lacks a ton of star power, but the offensive line had a rough outing in its own right.
Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times in Week 1, and in this week’s film room, we’ll go through each one and point out the biggest problem.
Sack One
Jets linebacker Jermaine Johnson gets a good angle on Troy Fautanu.
This forces Aaron Rodgers to step up into the pocket, and Quinnen Williams gets off Broderick Jones and gets the sack. Jones rightfully caught a lot of flak for his performance (and rightfully so), but this one falls more in the lap of Fautanu than it does Jones.
Sack Two
Here, Will McDonald just has his way with Jones. He straight up overpowers him, pushes him back, and when Rodgers steps up, McDonald simply gets off the block and brings him down.
Sack Three
This was by far the worst rep of the day by Jones, or any other offensive lineman for that matter. McDonald just blows by him. No excuse for this level of play.
Sack Four
The Jets stack their defensive line to the right side of the screen. Pat Freiermuth chips and goes and Jones actually takes care of McDonald. This leaves Zach Frazier to help Isaac Seumalo on Jowon Briggs and Mason McCormick one-on-one with Quinnen Williams. This means Kenneth Gainwell needs to get a good pass pro rep on a free-rushing Quincy Williams. He initially slows his progress, but Williams gets through and gets to Rodgers.
It goes without saying that the offensive line needs to be marginally better against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2, as Demarcus Lawrence and Leonard Williams will be seeing this exact tape this week and licking their chops thinking they’ll be able to feast.
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