The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line has surprised many with their above-average play in 2022 through eight weeks. Led by first-year OL coach Pat Meyer, the group has shut out a lot of the criticism that came their way before the season began. Recently, the offensive line's main struggles have come in the form of penalties.
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On an offense where points come at a premium, field position and yard-to-go situations become very important. Lately, the line has set the offense back with several costly penalties. One reoccurring theme has been an unusual amount of penalties called down the field, which for the offensive line, are called in the form of "ineligible man down field."
When speaking to the media in the middle of the team's Week 9 bye, Meyer was asked about these reoccurring, unusual penalties. He placed the blame for those penalties on himself and the rest of the coaching staff:
"We obviously have a bullseye on our back with that. We have to do something differently. Those are like RPO-type kind of plays. We're hitting combinations, we're even slowing our combinations down, trying to get up to the linebackers quickly. We have to change, we have to do something differently in terms of doing that stuff," Meyer told reporters on his unit. "I'm not putting that on the guys at all, I'm putting that on me and the coaches. Pre-snap penalties and stuff like that, that's on them. Those type of things when we're downfield, we either need to get the ball out a little bit quicker or change up what we're doing."
Rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett has drawn some criticism for his play over the last few weeks. Meyer hinted at Pickett holding onto the ball a bit too long near the end of his quote, talking about the offense needing to get the ball out quicker. Still, the offensive line has to do better. According to Meyer, those issues are on the coaches.
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The Steelers' five ineligible downfield penalties in the first two months is actually the most in the NFL. Overall, the team's 60 total flags is tied-for-8th most in the NFL this season. It's something that head coach Mike Tomlin and his staff have to fix if they want to be better in the second half of the season. Penalties have been a significant factor in their slow 2-6 start.
What are your thoughts on this quote from Pat Meyer? Should Pickett shoulder some blame for these penalties? What does the team need to do in order to eliminate penalties down the stretch of the season? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below, as well as on our social media sites, yinz!
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