The opening drive from Atlanta gave me pause, even watching it back. They were dominating the middle, and to Highsmith’s side. Dalman and Lindstrom were the best run blockers against Benton I’ve seen in the last two years (okay, 1 game and 1 year)
-Watching through the game this is the worst I’ve seen Benton play. Hopefully just an off game.

I don’t know of many other teams that have such a dynamic interior two but there was a ton of running lanes with Dalman and Lindstrom causing issues for Benton.

Cam Heyward showed up big, played well throughout (could have to do to the fact that he went against the worst of the 3 interior linemen they have) But his play is encouraging.

What other teams could cause a similar to Benton around the NFL? Cowboys, Chiefs, Colts?

I will say I’m a little worried they don’t have a true nose for these amazing interiors. Giants selling yet?

I didn’t see Elandon Roberts as much as I should seeing these runs. Atlanta ran away from him and towards Queen. A good gameplay for how the Steelers run things.
-Roberts was a straight joy to watch last year against the run.

For a run first team it’s surprising they paid Freiermuth, he’s not much of a run blocker, see him get bullied too much.
-they need to only use him on moving blocks on downfield targets. Pruitt and Washington for box level threats.

How many games until Arthur Smith realizes his team is much better at blocking power vs. zone? Last year it was mid-way into the season before Canada realized it.
-there were a couple power runs sprinkled in but these two schemes need to be switched in frequency.

I’m not going to say this is an every down issue but I’ve noticed Broderick Jones’ pads are too high
-he’s kinda ass on the run, looks lost at times. He did okay pass blocking though.
–it’s weird he’s gotten worse since last year. No development at all sadly.

Spencer Anderson…I want to watch more of him run blocking, first one up the middle the d-lineman won. But not a super win.
-going back through the game, he was…eh. I’m hoping Seumalo is back soon.

I thought pass blocking was really good during the game and the all-22 backs it up
-outside of the Grady Jarrett plays

As much as we bag on Smith, there’s some decent concepts here. A big change from last year.
-still some head scratching pass concepts/reverses but no one is perfect.

Smith’s use of RPOs and (moreso) the motion RPO fakes to take some bodies away from the box are really nice. Just wish he set up his o-linemen more towards their strength vs. what they’re average at.

Minkah back in his deep safety role is just beautiful. Just watched him run from the deep safety position and make a tackle at the line of scrimmage.

Btw their secondary played well most of the game. A huge upgrade from last year.
-the pass rush definitely helps, they ain’t got to cover too long

I like some of these plays by Frazier. He does a really nice job when the run is right behind him. Choo choo.

It’ll be interesting to see how well the interior run game gets when they get Seumalo back. (please Arthur my family is starving, feed us more power runs)

Not a whole lot of routes or targets over the middle of the field. I wonder why, don’t trust your QB to read levels? Feels like a pretty easy thing to read no?
-maybe smith just wanted to utilize rollout more?

Payton Wilson, love his play. Made a few rookie mistakes but the athleticism is real.

WR run blocking is very suspect. Hopefully the reports on Roman Wilson being a decent blocker holds true from college.

Justin Fields, he misses too many reads and doesn’t throw with anticipation. But he’s fast and the gameplan worked. I doubt it’ll work very long against some of the better defensive coordinators. Seems like a lot of this took Atlanta by surprise with the boot outs. But it’s not like the Steelers scored any TDs with this offense. It’s a major concern going forward.

The time of possession was huge though. You could tell it really helped the defense stay fresh all the way through the 4th, something we haven’t seen much in recent years.

Overall, good game. Still a lot of room for improvement.