Without question one of the most insanely idiotic comments I’ve ever seen on this site. And that’s really saying something. Congratulations.

I would hope so anyways.

Use of the shotgun may be something of an adventure. Especially if Raji plays like he has for the last 8 games.

im not sure if you have watched any steeler games but the main point was that teams were able to dominate the line of scrimmage with their defensive line creating havoc in the backfield which did not even give the steelers a chance to worry about getting to the linebacker level…this game seems like they will be able to…

im not saying that Pittsburgh will dominate the line of scrimmage; the Packers front seven is still the better unit. What I’m saying is that if Pittsburgh had to choose a top five defensive front to play against, they may choose the Packers because of the style. The great equalizer for Green Bay should be their outside linebackers, particularly Clay Matthews.

In the running game, the Steelers offensive linemen will rarely be blocking these types of athletes. That responsibility will fall to their tight ends, mainly Heath Miller. He was probably the best blocking tight end this year, he is capable of handling either Matthews or Erik Walden in the running game by himself.

The Steelers also use trips bunch formations in the ground game, which should help handle these edge players. The outside linebackers will be forced to align wider against these types of formations. If Miller can hold his own against the outside linebackers in standard formations and personnel and the Steelers can handle the inside linebackers with just their offensive line in three wide receiver sets, I think the Steelers have a good chance of running the ball like they did against the Jets.

and in the 3-4 the d line not only has to keep the linebackers clean they have to destroy the run fits that are present and this was clear they did not do that good of a job as they ranked 18th in yards allowed and were in the bottom 5 of ypa…

and if lergurski does blow the center position is the easiest position to give help too

handling matthews in the passing game will be hard as the steelers will have no answer but ask suggs how that worked out…the past 2 games against the steelers he had 6 sacks and a forced fumble that was returned for a td and they lost both games

I’m not doubting that the pack are a quality team and deserve to be in the SB, but, how did the pack make other teams o line look silly week in week out and only have a10-6 record? Some teams ( at least 6) must have had their way with your o line as well!

“a record 14 (I believe) significant contributors on IR”

Really, ALL 14 were significant contributors?? I’m sure you would be happy to list them out for everyone here??

I mean yea I could see him trying to tough it out with just a high ankle sprain,but not with a broken bone on top of that.

The standard is the standard.

We don’t make excuses. This is an opportunity for a young man to fill in and do his job to the standard of the greatest organization in professional sports.

Unlike all the Packers fans who keep whining about their 4,000 players on I.R. Like they are the only team in the whole NFL who has injuries.”

We don’t whine about the injuries…. We brag about having such a deep team that we make the superbowl with a record 14 (I believe) significant contributors on IR. We brag about our coaching staff who has held things together, and we brag about our front office who has built such a deep team.

That’s what all of the other top notch O-lines said the last 4 weeks. First NFL start and it’s in the Super Bowl?? He’ll be puking on his shoes by the 3rd series and the D-line will have him screwing up left and right….guaranteed. Watch when Ben starts kicking the ball around while it’s on the turf.

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pigspigspigspigs says:
Feb 4, 2011 3:58 PM

Doug Legursky, might actually be better equipped to handle this kind of pass rush, Legursky’s short and stocky build should be ideal for handling bull rushes and clubs — his low center of gravity should keep him fairly stable.
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See above. Every week, the Packers have taken top notch O-lines and made them look silly. They go and go and go and eventually the tank runs out of gas from the tenacity of GB’s speed and strength. Ben is tough to bring down but is also the slowest QB in the league…probably by FAR. He’ll get caught alot. Pitt’s DB’s won’t be able to keep up with the Pack’s spread and Troy P. can’t cover all 4 or 5 guys. Good luck.

Cullen Jenkins likely won’t play much on running downs – they will use Howard Green (who is enormous) instead.

Again, the whole point of the 3-4 is to have your D-Line stalemate the other team’s o-line and let the linebackers make the plays (“in-space”).

So the pittsburgh O-line will have to try and move 1300 lbs of Packer man-meat to try and run the ball effectively. A tall task.

Steelers 24
Packers 20

GO STEELERS!!

The steelers o line is a weakness but if you take a closer look at the matchup this is the type of matchup the steelers o line would want.

green bay has a big and physical defensive line (all three starters are over three bills). They like to get into offensive linemen, knock them back, and shed them to make plays in the backfield. If there is one thing that Pittsburgh’s offensive line has, it is size It will be tough to knock back guys as big as Flozell Adams, Ramon Foster, and Chris Kemoeatu. The best matchup the Packers have up front is Cullen Jenkins against Jonathan Scott, which is a decent-sized mismatch. However, the Steelers prefer to run to the right, which should diminish the effectiveness of Green Bay’s best defensive lineman.

Of course, most people’s concern with the Pittsburgh offensive line stems from their inability to protect Ben Roethlisberger. However, I think that the Packers front three will struggle to get pressure on Roethlisberger. With the exception of Jenkins, none of the Packers defensive linemen are particularly quick. Most of them are bull rushers with club counters, meaning they like to fire into an offensive lineman and get him off balance before using their forearm to club the defender to one side or the other.

the Steelers struggle up front when they can’t get their hands on people and are forced to deal with space. The Green Bay defensive line tries to eliminate space to create push, which is what the slower, heavier Steelers offensive line would prefer. Maurkice Pouncey is the one Steelers player who has the most trouble with pure strength, and he will be out. Doug Legursky, might actually be better equipped to handle this kind of pass rush, Legursky’s short and stocky build should be ideal for handling bull rushes and clubs — his low center of gravity should keep him fairly stable.”

Sorry but the 3-4 DL’s job is to simply tie up blockers so that the LB’s can make plays “in-space” – That’s kinda the point of the 3-4 – make the lineman play “in space” against the O-Line. According to you that makes it a terrible matchup for the Steelers.

Your whole post ignores the 4 linebackers behind the big 3. All GB’s DLineman have to do is stalemate the O-line and not get pushed back and let the LBs make the plays. If the D-line gets a push thats simply a bonus.

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that’s why there is a 53 man roster.

They usually only dress 7 linemen anyway. They will probably dress Tony Hills as backup tackle and Essex will be a backup for the interior lineman. If any starters get hurt, though, they will be struggling!

The standard is the standard.

We don’t make excuses. This is an opportunity for a young man to fill in and do his job to the standard of the greatest organization in professional sports.

Unlike all the Packers fans who keep whining about their 4,000 players on I.R. Like they are the only team in the whole NFL who has injuries.

Nothing more than Big Snack does, thats for sure.

Rodgers did not even WIN a playoff game until this year.
Ben – 2 rings, 4 championship games, 10 playoff wins….that 35 rating is not how you measure what he did in that game. Rodgers was SHUT DOWN halfway through the 2nd quarter of his (only) championship game and the Bears defense is nowhere near as good as the Steelers. Do not expext Raji to get a pick 6 and bail you out this week.

The biggest problem you have with a center going down is the timing with the QB (and this did come out with the safety in the Jets game) but with two weeks to practice – this will become more and more of a moot issue.

Believe me, I am cheering harder than most people for the Packers this Sunday (with the exception of the umpteen millions of die hard Packer fans) but really … the center not playing having a MAJOR impact on the outcome of the game – not a chance. He will be able to read the coverages and call the blocking schemes just as well and the impact will be minimal at best.

Go Pack!