Getty Bills DT Ed Oliver called out the Pittsburgh Steelers' O-line after their playoff matchup
Heading into the Divisional Round matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills, the game plan for the Steelers was pretty clear.
They needed to run the ball early and often. They tried. It didn’t work.
After the Bills’ 31-17 win, defensive tackle Ed Oliver took a shot at the Steelers’ offensive line.
Oliver told The Athletic’s Tim Graham, “I heard they wanted to play yesterday in the blizzard because they thought they could run the ball. Then we give them even better conditions, and they still can’t run the ball. …”
“Then you got a rookie tackle, talking about how he thinks he can dominate up front. OK.”
The Steelers struggled to get their run game going against the Bills and also allowed consistent pressure on Mason Rudolph.
He was only sacked one time in the game, but the Bills got six hits on him. Three of those came from Oliver.
Offensive Struggles for the Steelers
The Steelers struggled to get much going on the offensive side of the ball against the Bills.
The team’s running backs combined to run for just 75 yards on 20 carries after combining for more than 100 in each of the previous three games.
Rudolph was also just 22/39 for 229 yards in the game.
During the post-game press conference, Rudolph took some of the blame for the struggles, saying that the offense couldn’t stay balanced because he didn’t complete enough passes. He also praised the Bills’ defensive line.
Rudolph said, “We gotta be a little more balanced. I don’t know what I started the game throwing wise, but I didn’t have enough completions to really stay balanced. We knew they were a tough defensive front and wasn’t gonna be an easy job, but like I said, when you’re hitting some more balls on the outside like we weren’t it makes it a little more easier to keep ’em off balance.”
That defensive front helped to stifle the Steelers’ offense, holding them to 17 points and sending them home from the playoffs in the first round.
The League Slipped Up and They Didn’t Kick the Door Down
As the Steelers fought for their spot in this year’s playoffs, Steelers rookie offensive lineman Broderick Jones was outspoken about what he thought his team was capable of if they got into the playoffs.
Before the team’s Week 18 matchup against the Ravens, Jones posted a message to his Instagram story that said, “Slip up and let us in we kicking the door down.”
The Steelers did their part and beat the Ravens in Week 18. The Jaguars slipped up and lost to the Titans in their final game of the season to let the Steelers into the playoffs.
The Steelers didn’t kick anything down.
Jones later told reporters that he could see the Steelers dominating up front. That didn’t happen either.
To make matters worse, it sounds like the Bills used that as added motivation to win in the trenches.
Now the Steelers head into the offseason with their playoff drought intact and some things to address on their offensive line.