If you were worried about Steelers right tackle Flozell Adams’ play in the preseason opener against the Lions, you probably popped a couple of Tums Saturday night.
Given a second chance to prove that he’s ready to be the Steelers’ right tackle, Adams seemed to be looking to make it an open competition. In 21 snaps, Adams gave up three quarterback pressures (although one could be blamed on Ben Roethlisberger holding the ball). He was also flagged for a holding penalty, and made one tackle when Isaac Redman ran over Adams as he stood in the hole without blocking anyone.
There seemed to be two themes to Adams’ struggles. After Lions’ defensive end Cliff Avril beat him with a speed rush, Adams did everything they could to avoid a repeat performance. But that meant that he slid outside too quickly on Saturday. Too often that left a massive hole between him and right guard Trai Essex which Giants defensive ends took advantage of by looping back inside.
The other problem Adams appeared to have was one of hesitation. There have been stories mentioning Adams’ difficulty in learning the Steelers’ playbook in a short period of time. On Saturday there were plays where it looked like Adams was too busy thinking “who do I block?” to fire out and put a hurting on a defensive lineman.
The Steelers’ coaching staff had talked about getting Jonathan Scott some work with the first team. In some ways that was true–some of the first team offensive line was still in the game when he entered. But in reality Adams got the first 21 snaps and Scott got the final 41 (although I didn’t chart the final two kneel downs).
So how did Scott do? Pretty well. He did get to face second and third-teamers in general, but Scott did block Justin Tuck and other Giants starters early in his Saturday work. In general, he wasn’t always pretty but Scott got the job done. His worst blocks were much better than Adams, and his best blocks were better too. For more detail, here’s my notes from charting each snap for the two right tackles.
| Play No. | Flozell Adams’ results | Successful block? |
| 1 | Adams gives punch to Tuck then slides off to block DT, helps Mendenhall to a nice gain, although Heath Miller actually seals the corner | Yes |
| 2 | Adams blocks Tuck, slides to his right on bootleg left. | Yes |
| 3 | Adams gives solid protection, walls off Justin Tuck | Yes |
| 4 | Adams slow to get out of stance. Gives Tuck an ineffective shove | No |
| 5 | Adams asked to block down (on DT) on a reverse. OK block | Yes |
| 6 | Adams shoves Tuck to the ground. Excellent block | Yes |
| 7 | Adams pulls to the left. Never finds anyone to block | Yes |
| 8 | Adams slides too wide, leaves Tuck opening to duck inside almost untouched. Charged with pressure allowed on Roethlisberger INT | No |
| 9 | Adams fires out quickly looking for a LB to block. Never really finds one. | Yes |
| 10 | Adams helps out Essex on block, then slides off to give shove to LB | Yes |
| 11 | Adams shadows Tuck at first, but Roethlisberger holds, ball which allows Tuck to look around inside of Essex for pressure | Yes |
| 12 | Adams blocks inside gap. Poor effort, never blocks anyone | No |
| 13 | Adams DTs Tuck with Miller, gives shove which drives Tuck back on successful run his way | Yes |
| 14 | Adams takes two steps forward, unsure of who to block. Redman runs over his back, so essentially Adams tackles Redman | No |
| 15 | Adams gives quick block to Joseph, but loses him to inside. | No |
| 16 | Adams too high as Tuck goes low. Wraps up Tuck and throws him to ground for holding call. | No |
| 17 | Adams again sets too wide, allowing gap between him and Essex. #94 takes advantage to flush Roethlisberger from pocket. Pressure allowed | No |
| 18 | Adams does good job on DE. Sends him wide, stays between him and Roethlisberger. | Yes |
| 19 | Adams fires out, but misses block on Keith Bulluck who records tackle | No |
| 20 | Adams gives punch, then slides outside for screen pass, but Giants blow up the play | Yes |
| 21 | Solid block on DE on three-step drop | Yes |
| Play No. | Jonathan Scott’s Results | Successful block? |
| 1 | Fires off ball well gets a good block on OLB. | Yes |
| 2 | Scott asked to block down. Finds a LB and gives decent push. | Yes |
| 3 | Scott does good job with difficult read. Lets TE take DE lined up on him because he sees a blitzing LB. Picks up the blitzer and stops him cold. | Yes |
| 4 | Scott locks up Tolleson, but DE slides off to make tackle | No |
| 5 | Scott sees no one rushing from outside, so slides inside and locks up LB. Excellent block. | Yes |
| 6 | Scott gets caught with slow feet. Has to lunge to hang on to push DE past Lefwtich. Not pretty but it worked. | Yes |
| 7 | Excellent block as Scott stops DE in his tracks. Allows Leftwich to let lose with TD bomb to Wallace | Yes |
| 8 | Scott goes to second level. Struggles to find someone to block, but ball is run other way, so it doesn’t matter. | Yes |
| 9 | Scott again makes possibly wrong read. Sticks with DE who was lined up on him. DE slanted inside, where he could have been handed off to Legursky. LB comes unblocked off Scott’s outside shoulder, pressures Leftwich because Moore can’t get over from other side until late in blitz pickup. Scott’s man continues inside, slides off Legursky to force Leftwich to run. | No |
| 10 | Plays a little high, but regathers his feet and stops DE. | Yes |
| 11 | Not much to do on fake spike/QB sneak. | Yes |
| 12 | Blocks down adequately on quick throw. | Yes |
| 13 | Part of group of OL stood up at line as Moore stuffed on goalline play. | No |
| 14 | Poor block on a LB, caught lunging as LB slides around him. | No |
| 15 | No one really to block (asked to block down). Keeps looking for someone. | Yes |
| 16 | Good job of using his hands to keep DE from every getting anymomentum. | Yes |
| 17 | Does get driven back (his feet slide back while DE gives bull rush), but he keeps Dixon’s pocket clean. | Yes |
| 18 | Scott misses on a cut block. His man gets into backfield to force a cutback. | No |
| 19 | Quick drop and throw. Scott stands up, gives quick punch. | Yes |
| 20 | Plays patty-cake with DT as neither tries really hard. | Yes |
| 21 | Pushes on DT, but not enough as his man helps on tackle. | No |
| 22 | Nice job giving seal on LB on Redman’s touchdown. | Yes |
| 23 | Decent block at first, but doesn’t stay locked up. His man slides off to make tackle. | No |
| 24 | Solid job on quick throw. | Yes |
| 25 | Takes a nice step inside, then gets the seal on OLB to create hole for Vincent’s 18-yard run. | Yes |
| 26 | Walls off DE on run the other way. | Yes |
| 27 | DE doesn’t give much effort. Easy successful pass block for Scott. | Yes |
| 28 | Puts his man on the ground then lays on him on Dixon run to outside. | Yes |
| 29 | Gives nice push as Steelers right side of line caves in Giants DL. | Yes |
| 30 | Poor block. Tries to cut his man, but it doesn’t work. LB meets Wright in hole, but Wright runs over him for TD. | No |
| 31 | Drives his man back on run the other way. | Yes |
| 32 | Helps Urbik/Johnson cave in Giants left side of line on run the other way. | Yes |
| 33 | Drives DE off the screen with help from Johnson. | Yes |
| 34 | Solid job. Helps Urbik with his man, slides off to catch quick reacting LB. | Yes |
| 35 | No one to block on quick throw other way. | Yes |
| 36 | Decent job protecting Dixon, but his man reaches up to knock down pass. | No |
| 37 | Slow off snap, but teams with Johnson to again destroy DE. | Yes |
| 38 | Puts OLB on the ground. | Yes |
| 39 | Solid block on bootleg for first down. | Yes |
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