From the FanPosts  -Joel

The Kansas City Chiefs recorded their third win of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  So did the Chiefs pull out the win due to better offensive line play?  Once again this post will attempt to evaluate each offensive lineman on each offensive play for the first three quarters of the game.  There is no place to hide when you are on film.

One might think that the offensive line graded out better against the Pittsburgh Steelers because the Chiefs won.  However, that is not the case.  Despite the fact that the Chiefs won on Sunday the offensive line ended up grading out the lowest it has graded out for 4 weeks.  This appeared to be due to Pittsburgh's very physical front seven.  Casey Hampton was one of the Steelers that provided a push up the middle and caused Chief's lineman trouble all day.

A trend that has developed over the past 4 games is a tendency for the offensive lineman to start out slow and get better as the game goes along.  The reason behind this is unclear, however, this is something the Chiefs need to correct as the season enters the final quarter.

Observations after reviewing the film:

1. It is clear that all of the offensive lineman are hustling to the ball.  This does not always result in a completed 'second level' block...but it is apparent that the lineman are giving full effort.
   
2. In the first half the Chiefs used the TE as a receiver and run blocker.  In the second half the Chiefs used the TE as a pass blocker in a number of plays. 
   
3. Leonard Pope did very good as the run blocking TE.  He made some good second level blocks and although he did not dominate his defender...his defender rarely made the play.
   
4. Brian Waters had his first bad game in 4 weeks.  Still, Brian did a good job at picking up loop stunts and blitzes.  At one point he was getting driven by his defender on a passing play and still was able to get an arm out and slow down a blitzing linebacker that would have gone untouched.
5. Wade Smith again showed the ability to pick up blitzes and loop stunts, this is his best skill.  He might be a one trick pony due to his below average run blocking.
6. It is becoming apparent that in weeks when the Chiefs play a 4-3 the right guard has trouble.  In weeks when the Chiefs play a 3-4 the center has problems.
7. The unique combination of quickness and physical play by the Pittsburgh defense was a problem for the Kansas City Chiefs.
   
8. After watching the film...it appeared the difference in the run game was more Charles and his ability to find the hole.
   
9. Remember, blitz pick-ups have been placed in the PB Double area.  I have also placed 'pulls' (when a lineman pulls) in the 'second level' area. 

Here are the grades from first three quarters against the Pittsburgh Steelers :

TOP GRADE		TOP GRADE
	Pic Source Pic Source

For those of you that would like to see grades from previous games to track progress just check out the links below.

Link to Raiders grades here.

Link to Jaguars grades here.

Link to Chargers grades here.

Here's how the grading works:

• Each offensive lineman was given a "+" for doing their job or a "-" for failing to do their job on each play.
• These pluses and minuses were grouped into the type of block they were asked to do, e.g., a run block solo (RB Solo), a run block double team (RB Double), or a pass block solo (PB Solo), etc.
• A "D", for "driven", was assigned every time a player was manhandled during a pass or run play.
• The quality of the lineman's play is represented as a percentage above.  The higher the percentage the better the lineman did.
• I tried to be very strict...I think Haley would want it that way.
• One important note, some plays were unclear as to who exactly did not do their job, e.g., a defensive tackle going unblocked at the line of scrimmage.  Was it the centers fault?  The guards fault?  In these cases it was clear that a mistake was made and the player that looked to be most at fault was assigned the blame.