After an improbable three-week run the Steelers are shuffling off to Buffalo to take on the "Buff Bills," in Myron Cope speak. The Bills defense has some serious meat-eaters, and this week's Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup pits the interior of the Steelers line up against Bills DT Ed Oliver.
Oliver will be one of the smaller, but ferocious nonetheless, meat-eaters the Steelers have lined up against this year.
A five-year veteran of NFL trench battles, Oliver stands 6-foot-1, and weighs in at a smidge under 290-pounds — large enough for life, but small in stature in today's clash of the meat-eaters. What I alluded to earlier, though, is his ability to stir things up. And it's all about the snap and first step with Oliver.
Operating in close quarter combat is a tough way to make a living. Taking on meat-eating combatants weighing in excess of 325 to 350-pounds who also are generally in the 6-foot-5 to 6-foot-6 foot tall range is everyday heavy lifting for Oliver.
Explosive with excellent quickness, Oliver plays with a low pad level and an ability to use that leverage to create positive and powerful traction on the inside. Oliver most frequently can be found playing the 3-technique (outside shoulder of the guard), and occasionally heads up on an OT, he will flip sides, and both guards will see him most often.
Leverage and first-step quickness give Oliver an advantage in the pits. Oliver can neutralize a larger player with strong hands while locking out and keep his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. His ability to move laterally while staying square is one of his strengths. So, against the outside zone blocking schemes, getting Oliver to turn his shoulders and become one-dimensional by running laterally with his shoulders turned toward the sidelines will be key to running success.
While on the hunt for a quarterback pelt, Oliver will, on occasion, throw a few head fakes in to unbalance a pass protector. We used to call that the "Hypnotic eye." After a head fake or two, he will explode into you, hopefully catching you leaning the other way. As an addendum to his head fake, Oliver will finish with a strong uppercut, driving his arm deep into under the arm of the opponent. That allows him to use his lack of height as a way to uproot his opponent with under-and-up leverage, as Chuck Noll always referred to it. Think of James Harrison with the no-dip, just-rip technique he used for so many sacks.
Oliver also will throw in hand traps, effectively knocking down the hands of his opponent as he works the outer third of the man. Oliver is not a huge bull rusher by any means. He's not going to waste energy trying to go down the middle. Because of his lack of height, he can't afford to bury his head in the chest of his opponent.
But do not be deceived about how effective the hypnotic eye can be. It can freeze an offensive lineman for an instant, and that instant is all someone who has phone-booth quickness such as Oliver needs to add another QB pelt to the wall. The Bills will also run twist stunts on the inside, and he's got enough foot speed to be the trailer on those twist stunts.
Oliver parlayed all those attributes into 9.5 sacks while playing on the inside, and anything close to double-digit sacks from a defensive tackle is outstanding.
The weather in Buffalo is forecast to be non-conducive to throwing the ball. But that means the running game takes on an even greater importance. Keeping Josh Allen on the sidelines, rather than on the field, is going to be a huge part of the game. And to keep Allen on the bench, the Steelers need to roll the chains. To do that, they have to win in the trenches.
And to win in the trenches, it begins with neutralizing the "Pit-Master," Oliver.
