The Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive line has been in decline over the past several years. The great group that the team had together in the 2010's began to age and ultimately retired or left due to injury. The Steelers seemed to hold on to some of them for longer than they should have and it impacted the potential rebuild.
Steelers.com
The Pittsburgh Steelers 2017 offensive line.
After hitting near rock bottom a couple of years ago, the Steelers began the process of digging themselves out of the hole they were in. This is never a guaranteed process and the Steelers had some factors working against them.
One of those factors is that always having a winning season can work against you, we never did poorly enough to grab the top draft picks and the best offensive linemen never hang around to picks into the 20's.
Likewise trying to nab the top offensive free agents is an expensive prospect. You have to find a way to balance that with the other needs of your team. But after making some progress during the 2022 season, the Steelers just ripped off the Band-Aid and vowed to improve the line.
One of the ways they did that was by bringing in some free agents, particularly Isaac Seumalo who had been with the Philadelphia Eagles since being drafted in 2016.
Photo Credit: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images
Steelers' new guard Isaac Seumalo is proof of assistant GM Andy Weidl's influence on free agency.
Seumalo was part of the Eagles' two trips to the Super Bowl in 2018 and 2023. He played an active role in both. The first one, during his second season, he even said he played a little tight end.
Now Seumalo is speaking out about what it was like being part of such a great team and how thrilled he is to now be a part of this team in Pittsburgh.
Isaac Seumalo On Beating The Steelers
Recently, Seumalo appeared on the House of Yinzer podcast, which is hosted by LeeAnn Lowman and Allison Koehler. He was asked about the 2022 game against the Steelers last season.
The Eagles, with a record of 14-3, beat the Steelers, and nearly everyone else, on their way to Super Bowl LVII. Ultimately, they lost the Super Bowl to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Eagles were good, really, really good, so heading into the game, there weren't very many people predicting a victory for the good guys.
This was the game right before the bye week. Kenny Pickett was now in charge of the offense, but struggling to pull it all together. Defensively, T.J. Watt was still injured. There just didn't appear to be much hope.
The Steelers' defense absolutely had no answer for the Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown connection and the duo scored three of their five touchdowns.
CBS Sports
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw 3 touchdown passes to A.J. Brown on the way to a victory over the Steelers.
Seumalo said that the Eagles team last year was just hard to beat, it isn't a knock against the Steelers' defense, but rather how good that Eagles team was, just firing on all cylinders.
"We played them last year and regardless of the score, that defense and defensive line is always solid."
Now Seumalo is on the other side of the ball and we're hoping that some of that success wears off on us, or at least that he is able to help this young offensive unit grow.
"You're not in Philly anymore," jokes Koehler. "Can you tell us how did you guys just dominate our defense? Was it as simple as the absence of Watt?"
Seumalo, who had previously spoken about the deep respect he has for Pittsburgh, laughed at this.
"First of, all the Steelers d-line and defense has always been real solid, we didn't take them lightly going into it. Obviously, we had guys named Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown that were hard to beat for everybody. Those guys made our job look easy and we tried to make their job as easy as possible. In terms of Philadelphia last year, we were just kinda on top of everything each game, whether having a comeback or to put the foot on the pedal to keep going. Back then, it was a good game and now we can use it as a game to learn from."
Seumalo only allowed one sack last year and the Steelers are clearly hoping he can bring that kind of protection to our young quarterback. Keeping Pickett upright and able to operate is the key to success.
Derik Hamilton, AP
Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick defends a pass to AJ Brown of the Eagles, who scored 3 touchdowns on their way to victory.
According to Seumalo, you have to understand your opponent and he tries to do that by looking at the game through their eyes. That, coupled with knowing himself, is how he was able to help the Eagles last season and how he sees himself being able to help the Steelers going forward.
"You have to understand your strengths and weaknesses and how they can be advantageous or put me at a disadvantage. Each person you play against, they have their personal tendencies. I am all about increasing the odds of success. When it comes to third down and two-minute plays - you know the downs where we really gotta make our money in pass protection - understanding the guy across from me and then trying to see from his perspective as a d-lineman, what are they seeing and how can I counteract that and shoot my odds as high as I possibly can."
What do you think Seumalo brings to the table in terms of helping the Steelers' offense? Do you see him as an upgrade? Do you think it helps to have a player who was part of a winning tradition on another team join the Steelers? Click to comment below.
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