The excitement in Jeff Saturday’s voice is palpable through the phone. Like everyone else, he is salivating over the showdown between Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Bills’ Josh Allen — both of whom are NFL Most Valuable Player candidates — in Sunday’s divisional round playoff game in Orchard Park, New York.
But for a former center who was a two-time All-Pro, six-time Pro Bowl selection and spent 14 seasons in the NFL — including 13 with the Indianapolis Colts and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning — what intrigues him most is the battle that will be waged among the offensive lines.
“The Bills’ offensive line is one of most undervalued assets in football,” Saturday, now an analyst for ESPN, told The Baltimore Sun this week. “They have a very, very good O-line.”
Indeed.
Buffalo was second in the NFL in points per game (30.9), ninth in yards (365.3) and became the first team in NFL history to score at least 30 touchdowns through the air and 30 on the ground, led by running back James Cook’s 1,009 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns and, of course, Allen’s 3,731 passing yards and 28 touchdowns to go with 12 rushing scores. A big reason: its bullies up front.
The Bills ranked fourth in fewest pressures allowed (134) on their 581 passing plays during the regular season, according to Pro Football Focus, and surrendered the fewest sacks (four) in the league. They also ranked fourth in PFF’s pass blocking efficiency rating (88.1).
The anchor of the group, which was ranked fifth overall by PFF behind only the Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles — all playoff teams — has been Pro Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins, who allowed pressure on just 4.3% of passing plays this season.
Perhaps surprisingly given their early season struggles, the Ravens aren’t far behind.
The eight sacks they allowed were the second-fewest to only Buffalo. The 145 pressures allowed on 539 passing plays tied for ninth-best. And their efficiency of 85.8 tied for 13th.
Pro Bowl selection Tyler Linderbaum’s 82.5 PFF run-blocking grade ranked fourth among all centers. Coach John Harbaugh settling on and sticking with three new starters — left guard Patrick Mekari, right guard Daniel Faalele and rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten — has paid dividends, too.
Baltimore was third in scoring (30.3), first in yards (427.1), and became the first team in league history to throw for at least 4,000 yards and rush for at least 3,000 in the same season. A big reason: its bullies up front.
“Playing leverage well,” Saturday said when asked what has stood out most to him about Baltimore’s offensive line. “When I look at offensive line play, I look at hat placement, fit and leverage. They’ve worked on all those things as the season has progressed.”
It helps to have Jackson and Derrick Henry in the same backfield, of course.
“Part of my concern — and I said this after last year’s AFC championship game — was they got away from their identity,” Saturday said, noting the six carries for running backs in that 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last January. “I felt like they did that [in a loss earlier this season] against the Raiders.
“When you have the opportunity for a running game to give you as many explosive plays as the passing game, you’re lowering risk and increasing reward. You’re bludgeoning teams. Now that 5-yard gain is a 50-yard gain. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken has stuck to who they should be as opposed to getting caught up in what may look best. When you stay true to who you are, that’s what separates good from great.”
As Mekari told The Sun, “it took work” to get there up front.
Time, too.
For the first three weeks of the season, first-year player Andrew Vorhees, who missed last season because of a knee injury, started at left guard. But after suffering an ankle injury, Mekari slid inside from his right tackle position, despite having previously played just 10 snaps at left guard. Rosengarten took over full-time at right tackle. And Faalele, a mass of humanity at 6-foot-8 and 380 pounds, needed to learn a new position at right guard after spending his first two seasons at tackle.
“It takes time to coordinate with each other, understand how we’re going to go about it together,” Mekari said. “I wish it was great from the first game, but some of that stuff takes time.”
There were growing pains and emotional ones, too.
In late August, longtime offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris died unexpectedly. Former Houston Texans offensive line coach George Warhop, whom Harbaugh had known for years and took over when D’Alessandris first fell ill, stayed on.
On the field, there were some glaring struggles. The most notable came in Week 1 against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs when defensive tackle Chris Jones roasted Rosengarten on the second-round draft pick’s first snap and strip-sacked Jackson on the first play of the second quarter.
Faalele, meanwhile, looked out of place for a man of his size, was slow afoot and struggled early in the year to pick up stunts, twists and blitzes. Rosengarten was at times inconsistent or simply overpowered. Linderbaum and rejuvenated veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley were the only bright spots.
Over time, though, the group began to not only jell but improve, perhaps no one more so than Faalele.
“What’s really impressive is to watch him change direction in short area and get his hands on guys,” Warhop said. “That’s still a work in progress — his hands — but the way he moves laterally, and the things he can do in pass [protection] I think is pretty impressive.”
He’s made even bigger strides in run blocking, and there’s no better evidence than the two men he most often clears a path for.
Henry was second in the NFL in rushing yards (1,921) and tied for first in rushing touchdowns (16). Jackson led all quarterbacks in rushing (915).
“It’s not just Daniel — all of them,” Warhop continued. “He’s a big man, [and] sometimes it’s hard to uncoil your hips when guys are right on top of you. It’s a matter of also adjusting where you are at the line of scrimmage. We tend to crowd the ball sometimes, which negates our power at the point of attack in the run game. Really, if you want to get technical about it, all your power is generated on your second or third step. If you’re crowding the ball, and you don’t get your second step in the dirt, you’re not generating enough power, so that’s part of his issue is getting his feet in the dirt to go forward.”
Which is the same direction Baltimore’s men in the trenches have moved for several reasons that go beyond power, agility and the technical skills of blocking.
There are weekly dinners among the offensive linemen. Stanley has often tutored younger players with extra on-field work after practice. Chess became an obsession with much of the group. Linderbaum and Mekari, neighbors in the locker room and benchmates during games, have become close.
Friendship has mattered “a lot,” Mekari told The Sun. “Our relationship off the field matters because you get to know the person and trust the person more than just what you see on the field.”
They’ve also remained intact, which is no small feat considering Stanley’s and Mekari’s injury history and the inherent brutality of an offensive lineman’s job.
“Sometimes it’s the luck of it,” Mekari said of the unit remaining healthy. “I think we’re all doing extra stuff to stay that way.”
Better training methods, more ice baths and good fortune have all played a role — and the offense benefitted as a result.
“The offensive line is just like every position, but there’s a lot of individual stories in there,” Harbaugh said. “Five individual starters, and then there’s others, too, in the depth part of it. If you get into that room, you kind of see that each guy has his own story, but probably, as a whole, it’s probably just steady improvement. They’ve been through a lot.
“You look back at the ‘Joe D’ situation and the fact that it was three new guys [starting] and all of that kind of stuff. Some of the doubts and all that kind of stuff, but they dealt with them.”
And thrived.
In the 28-14 wild-card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore gashed what was the 10th-best run defense in terms of yards allowed. After surrendering 109.8 yards per game on the ground in the regular season, the Steelers allowed 299, including Henry’s 186 and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
Over his past four games, Henry has averaged 158.3 yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry. Earlier this season against the Bills, he rushed for 199 yards and a touchdown on just 24 carries in a 35-10 rout.
Which is exactly why Saturday says he can’t wait for Sunday to see how the offensive lines will perform for their star players.
“This triple option threat with Lamar is dang near indefensible,” he said. “He presents so many problems when he’s willing to run the ball. They’ve found a sweet spot with the offense.
“I thought, man, this, you can’t script this any better.”
