The NFL game is all about matchups. Offensive coordinators spend countless hours trying to dictate the one-on-one battles that give them a competitive edge. Unfortunately for the offenses, there's not much they can do about the matchups up front in the trenches. They can help a tackle with a chip block from a back or a tight end, but the cost of that maneuver is one less man out on a route. The ripple effect is that the defense can double team a star receiver or blitz a backer.
When a defense has two quality defensive linemen lined up next to each other, it can be an impossible task to help both offensive linemen. Last year, the Tennessee Titans surprised most NFL fans by making the playoffs. When you watch their game films, you quickly realize that the combination of right defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch and right defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth proved to be the key to the Titans' success. The tandem broke down protections, beat on quarterbacks, rushed passes, stopped the run and let average players on the opposite side of the defensive line excel.
The first week of the NFL season is going to see a number of left sides of offensive lines tested by a two-man combination of right-side defenders who quickly will expose just how good teams can be on offense this season. My advice to the real football fans that are disciplined enough to watch the game in the trenches and not always follow the ball:
Look left!
The Tennessee duo comes out of the blocks against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Left tackle Khalif Barnes and left guard Vince Manuwai will have their hands full with Vanden Bosch and Haynesworth. The Titans let their two linemen call their own stunts, twists and rush techniques as they see fit and if the Jags help their left side too much, Jevon Kearse will come alive on the other side. Keep your eyes on the left side!
The Pittsburgh Steelers have question marks on the left side of the offensive line. Last year Marvel Smith had his struggles as Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 47 times -- or once every 10 attempts. Smith lost All Pro guard Alan Faneca in the offseason and now teams up with Chris Kemoeatu. A four-year vet who did not start any games last season, Kemoeatu is a good run blocker, but it remains to be seen how he will stand up in pass blocking. The Houston Texans come to town and Mario Williams (14 sacks) and Amobi Okoye (5.5 sacks) are a fast-rising duo that will quickly expose any issues the Steelers have on the left side. Once again, look left!
The New Orleans Saints hired a real dynamo defensive line coach in Ed Orgeron and he has his front four getting off the ball and attacking the pass all game long. The Tampa Bay Bucs now have Donald Penn as the permanent left tackle next to soon-to-be Pro Bowl guard Arron Sears. They face Will Smith, coming off a down year with seven sacks, and rookie tackle Sedrick Ellis. This will be a very interesting two-on-two battle that will probably do more to forecast the team to beat in the NFC South than any other thing to watch in the game.
The Cleveland Browns hit a home run in the 2007 draft when they selected left tackle Joe Thomas. Thomas quickly established that he didn't need any help blocking the pass rushers he faced and the experience of guard Eric Steinbach next to him made the left side of the Browns' line one of the strong suits of the club. They face the Dallas Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware and Chris Canty this week. Ware had 14 sacks last year and when he comes to the line of scrimmage, Thomas has him, which puts Steinbach on Canty. There is a lot of optimism in Cleveland that this is a playoff-bound team; the Cowboys believe they are a Super Bowl-bound team. We'll know early which team is headed in the right direction.
The Carolina Panthers moved Julius Peppers to the right side and he teams up with former Ram Damione Lewis at tackle. It would have been more interesting if Kris Jenkins was still a Panther, but Peppers seems ready to get back to double-digit sacks and the Panthers duo faces L.J. Shelton and Kris Dielman when they play the San Diego Chargers. If Peppers is back, then we will see a big game this week.
The most interesting game to look left will be on Monday night as the Minnesota Vikings play in Green Bay. Brett Favre was only sacked once every 37 pass attempts last year and the Green Bay Packers' offensive line got a lot of credit for that statistic. But in limited regular-season experience coupled with the 2008 preseason, new starter Aaron Rodgers has been sacked once every eight pass attempts. I will not take my eyes off the left side of the Packers' offensive line as Chad Clifton and Daryn Colledge team up against Jared Allen and Kevin Williams. Williams and Allen will not always be teamed up, but when they are they may be even better than the dynamic duo in Tennessee. The fate of the Packers' season may be identified on opening night on the left side of their offensive line.
The game inside the game is the way to really appreciate pro football and you may have to watch a contest a second time to see what goes on up front. I know in these six games, the great battles on the left side of the offensive line will rival any deep pass, reverse, flea flicker or blitz. You have to study it.
