Friday, October 24, 2003

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The decision to move Alan Faneca, a two-time Pro Bowl guard, to left tackle was necessary for several reasons, the biggest being the Steelers' inability to find a capable replacement for injured Marvel Smith. Even when Smith, who has a pinched nerve in his shoulder, returns to full health, Faneca will likely remain at left tackle, and Smith will go back to his old spot at right tackle.

	More Steelers coverage: Steelers Report: 10/24/03

That arrangement will at least give the Steelers something they haven't had much of this season -- two tackles who can compete in the National Football League.

The Steelers are hoping Faneca's move will improve an offensive line that has allowed 20 sacks -- tied with Buffalo for most in the American Football Conference -- and hasn't opened enough holes for a running game that ranks 28th in the league. Left unsaid, though, is how much harm the switch might cause by taking Faneca from the position he dominates as well as anyone in the NFL.

"You look right down there, that's a big man over there," Faneca said, pointing to the locker where Keydrick Vincent, his replacement at left guard, was sitting. "He's got some playing time, and I think he's just going to get better with the more playing time he gets. He's going to get around on that corner and put that 330 pounds -- so he says -- on somebody."

Vincent, a third-year free-agent from Mississippi, is the team's biggest offensive lineman at 6-foot-5, 330 pounds. Despite his size, he has only 21 percent body fat. When the Steelers (2-4) play the St. Louis Rams (4-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Heinz Field, Vincent will take his size 15 feet and step into Faneca's position for the second game in a row.

But it's not just any position.

In the Steelers' run offense -- at least, what there is of it -- left guard is the most significant spot on the offensive line.

Faneca has made it that way.

"I got my style, and Al got his," Vincent said. "I'm just trying to execute plays and get the job done. You got to go out there and play football, no matter who's in there. Whoever is in there knows they have a job to do."

The Steelers haven't run many plays well this season, not with a ground game that hasn't produced a 100-yard rusher and averages just slightly more than 3 yards a pop (3.1).

But two plays they run better than most -- their signature running plays -- are "39 Boss" and "Counter Lead," or "Counter Power," depending on the blocking assignment. And, on each play, the lineman leading the way is Faneca, who pulls from his left guard spot. Faneca does not just execute those plays. He conducts a highlight-reel clinic in the process.

Remember the play against Cincinnati when Faneca knocked the helmet off linebacker Adrian Ross? That was 39 Boss.

How about the play where he flattened Ross later in the game? That was Counter Power, a variation of Counter Lead where Faneca blocks the outside linebacker instead of leading the back through the hole and taking on the middle linebacker.

Of course, the Steelers can always do what they did in Denver -- put Faneca back at left guard when they need a couple critical yards. They did that on the two-point conversion attempt against the Broncos, and Faneca led Jerome Bettis into the end zone on Counter Lead.

"It hasn't been brought up, but I wouldn't put it past the [coaches] the way we're going to approach the game," Faneca said about switching positions. "I wouldn't doubt it."

Faneca, though, was asked if such a switch would tip off the Steelers' intention of running the ball.

"You keep them guessing because you don't know what I'm doing over there," Faneca said, smiling. "If you're going to play the run, all of a sudden, on me because I'm going to guard, your corners better be good."

Faneca, though, is not focusing on playing guard. He has been told by the coaches to study only the left-tackle position against the Rams. To that end, he has spent the week working on his stance and getting ready to face Rams defensive end Grant Wistrom, who does not have a sack in six games.

Until he started at left tackle against the Broncos, Faneca had not played the position since high school. He was a backup left tackle when he first arrived at Louisiana State University, but he never played the position in a game because the starter never was injured.

"I'm going against different guys, a little bit quicker guys," Faneca said. "That's probably the biggest difference of me moving from guard to tackle. If someone's going to try to beat me up the edge, that's the real difference in my pass protection.

"I'm changing up my stance to get more of a different stance for the passing part of playing tackle and being able to adjust to come out of a running and passing stance. I don't find that a problem. It's just a matter of, you are the last line of defense out there I guess."

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