With the news that Trai Essex might be the Steelers left tackle for Saturday's playoff game against the Jaguars, it was worth going back to look at Sunday's game to see how the former third-round pick played in his first extensive action in two years.The good news if you're a Steelers fan is that Essex wasn't an absolute disaster. In fact, if you compare Essex' game to Marvel Smith's game against the Jaguars the last time the two teams played, Essex was clearly superior. Essex didn't allow a sack, and only allowed two hurries in three quarters of action. Admittedly Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata didn't seem particularly interested in giving exceptional efforts (Suggs spent way too many plays content to simply lock up Essex and stand there), but facing a very good pass rusher, Essex held his own. He also showed good recognition when blitzes came, sliding out to make a nice block on a blitzing defensive back on one play and recognizing another blitz to hand off his man and slide outside.
Each week I go back and rewatch the Steelers game to take a look at which offensive linemen starred and who left Willie Parker and Ben Roethlisberger on their back. You can see the reports from throughout the season 
