COVERING THEIR BACK SIDE

He’s in his 32nd season as an NFL assistant coach, so maybe it’s only natural that Howard Mudd thinks of his offensive linemen as family.

And, in that family, his left tackles are the housewives.

“They go unnoticed and unappreciated,” Mudd explained, “until something goes wrong.”

And when something goes wrong with a left tackle, it can spell disaster. After all, he’s the player responsible for protecting the blind side of a right-handed quarterback, the lineman who squares off every down against the league’s most ferocious pass rushers -- a migraine-making lineup of sack artists such as Miami’s Jason Taylor, Indianapolis’ Dwight Freeney, Green Bay’s Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Tampa Bay’s Simeon Rice. Come to think of it, any self-respecting housewife would leave in a huff.

“That puts a lot of stress on a guy because a number of injuries have happened because quarterbacks have been hit from that side,” said Mudd, a former NFL lineman in his seventh season as offensive line coach of the Colts. “It’s even bad if a quarterback’s pressured. The guy who plays left tackle isn’t really looked at as an asset. He’s only noticed if he isn’t doing his job.”

Many football insiders consider that job the most difficult assignment this side of playing quarterback. Because offenses are often designed to run to the right more frequently, the right side of the offensive line often features slightly bigger but slower guards and tackles. In most cases, it’s the left tackle -- the man protecting the outside edge of the line -- who has the rarest blend of size and quickness.

Left tackles don’t come cheap. The top performers are paid in the neighborhood of $7 million a season. A trio of NFC West teams paid a total of $32 million in signing bonuses to either sign or re-sign left tackles this off-season. Jonas Jennings changed teams, going from Buffalo to San Francisco; Walter Jones re-signed with Seattle, and Orlando Pace re-signed with St. Louis.

“Mommas, let your babies grow up to be left tackles,” said Gil Brandt, a longtime NFL personnel guru.

They might get the housewife treatment from typical fans, but left tackles have plenty of clout in football circles.

“When you tell people you’re a left tackle, it basically says that you’re the most athletic offensive lineman,” said Levi Jones, who starts there for Cincinnati. “To hold that position down, it’s a sense of pride. You can get away with having a guard who’s not as good. You can’t get away with having a bad left tackle.”

That said, for those players who dare to stand in the breech to protect a passer’s blind spot, a bad game is just around the corner. If a defensive lineman averages one sack a game, he’s got an all-but-guaranteed trip to the Pro Bowl. But if a left tackle surrenders one sack a game -- even if he’s virtually perfect on every other play -- he’s looking for a new line of work.

“If you give up a sack, you’re exposed,” Green Bay left tackle Chad Clifton said. “It’s out there for everyone to see.”

Any offensive lineman can give up a sack, of course, but sacks coming from the left side often are the ones that lead to brutal hits, quarterback fumbles and the like. And apologies. Lots of apologies.

“It’s like the worst feeling in the world,” Jones said of giving up a sack. “It’s like you let somebody come in your house and slap your wife. To see your quarterback getting slammed to the ground, getting up slowly, getting injured ... and just knowing you’re accountable.

“You just go back there and say, ‘It won’t happen again. You won’t be touched again.’ ”

No one can make that promise with absolute certainty, of course. But there are ways to help out a lineman, such as putting a tight end to his left, or sending a running back into the mix to “chip” a defender with a block. What Mudd can’t stomach is the beaten lineman who panics, loses his composure and gives up the fight.

“The No. 1 characteristic a left tackle needs, sometimes even more than size and quickness, is mental toughness,” he said. “And mental toughness isn’t about how much you can dish out, it’s how much you can take.”

Like a housewife, he said, a left tackle must be willing to make every sacrifice necessary to get the job done.

“I don’t care if you have to do a double back flip,” Mudd said. “Just don’t let [the pass rusher] get to [the quarterback].”

Sounds simpler than it is. A back-pedaling left tackle must somehow thwart an unbelievably quick 290-pound man who’s starting from a sprinter’s stance ... dozens of times each Sunday.

“If you find a guy who’s good at doing that, you’d better hang onto him,” said Leonard Davis, Arizona’s left tackle. “We’re not that easy to replace.”

They’re not easy to beat either, so some defensive coordinators don’t even try. They put their best pass rushers opposite the right tackle.

Right-handed-throwing quarterbacks can see them coming from there, of course, but the scheme has been effective for some teams.

New York Giant Michael Strahan set the NFL single-season sack record from that side. Carolina’s Julius Peppers and Chicago’s Adewale Ogunleye also line up on the offense’s right.

Teams that do that are sometimes able to throw an offensive line off kilter, Buffalo line coach Jim McNally said, and that’s the goal.

“Offensive linemen are grooved into an almost robotic state of training,” he said. “You don’t want to change a whole lot. You try not to make it too complicated, because routine is what they like.”

And you don’t want to upset the housewives.

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To surge and protect

Five must-watch matchups in NFL openers between left tackles and right defensive ends:

* LT Jonathan Ogden (BAL) vs. RDE Dwight Freeney (IND) -- Ogden is the best in the business; Freeney led the league with 16 sacks in 2004.

* LT Luke Petitgout (NYG) vs. RDE Bertrand Berry (ARI) -- Petitgout, who has sore ribs, has to protect Eli Manning from a guy who had 14.5 sacks last season.

* LT Jeff Backus (DET) vs. RDE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (GB) -- KGB, coming off a 13.5-sack season, could leave Backus looking like Mr. Magoo.

* LT Bryant McKinnie (MIN) vs. RDE Simeon Rice (TB) -- The 6-foot-8 McKinnie, drafted seventh in 2002, is determined to show he isn’t a bust. His first test comes against a sack master.

* LT Damion McIntosh (MIA) vs. RDE Trevor Pryce (DEN) -- McIntosh was moved to left tackle at the end of camp. Not much time to prepare for a back-to-health Pryce.