Steelers vs. Giants Week 8: PFF grades and snap totals

Sorry, it's a broken record story, another slow first half start on the scoreboard. It was a tie at halftime, but fortunately in the second half, great plays in all three phases turned the game around for the third win in a row (26-18) for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In this article, I will provide data from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and insights from watching the film.

Attack:

Excellent (90-plus grades):

TE Darnell Washington (grade 92.2, 30 snaps) was the best grade both offensively and overall. Not the volume of his last game as a receiver, but effective. One goal, an explosive 29-yard catch that opened up on a corner route and almost roped down the sideline for a possible home run. The first of two consecutive explosive plays on the second drive, but unfortunately the offense stalled on every red zone trigger of the game (0-4). Overall, great blocking that PFF agreed with. 81.6 RBLK was the second best value of week eight and 74.4 PBLK.

Great (80-plus grades):

WR George Pickens (81.6, 53) caught 4/5 targets for 74 yards but no touchdowns. Two were close to the score, one was wiped out in the first round (face mask by T Broderick Jones). Would have been refreshing for this slow starting offense and the other option of insanely not getting a foot downfield and having space in the back of the end zone. Caught a great long-range throw from Russell Wilson on a corner for a double-explosive 43-yard gain, the longest play for Pittsburgh's offense, including YAC. A season-high 29 YAC and 3/4 catches also resulted in first downs.

Good (grade 70+):

T Dan Moore (75.6, 65) led the O-line, deservedly so in my opinion. Led the team in week eight with 75.1 RBLK and 70.3 PBLK. Two pressures, rush and QB hit. Pittsburgh was very zone-heavy in this game, and Moore performed well in it, only missing a few reps in 30 run-blocking snaps. Certainly more lost reps in Pass Pro. He also took a hit, forcing him out, but returned after a play in which backup Calvin Anderson allowed a sack. Knock on wood, remaining healthy after missing his first snap of his solid 2024 season.

WR Van Jefferson (74.8, 53) matched or set season highs in targets (five), catches (four), yards (62), yards per catch (15.5), two forced missed tackles, first downs (three), and the longest catch (36 yards). This explosive play was a great catch on an underthrow and allowed for great adjustment from his back shoulder to make the contested catch. An overall strong performance as a blocker was also noted, which PFF agreed with (71.9 RBLK). Overall nice posts.

The Bad (under 50 grades):

G Mason McCormick (44.5, 66) had the lowest offensive grade. For the first time in this league in six games played. Not everything was bad, but negative plays affected his game. Most egregious: Easily pancaked on Pass Pro, sack allowed, holding penalty, multiple times on the ground, and poor pass blocking on Wilson's fumble turnover. Two notable reps on explosive plays: Pickens' 43-yard run and RB Najee Harris' explosive 26-yard run. 53.9 RBLK and a miserable 16.3 PBLK, including two hurries (no sacks). PBLK felt defeated and thought Jones had a worse game.

Defense:

Excellent (90-plus grades):

EDGE TJ Watt (91.7, 69) was the top-rated defenseman and his usual smarts. Most notable was a strip sack in the fourth quarter, and he recovered his own forced fumble to offset QB Wilson's demoralizing fumble turnover on the previous drive late in the game. Totaled seven tackles, four stops, two TFLs, six pressures and two QB hits, both of which were sacks (T-NFL best in week eight), and one FF in another star performance. In 2024, 93.7 DEF (second), 93.2 RDEF (first) and 90.9 PRSH (fourth). Dominant.

Great (80-plus grades):

Three here. EDGE Alex Highsmith (87.5, 64) had a career-high 12 pressures and a whopping six QB hits, ranking first in the NFL in week eight, four rushing, four total tackles (all stops) and two sacks (T-first). a monster game. Caused havoc for much of the game and took advantage of the attention Watt was drawing. Expected an elite grade. It's great to see him healthier for another week compared to the poor performance in his first game back from injury last week.

The EDGE duo had all four of Pittsburgh's sacks, all in the second half, and had the two best PRSH grades of Week 8. Wow.

Cam Heyward (86.7, 49) was also strong, creating a three-headed monster from Pittsburgh's D-line that New York struggled with. A total of seven pressures, five rushes, two QB hits, six total tackles and four stops, all against the run. 79.7 PRSH, 73.5 RDEF and 71.1 TACK in this game. 91.0 DEF, 84.4 RDEF, 78.1 TACK on the season leads all IDL through week eight and 87.9 ranks third. Animal.

LB Elandon Roberts (81.3, 24) excelled in his usual fashion in RDEF (81.0) and TACK (79.5). Three total tackles, all stops in run defense, including a TFL that showcased his outstanding downfield skills and another that haunted him. In the season 89.9 DEF (third) and 93.3 RDEF (first). Overall, he plays his role perfectly.

Good (grade 70+):

Two players. CB Joey Porter Jr. (77.4, 72) tied for the team lead with eight total tackles. I often come down to finish plays out of deep zone coverage (more than I'd like, honestly), which equates to just three stops. Listed for six scores, three catches, for just 16 yards, for a nice 56.3 return rating. Consistently solid game grades: 81.4 TACK (sixth league overall), 76.5 COV, 70.4 RDEF. Encouraging overall, with an asterisk alongside some controversial DPI no-calls.

S Minkah Fitzpatrick (76.5, 72) had a particularly enjoyable play in coverage, a 3rd-and-3, in which he delivered a big hit to the receiver to throw the ball into the incompletion. A total of four tackles, including two for stops, for his highest individual TACK grade of 78.4. The COV of 71.8 was also solid, achieving a team-high rating of 39.6 on this PBU, his only target. Fitzpatrick's season TACK of 90.6 ranks first among safeties and 82.1 ranks fifth.

The Bad (under 50 grades):

Five here. EDGE Jeremiah Moon (49.1, 7) was up and down for the third straight week (four games played) and found itself in the poor league. I noticed a few positive reps, including a pressure on an incompletion, a lead in run defense, and another plus pass rush in the waning moments. The disadvantages included being pancaked on a double team against the run and losing on a pass rush. Slightly lower DEF value than expected, and individual PFF values ​​were above this mark: 57.9 RDEF, 53.7 PRSH.

DL Dean Lowry (44.0, 9) lands here again, appearing in 5/6 games in 2024. No pressures or sacks in six pass-rush snaps (53.1 PRSH). I noticed that he got a bump a few times but lost reps more often. I noticed one plus rep in run d, but the other was less than desirable. The individual grades were also all higher than his DEF: 55.0 RDEF, 53.1 PRSH.

DL Keeanu Benton (43.4, 37) was one of the culprits for Pittsburgh's problems in run defense. Rebounded, washed, on the ground, including a 17-yard chunk run, a 3rd-and-1 conversion allowed and a missed run tackle. Only one positive run d rep was detected. The pass rushing wasn't great, but it was better. Had an assisted QB hit on a nice float move, but was his only pressure on the board. Just a tackle, a stop, tracking down a 3rd-and-12 screen, limiting the boundary to seven yards. Second game in the bad league, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more consistency after saying goodbye.

S DeShon Elliott (42.1, 54) had his first bad grade of 2024. Worst 39.4 TACK and 33.8 RDEF. A disappointing missed tackle on the Giants' 45-yard TD run in the fourth quarter cut into Pittsburgh's previously comfortable 23-9 lead, with plenty of time still left. Another bad angle, with a gaping hole for a ten meter long chunk. Had seven total tackles (T-third on the team) but only two stops, thankfully for no gain. The latter was more typical in 2024, as his season RDEF of 83.4 ranked fourth among safeties. But by week eight, the bad outweighed the good.

DL Larry Ogunjobi (36.3, 48) was the lowest-graded defenseman. You guessed it, I also struggled with run defense and tackling (35.7 RDEF, 30.1 TACK). I also had a missed run tackle, with two particularly bad reps in my notes at chunks 17 and 26 yards. Unfortunately, combined with the double-digit amount of lost reps, this was painful. There was some good, like a nice TFL on a QB draw, but overall it needs to be better. The pass rush was better, but my notes also showed more losses there. Here's hoping the team run defense looks a lot better after the bye.

Special teams:

Excellent (90-plus grades):

NONE.

Great (80-plus grades):

Austin (86.9, 4) scores here with the aforementioned 73-yard punt return TD, the game's game-changing turning point. This was the first touchdown for both teams, coming late in the third quarter. He also enjoyed a fair catch bluff where the punt flew over his head for the touchback. I chose to put up a catch instead of a fair catch and took a heavy hit in the process, which was dangerous.

Good (grade 70+):

Two here. James Pierre (74.4, 22) showed a strong performance overall. Assisted on a 24-yard kickoff return tackle, great punt coverage including a two-yard tackle, a block on Austin's explosive return and coverage on the Steelers' final punt, which was fairly caught at the seven-yard line. Some drawbacks included being blocked on a long 45-yard kick return and not getting a block on the punt return unit.

Damontae Kazee (74.3, 4) had a great block on Austin's big punt return and it was nice to see PFF take notice of his return after a two-game injury layoff.

The Bad (under 50 grades):

NONE.

Surprises:

1. Better than expected offensive grades: Calvin Anderson – 60.0 grade, one snap, one sack allowed, 0.0 PBLK… right? However, Broderick Jones (56.9) would be in the bad league.
2. Lower than Expected Offensive Ratings: Austin (66.6, namely explosive TD) and RB Najee Harris (63.1) had another great 100 rush yard game, including five plays of 10 yards.
3. Beanie Bishop's COV of 64.5 given his game-winning interception. Was billed by PFF for some chunk length (of the cleanup variety), and a rub concept earned him a 4th and 2nd conversion. But still lower than I expected.

Who was yours?

STEELERS WEEK 8 VS. GIANTS & ALL REGULAR SEASON SNACKS:

WEEK 8 SNAP LEADER:

OUT OF- B. Jones, M. McCormick, R. McCollum, Ru. Wilson.

DEF M Fitzpatrick, P Queen, D Jackson, J Porter.

ST J. Pierre.