Cam Heyward the lone bright spot with the Steelers defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their fourth-straight game, this time in a really bad way, as the Buffalo Bills gave no doubt to the outcome of the game not long after it began. The offense moved the ball between the 20s and piled up a lot of yards, but ultimately only put three points on the board. As for the defense, they surrendered over 500 yards and gave up four touchdown drives that were three plays or less.

But how did the individual players grade out?

For this exercise, we will be looking at the player grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) for the Steelers Week 5 performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performances. Before going any further, I must give the typical disclaimer that PFF grades are subjective. While some people rely on them heavily, others are quite skeptical of the process in which they are determined. It is completely up to each person as to how much stock they put into PFF’s grades. For me, I often look at the grades to see if my own “eye test” lines up with what others viewed as how a player performed. If nothing more, the grades create a discussion about how accurate, or inaccurate, they are each week.

Instead of looking at the entire team at once, we break up the scores into offense and defense. Next up is the defense. Included will be all the players who played at least one defensive snap and the total snap counts for each player will be included. For reference sake, the Steelers played 56 snaps on defense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

DT Cam Heyward: 92.4 (40 snaps)
CB James Pierre: 75.6 (23 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 75.1 (19 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 73.2 (53 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 71.4 (25 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

ILB Devin Bush: 39.9 (37 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 37.0 (15 snaps)
OLB Ryan Anderson: 30.6 (3 snaps)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 29.5 (54 snaps)
S Tre Norwood: 27.6 (56 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

DT Cam Heyward: 92.4 (40 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 71.4 (25 snaps)
OLB Jamir Jones: 65.3 (8 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 64.9 (7 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 62.6 (29 snaps)
OLB Alex Highsmith: 61.2 (48 snaps)
OLB Malik Reed: 48.9 (32 snaps)
DT DeMarvin Leal: 41.3 (23 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 37.0 (15 snaps)
OLB Ryan Anderson: 30.6 (3 snaps)

There was not many positives to take away from the Steelers game against the Bills on either side of the ball. The defense was especially tough. But Cam Heyward comes in well above everybody else in his PFF grade as he continued to show fight and hustle throughout the game, even running down players well downfield when many defensive lineman would have given up on the play. While it’s easy to talk about the other players scoring poorly, the Steelers captain deserves recognition. It was Hayward‘s 88.6 run defense score that really stood out among everything else. Additionally, Montravius Adams deserves recognition with his score in the 70s. Otherwise, there’s not much to talk about.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Robert Spillane: 75.1 (19 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 73.2 (53 snaps)
ILB Devin Bush: 39.9 (37 snaps)

By having to listen to a large portion of the game due to DIRECTV and CBS issues, it’s hard to totally judge Robert Spillane‘s grade at the top of this list. What put him at his 75.1 overall score was having the Steelers best coverage score of the week with an 80.1. Other than seeing a ball thrown and hitting him in the back, I didn’t notice Spillane otherwise. Devin Bush falls back down to the bottom with poor scores in everything but tackling where he had a 77.9 for the week.

Defensive Backs

CB James Pierre: 75.6 (23 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 66.6 (30 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 63.8 (38 snaps)
S Miles Killebrew: 62.6 (5 snaps)
CB Arthur Maulet: 59.8 (45 snaps)
CB Josh Jackson: 59.6 (26 snaps)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 29.5 (54 snaps)
S Tre Norwood: 27.6 (56 snaps)

It is so difficult to take anything away from this position group. The two players who played all or most of the snaps are at the bottom of the list in Fitzpatrick and Norwood. James Pierre scored very well in his time on the field and had the best coverage score of any player in the secondary at 75.8. But really, it’s the snap counts that stand out more than anything. When the slot cornerback has to play the second-most snaps as guys are in and out of the lineup due to injury, it’s a hard ask for these players to come together at a high level. But this is the NFL, and it is next man up. Pierre apparently did according to PFF, but that’s about it.

So, what do you think of the above grades? Do they pass the eye test? Let us know your thoughts on the Steelers’ defensive grades in the comments below.