T.J. Watt tops the Steelers defensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers got an expected performance on both sides of the ball in their 37-30 loss to the Bengals. The offense delivered more points than they have all season yet disappeared for a long stretch and couldn’t deliver in key moments. As for the defense, I doubt any players in the meeting room would be satisfied with surrendering 37 points.

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 11 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 66 snaps on defense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

OLB T.J. Watt: 83.3 (54 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 82.8 (11 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 80.4 (52 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 70.7 (26 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 69.7 (38 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

CB Cam Sutton: 55.2 (66 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 54.0 (59 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 48.9 (38 snaps)
CB Arthur Maulet: 41.7 (55 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 41.3 (14 snaps)

Defensive Front Five

OLB T.J. Watt: 83.3 (54 snaps)
DT Montravius Adams: 82.8 (11 snaps)
DT Cam Heyward: 80.4 (52 snaps)
DT Chris Wormley: 70.7 (26 snaps)
DT Larry Ogunjobi: 69.7 (38 snaps)
OLB Alex Highsmith: 61.7 (56 snaps)
DT Isaiahh Loudermilk: 60.0 (2 snaps)
OLB Malik Reed: 57.7 (19 snaps)
OLB Jamir Jones: 56.9 (3 snaps)
DT Tyson Alualu: 41.3 (14 snaps)

Being the one responsible for reporting these grades over the last two seasons, I’ve never seen all the players in the top five come from one position group for the Steelers. But this is what happened on Sunday with the Steelers defensive front five. Although their overall scores were actually down from the previous week, except for T.J. Watt, they were still strong. Watt was back on top of the defense with his 83.3 which was mainly the result of an 82.4 pass rushing score. Larry Ogunjobi is continuing to now get some love from PFF, and unfortunately Tyson Alualu is coming in at the very bottom once again . Since the bye, Montravius Adams has really stepped up with another great score in the 80s.

Inside Linebackers

ILB Devin Bush: 66.0 (35 snaps)
ILB Myles Jack: 57.9 (41 snaps)
ILB Robert Spillane: 48.9 (38 snaps)

Although many have been very critical of his play early on, Devin Bush has been turning in solid performances for the Steelers over the last several games. Generally scoring high in the tackling department in the upper 70s, Bush had a season-high of 81.3 in Week 11. Additionally, his 81.1 rush defense score is the best of his career. Unfortunately, where Bush was brought down was his 47.0 coverage score. But honestly, it was the highest among the inside linebackers as Myles Jack was a 46.7 and Robert Spillane was a 38.4.

Defensive Backs

S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 67.2 (66 snaps)
S Damontae Kazee: 57.2 (26 snaps)
S Terrell Edmunds: 55.4 (65 snaps)
CB Cam Sutton: 55.2 (66 snaps)
CB Levi Wallace: 54.0 (59 snaps)
CB Arthur Maulet: 41.7 (55 snaps)

While some fans were complaining that the Steelers should not have played Minkah Fitzpatrick this week as he didn’t really affect the game, I would argue that he did simply because the Bengals avoided him. With the highest score of any player not on the defensive line, Fitzpatrick was the only player in the defensive backfield that had a score above 60.0. It’s quite concerning that four of the bottom six scores came from the Steelers secondary, but when the team surrenders the yards and touchdowns they did it is to be expected. Minkah Fitzpatrick was the only player with a coverage score above the line at 63.2 with Arthur Maulet coming in as the worst score on the defense of a 37.7.

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.