The Standard is the Standard.
This phrase has been uttered a ridiculous amount throughout Mike Tomlin’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but as cliche as it is, it holds true more often than not.
When one player goes down, the next man up succeeds more often than he fails.
This was certainly the case in the Thursday Night Football game vs. the Titans in Week 11 when Coty Sensabaugh filled in for Joe Haden, and did more than enough to help the team win the big AFC matchup in prime time.
Sensabaugh recorded three tackles, one pass defense and a key interception which resulted in a Chris Boswell field goal. A good day at the office, along with the added revenge factor of Sensabaugh going against his former team, likely helped throughout the preparation phase.
On top of standing out at Heinz Field on Thursday night, Sensabaugh also got some props from Pro Football Focus (PFF) for his efforts. Some don’t like PFF and their grading practices, but the amount of film and analytics used to come to these conclusions is nearly unparalleled.
See what PFF had to say, not only regarding Sensabaugh, but about other Steelers who performed ‘above the line’ in Week 11 vs. Tennessee.
TOP 5 GRADES:
WR Antonio Brown, 85.2 overall grade
QB Ben Roethlisberger, 84.9 overall grade
DI Cameron Heyward, 83.5 overall grade
LB Ryan Shazier, 83.5 overall grade
G Ramon Foster, 83.4 overall grade
Performances of Note:
QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER, 84.9 OVERALL GRADE
Outside of a few off-target throws, Ben Roethlisberger was solid all night. When the Titans were not able to get pressure on him, which was the majority of the night, Roethlisberger had 27 of his 30 completions, all four touchdowns, and a 123.8 passer rating. Overall, when adjusting for three drops, a throwaway, and a spike, he had a 76.7 adjusted completion percentage on the night.
WR ANTONIO BROWN, 85.2 OVERALL GRADE
After a few sub-par games by Brown’s standards, he had one of his best games of the year. Roethlisberger targeted him a dozen times, with Brown hauling in ten catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns. Roethlisberger had a near-perfect 156.9 passer rating when targeting Brown. If not for a fumble at the end of the first half that could have prevented a field goal opportunity, Brown would have graded even higher. His 2.85 yards per route run on the season now ranks second in the league to only Julio Jones.
DI CAMERON HEYWARD, 83.5 OVERALL GRADE
Cameron Heyward was too much to handle for the Titans offensive line, as he recorded three sacks, a hit, and three hurries. A lot of the damage was against Quinton Spain, who was unable to deal with the strength of Heyward.
CB COTY SENSABAUGH, 79.2 OVERALL GRADE
In just his second game of the season, Coty Sensabaugh was able to produce an excellent game against his former team. While he did allow the 75-yard touchdown pass to Matthews, outside of that play he was shut down in coverage, only allowing two other catches for 10 yards on six targets and bringing in an interception.