The game grades from Pro Football Focus are in and leading the way on defense this week for the Pittsburgh Steelers are defensive end Cameron Heyward (3.3), cornerback Cortez Allen (2.9) and linebacker Jason Worilds (2.2) for their play Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Worilds good score is a result of him providing pressure on Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford all game. He finished with a sack and four quarterback hits and was credited with seven stops as he filled in admirably on the left side for LaMarr Woodley, who sat out the game with an injured calf.
Heyward’s inclusion as the top defensive player is mostly a result of his play against the run, while Allen only gave up one reception in the four times that he was targeted.
Surprisingly, PFF has safety Troy Polamalu (-4.4) as their lowest graded Steelers defensive player on Sunday. Polamalu played nearly all of his snaps within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage and barely scratched the stat sheet.
Offensively for the Steelers tackles Kelvin Beachum (2.1) and Marcus Gilbert (1.6) received the best game grades and it was mostly for their pass blocking. On the other end of the spectrum are guards David DeCastro (-3.1) and Guy Whimper (-3.1). DeCastro allowed five hurries in the game and wasn’t as strong in the running game in the second half as he was in the first quarter. As for Whimper, his two penalties and sack allowed certainly didn’t help his cause.
