Pro Football Focus now has there initial grades out for the Pittsburgh Steelers following their 27-24 loss Sunday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and I am not very surprised that tackle Marcus Gilbert (3.6) graded out as the best player on offense.
Gilbert has now put together two solid games after not playing well in the first two. We can only hope that this trend continues.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (1.6) and center Maurkice Pouncey (1.6) also graded out well, according to PFF, but I’m willing to bet the latter of the two sees a decrease in his grade when the all-22 comes out.
Bringing up the rear on offense was wide receiver Justin Brown (-2.0) and that doesn’t surprise me one bit. His early drop in the end zone was a key play in the game and I’m not convinced that his lone catch was even a catch.
Defensively, nose tackle Steve McLendon (2.6) and linebacker Lawrence Timmons (1.6) graded out the best against the Buccaneers, according to PFF, and I agree with their assessments.
The Steelers had five players in the “red” and they were defensive end Brett Keisel (-2.9), defensive end Cam Thomas (-2.4), defensive end Cameron Heyward (-2.2), cornerback William Gay (-2.2) and cornerback Cortez Allen (-1.2).
In case you are curious, Roethlisberger (6.2) is the Steelers highest graded player on offense through the first four games and linebacker Arthur Moats (4.5) is the highest graded defensive player through four games with McLendon (4.2) being a close second.
