While the Steelers’ 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday had a lot of negatives, there were a few positives to take away from the game. One of those positives was OLB T.J. Watt in the pass-rush department, tying James Harrison’s all-time Steelers’ sack record with a dominant performance. Another was Markus Golden’s play in limited action, particularly against the run.
Watt was included in ESPN’s Week One pash rush, run stop, and blocking win rate rankings by its analytics team, using the player tracking data from NFL Next Gen Stats to rank the top performers in every statistical category. Watt was included in the EDGE pass rush win rate rankings, finishing tied for 10th with EDGE Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns with a 29 percent pass-rush win rate (4-of-14). Watt finished the game with three sacks and two forced fumbles, being an absolute game wrecker as he got the better of RT Colton McKivitz.
Despite DL Cameron Heyward missing most of the game, Pittsburgh had a defensive lineman finish in good standing in pass-rush win rate with rookie Keeanu Benton finishing tied for 12th place, winning 2-of-10 attempts (20 percent). Benton saw increased snaps due to Heyward’s groin injury and made the most of them, being Pittsburgh’s second-highest graded player behind Watt by Pro Football Focus. He more than held his own as a run defender and flashed as a passer rusher. His snaps should increase in the following weeks with Heyward out for the foreseeable future.
RT Chukwuma Okorafor represented himself in pass-block win rate for offensive tackles, ranking 17th after a seven-way tie at the top with a 94 percent win rate (31-of-33). Okorafor played far better than his counterpart OT Dan Moore Jr., who struggled throughout the contest. Moore was graded the worst offensive tackle in the league in Week One by Pro Football Focus. Okorafor left the game late with a concussion and needs to clear protocol before he can play next Monday night against the Cleveland Browns.
When it came to EDGE run stop win rate, Golden claiming the top spot. Golden won 7-of-12 plays in the category, placing him at a win rate of 58 percent. Golden made three total tackles as he rotated in for Watt and OLB Alex Highsmith on Sunday, providing Pittsburgh with the quality EDGE depth that it hasn’t had in some time. While he may have not made a huge splash in the pass-rush department, it’s good to see Golden representing himself well in the underlying analytics as Pittsburgh looks to get things turned around this coming week.
