Over the last 20 games or so of Alex Highsmith’s career, he’s become quite the formidable force on the edge of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense.
It’s why he earned a four-year, $68 million extension from the franchise in the summer, locking him up long-term coming off a career-high 14.5 sacks in 2022 opposite T.J. Watt.
He’s always been a good run defender, but in since last season Highsmith has become nearly unblockable as a pass rusher. That is a terrifying development for opposing offenses with Watt still arguably the best defender in football on the other side.
With the Steelers’ defensive front, it’s become a pick-your-poison type of proposition for opposing offenses. On Sunday, it looked like it was going to be an overwhelming matchup for Houston with left tackle Laremy Tunsil and left guard/tackle Josh Jones out, forcing practice squad guys Austin Deculus and Geron Christian, and Steelers castoff Kendrick Green into the starting lineup.
On paper, the Texans’ offensive line did well, not allowing a sack on Sunday against the Steelers’ formidable pass rush. But the tape shows that it wasn’t that good of a day from Houston as Highsmith had a ton of success rushing the passer. He was just half a step or a quarter of a second away from multiple sacks of rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Of course, it’s well-known in football that “almost” defensively means a successful play for the offense. That’s understood. But there is no denying just how impactful Highsmith was on the field and from a game plan standpoint.
Against Houston, Highsmith played 63 total snaps, grading out at a 49.6 overall from Pro Football Focus, which was the worst grade of his season and one of the worst grades of his career. The tape wasn’t anywhere near as bad as that grade suggests. PFF gave Highsmith a 46.5 run defense grade and a 63.4 pass rush grade.
On the day, Highsmith generated four pressures on 27 pass rush reps, good for a 16.0% pass-rush win rate. Though he was kept off the scoresheet from a sacks perspective, he was in the Texans’ backfield all day long. That is especially impressive, considering Houston gave Highsmith the Watt treatment, throwing chips at him, keeping a tight end or a running back in consistently to help the left tackle, and running a lot of split-zone at him with the backside tight end coming across looking to cut Highsmith against the run.
Let’s look at the tape.
RUN DEFENSE
The Steelers, as a whole, struggled to stop the run against Houston. The Texans were the more physical team right from the jump. As Mike Tomlin stated Tuesday during his weekly press conference, he felt that the Steelers were trying to warm up to the physical component of the game, rather than being ready to go right away.
That showed on tape.
It showed with Highsmith early, too.
On the third play from scrimmage, the Texans ran right at Highsmith off left edge. Left tackle Austin Deculus did a nice job of gaining inside control on Highsmith, who got a bit too far upfield at the snap and tried to fight back inside.
Deculus had him clamped up and pushed him back with ease on the play, setting an early tone against the run.
To Highsmith’s credit, he responded as a run defender after that, playing with his hair on fire despite the amount of stuff the Texans threw at him.
Again, a lot of split-zone coming at him, this time with tight end Dalton Schultz motioning across the formation at the snap to try and pick off Highsmith.
He does a good job of getting upfield and turning the corner to get in on the run stop in the red zone.
How he played this set him up for success later in the game.
Knowing that Highsmith tried to run around the block earlier in the game, Schultz came across the formation under more control in the second half, aiming to settle and create a bigger obstacle for Highsmith to get around before ultimately going for the cut block.
Highsmith plays it perfectly. He gets eyes on Schultz coming across and squeezes to the line of scrimmage late in the rep. Once Schultz goes for the cut block Highsmith is able to bounce around it and get in on the run stop.
Again, the Texans threw a ton of at him. In the second half they were trying to cut him a ton. Highsmith wasn’t allowing it.
He’s very assignment sound overall against the run and processes rather quickly. Though he might not make the tackle on the outside, he does his job to help the defense make the play.
Watch the way he gets upfield quickly and realizes that the pulling guard is coming. Subtle little shift in his weight to squeeze closer to the line of scrimmage limits the lane for the running back, allowing the rest of his defense to get in on the play and hold it to a minimal gain.
While he was assignment sound throughout the matchup, late in the game he made a mistake as a run defender. Taking too sharp of an angle into the backfield to try and blow up the play, Highsmith loses contain on running back Devin Singletary.
Make no mistake about it: Singletary is a jitterbug. He can shake loose on anyone. But this is play Highsmith has to make in the backfield with a proper angle.
Instead, Singletary is able to get outside and rips off a nice run, nearly moving the chains in the process.
That about summed up the day for the Steelers in run defense.
PASS RUSH
Highsmith had quite a day from a pass-rush perspective, even if he came up short of actual sacks.
Too often, players are judged on sacks vs. no sacks. There’s so much more to a pass rush than a sack. Pressures are king.
Highsmith had those in abundance on Sunday. His presence, along with Watt’s on the other side, forced the Texans to change their passing game quite a bit. Credit to them for it working as Stroud got the ball out quick.
Great ghost rush here early in the game from Highsmith.
His speed off the edge,and his ability to dip and get underneath linemen’s hands at the last second with the “ghost” move is quite impressive.
He nearly blew up the screen to Dameon Pierce that went for 27 yards on his own just due to his speed getting to the quarterback.
Seeing the success he had on the ghost against Deculus early on, Highsmith knew he could go back to it.
Great rush again from Highsmith, but as you can see just half a step away from a sack of Stroud.
Good news is, Highsmith’s pressure here forced an off-target throw to the end zone, leading to an incompletion.
His speed on his get-off is so mesmerizing to watch. He’s shot out of a cannon every time the ball is snapped when he’s rushing the passer.
The Texans threw everything they could at Highsmith to try and slow him down, including those cut blocks on split-zone, even building an RPO off of it.
Highsmith should have had an unimpeded run at Stroud here on the RPO, but the Texans added a nice little wrinkle with the backside TE coming across for the cut block. That slows up Highsmith just enough, creating a throwing window for Stroud to hit Nico Collins up the field for the first down on the RPO.
The best rush of the day from Highsmith saw Stroud throw the ball in less than 2.4 seconds, negating a clear win from the Pro Bowl talent.
That’s an elite-level spin move, one that Highsmith has perfected.
Quick, clean win that he set up perfectly throughout the game, showing speed upfield and then hitting the spin back inside quickly to beat Deculus easily. Yet, the ball is gone as Stroud felt the pressure and threw the screen away.
This was as close as Highsmith got to a sack all game. He was upset after the play, too, knowing he had just missed one.
You can see the dip/rip again, just how quick and difficult it is to defend for offensive linemen, paired with Highsmith’s get-off.
While he might not have recorded a sack in a favorable matchup, Highsmith still had a very strong game on Sunday, PFF grades be damned.
Four pressures in 27 pass rush reps against a quarterback averaging 2.50 seconds to throw on 32 drop backs is solid. He’d have liked to have finished one or two of those near sacks, but overall Highsmith was pretty solid against the Texans. Not much can be said for the rest of the defense.
