Alex Highsmith is a bad, bad man.
That was well known among the fanbase of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he showed that to a national primetime audience on Thursday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans.
In the 20-16 win over the Titans, Highsmith was a force, generating 11 pressures for the second time in a game this season, had two sacks and four total tackles, and simply couldn’t be blocked by one defender on the night. Titans’ left tackle Andre Dillard probably sees Highsmith in his nightmares right now.
That’s how dominant he was.
T.J. Watt gets a lot of the attention for the Steelers’ defense in the trenches, as does Cameron Heyward, but Highsmith is a force multiplier in his own right and showed that Thursday night.
Early on against the Titans, Highsmith showed just how much of a force he was going to be, winning cleanly against Dillard with a nice Ghost rush, dipping underneath at the last second, bending around the edge to get heat on Levis.
Though Highsmith doesn’t get home here for the sack, the pressure coming around the edge forces Levis to step up into a muddied pocket, forcing him to throw quickly and incomplete.
Later on in the first quarter, Highsmith had a great heads-up play against a slow-developing throwback screen to running back Derrick Henry. Highsmith does a fantastic job of keeping outside contain, fighting through the blocks, forcing Henry back inside to where help is, shutting down the play quickly.
The motor ran hot here for Highsmith, and he showed great football IQ, reading the screen and doing everything he could to get outside and establish contain on the play.
Highsmith was really on top of his game as a pass rusher against the Titans. Seemingly everything he did when rushing the passer was a good play, much like this rush here on a delayed twist, leading to Watt’s sack without a helmet on.
Highsmith slow-plays this loop, running it late in the rep. He does a great job of getting across the formation and puts himself right in the middle of the Titans’ pocket, taking away a lane for Levis to step up into. That forced the rookie quarterback to retreat, and it led to Levis running into the sack from Watt.
Highsmith isn’t just speed, either, off the edge. He converts speed to power with the best of them.
Impressive rep here, getting Dillard to think a speed rush is coming again, opening him up to a bullrush that Highsmith takes right into the lap of Levis.
The Titans were fortunate the rookie quarterback got this throw off in enough time, avoiding the sack and picking up positive yards on the play.
Highsmith’s first sack of the game was a high-effort play and showed off his athleticism.
Dillard goes for the cutblock, but Highsmith has the awareness and the quick-twitch reflexes to jump out of the way of the cut block, maintain his balance and get to Levis for the sack. That’s one heck of a play that largely will go unnoticed by Highsmith. Great athlete. He’s like a shark with blood in the water when it comes to hunting quarterbacks.
This was the most frustrating rep on the night for Highsmith as it was a great individual one. Levis just got the ball off in time and Henry tipped the ball to himself for an explosive play.
Highsmith is shot out of a cannon on the play and gets around Dillard easily on the play-action pass. He turns the corner in a hurry and get s a good shot on Levis for what should have been a sack or a forced incompletion, but Levis was able to get the ball off just quick enough, and Henry made a great play for the Titans.
Still, an impressive rep from Highsmith.
The second and final sack of the day from Highsmith was impressive, busting out the swim move that he set up all game long, winning with it late.
Throughout the night, Highsmith turned the corner with speed, leading Dillard to do everything he could to get depth in his pass set and try to run Highsmith around the arch. Highsmith had one speed-to-power bullrush that I showed earlier that won, and he hit one spin move that won.
Sometimes, it only takes one rep.
Good effort here fighting through the block and finishing off the sack, too.
Highsmith was outstanding on the night. He graded out at an 80.5 overall from Pro Football Focus on 63 defensive snaps, including a 70.0 as a pass rusher that was much lower than the film showed. He graded out at a 77.3 as a run defender, too, and recorded the 11 total pressures, matching his career high he had in Week Five against the Baltimore Ravens at home.
Though he didn’t have the sack numbers coming into the Thursday night matchup, Highsmith was having a great year. He was rewarded for his play on Thursday night, dominating from start to finish against the Titans.
