For the first time in a long time, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense is giving fans something to be excited about. While the final output still has to be corrected, 16 points isn’t any different from the Matt Canada era, the process and overall feel of the Steelers’ offense felt much different in Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals. And Pro Football Focus took notice.
QB Kenny Pickett and RB Najee Harris received some of the highest offensive marks for their position over the weekend. Per PFF, Pickett was the NFL’s third-best QB of the weekend (and Thanksgiving games), posting an 89.0 overall grade. His 89.6 passing grade was second-best in the NFL, only behind Dallas’ Dak Prescott, who threw four touchdowns in a blowout win over the Washington Commanders on Turkey Day.
Harris had the tenth-best overall offensive grade of any running back. But specifically focusing on him as a runner, not as a receiver or blocker, and his 83.7 run grade was tied for third-best of anyone at his position, only trailing Chicago’s David Montgomery and San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey.
Pickett earned high marks despite not throwing a touchdown pass in the Steelers’ win (though one to Diontae Johnson ended in a debatable call by the officials). Still, he looked as decisive as he has all season long, taking what the Bengals gave him. He spread the ball around with eight Steelers catching at least one pass. Pickett worked all levels of the field, consistently utilizing the middle of the field for the first time all year while still hitting deep sideline shots to WRs Diontae Johnson and George Pickens.
His 97.8 QB rating was the second-best of his career, only trailing his 108.5 mark earlier this year against the Las Vegas Raiders, the only two touchdown passing game of his career. Pickett also continued to take great care of the football, setting a Steelers’ record for most pass attempts without an interception. His 89.6 passing grade was the second-best one of his career, only bested by his 90.9 figure in last year’s comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens in which he threw the game-winning touchdown pass.
While RB Jaylen Warren stole the show in Week 11’s loss to the Cleveland Browns, Sunday was Najee Harris’ turn to shine. Finishing the game with 15 carries for 99 yards (he briefly eclipsed the 100-yard mark before losing yardage late in the game), Harris ran tough and consistently dragged Bengals’ defenders with him. As Matthew Marczi noted this morning, Harris is tied for the NFL-lead with 12 rushes of 20-plus yards, rattling two off against the Bengals. He also helped grind out clock and close out the game with fourth quarter runs of 22 and 13 yards to set up another Chris Boswell field goal. He also had the carry that put Pittsburgh over the 400-yard mark for the first time in 59 games.
As PFF’s Steelers account tweeted, there were plenty of highly-graded Steelers in this one.
TE Pat Freiermuth captured the top grade for any tight end while OLB T.J. Watt had the fifth-best overall grade of his position. Safety Trenton Thompson also carried one of the top coverage grades of anyone in the NFL heading into Monday night’s game.
Pittsburgh will look to keep things rolling next Sunday when they take on the Arizona Cardinals. Sitting at 2-10 with just one win since October, the Steelers will be clear favorites, though the NFL offers no guarantees of victory.
