At some point, Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie right tackle Broderick Jones was going to have a rough game in the NFL.
That came Saturday in Week 15 against the Indianapolis Colts. He wasn’t alone, either. The entire offensive line was dreadful against the Colts, grading out at a 15.6 overall from Pro Football Focus, which is the worst grade of the season by any team.
That’s how far the Steelers have fallen.
Jones was a big part of that in the 30-13 loss to the Colts. Jones graded out at a season-worst 38.7 on the day, including a woeful 19.3 in pass protection and just a 57.3 in the run game.
The young right tackle allowed five pressures and two sacks and just really couldn’t figure things out against the Colts. That poor day led to Jones falling one spot in the rookie OT rankings from PFF based on grades, dropping to No. 3 overall behind Cleveland’s Dawand Jones and Chicago’s Darnell Wright.
“It was not a banner week for Jones and the Steelers’ offensive line. Jones officially allowed two sacks to Dayo Odeyingbo and let up another that was negated by a penalty,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman writes regarding Jones for PFF.com. “In total, Jones surrendered five pressures and lost four other pass-rush reps. He finished the day with a 19.3 pass-blocking grade. As a team, Pittsburgh posted a 15.6 pass-blocking grade — the worst mark in any game by any team this season.
“The struggles of Jones and his offensive line teammates may have sunk Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes.”
There’s no sugarcoating it: Jones was awful Saturday against the Colts, as was everyone else on the Steelers’ offensive line.
He really struggled with the speed and athleticism of the Colts’ pass rushers and largely had no answer in pass protection.
As Steelers Depot’s own Jonathan Heitritter broke down very well in a film room for the site, Jones was a mess in pass protection.
“Jones played his worst game as a professional against the Colts, routinely getting beat in pass protection both with poor technique when it comes to his footwork and dropping his head sustaining blocks on opposing pass rushers,” Heitritter wrote in his film room of Jones. “These were issues that Jones dealt with consistently in college, and they have followed him into the league. He looked like he was showing positive development in these areas of his game several weeks ago, but they came back in an unpleasant way Saturday against Indianapolis as Odeyingbo managed to have a career day against him.”
It was a rather discouraging performance from Jones, who otherwise has been quite solid since stepping into the lineup at right tackle in place of Chukwuma Okorafor in Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans. He has provided a real physical presence in the run game and great athleticism in pass protection, showing flashes of why he was so highly sought after in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Bad days are going to happen, that much is certain. That it was so bad though against the Colts is concerning. We’ll see how Jones bounces back in Week 16 against the Bengals, a matchup he was rather good in the last time around.
