The Pittsburgh Steelers’ second preseason game is now in the books, sadly another outing with sloppy play and a lack of scoring in a 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
In this article, I will provide data from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and takeaways from watching the film.
Offense:
Excellent (90-Plus Grades):
NONE.
Great (80-Plus Grades):
NONE.
Good (70-Plus Grades):
Unsurprisingly, no players in the above categories. Four land here.
WR Dez Fitzpatrick (78.2 grade, 27 snaps). That grade led the offense. He caught both of his targets, and led the team with 32 receiving yards. The highlight was a nice sideline toe-tap for a 19-yard gain on 3rd-and-7, along with a wide-open crosser for 13 to move the chains.
WR Scotty Miller (77.1, 22) caught all three of his targets for 18 yards, coming on three straight passes in the final minute of the first half. This capped the only drive that led to points, a Chris Boswell field goal.
OG Tyler Beach (74.1, 15) was the top-graded offensive lineman, with a 70.1 PBLK that included allowing a hurry, and a 69.7 RBLK from PFF. With a poor showing from several other at the position, his performance was seemingly acceptable, at least not sticking out as negatively.
Thought TE MyCole Pruitt (73.4, 19) had a nice overall game. As a receiver, caught his lone target for an 8-yard gain, working himself over the middle on a pretty 3rd-and-8 scramble drill to move the chains. Also made a blocking impact, noting a few as a run blocker, but PFF’s script was flipped (72.9 PBLK, 59.2 RBLK).
The Bad (Below 50 Grades):
Surprisingly just two here.
G James Daniels (46.7, 15). Lowest graded starter on the o-line, despite a confusingly high 82.0 PBLK grade for that title, including no pressures or sacks. Comparatively, had a lowly 41.9 RBLK, noting one early lost rep where he was beat bad. Overall grade seemed low, especially being worse than T Broderick Jones’ horrible, no good, very bad day.
WR Calvin Austin (45.4, 14) holds the worst offensive grade from the second preseason game. A 3rd-and-5 false start penalty on the first drive was painful, which PFF dings heavily for. Also, wasn’t targeted in the pass game, and his best individual grade was a 58.1 RBLK.
Defense:
Excellent (90-Plus Grades):
NONE.
Great (80-Plus Grades):
Two here. The top grade on defense was LB Luquay Washington (87.9, 16). Who you might ask? A late camp signee less than a week before the game (Aug. 11), had a solo and assisted tackle in the run game (80.3 DEF) late in the game. One was a nice third down stop, but prior to that tackled a 3rd-and-1 conversion. Surprisingly high grade here.
LB Elandon Roberts (80.4, 4) posted a whopping three total tackles, impressive on just four snaps. One was from zone coverage, a three-yard gain but moved the chains. The two against the run went for an average of 6 yards, but none were stops (successful plays for the defense).
Good (70-Plus Grades):
Seven players, reasonable considering a stronger performance from Pittsburgh’s defense.
S Miles Killebrew (79.5 ,6) his highlight (by far) was capitalizing on an easy interception, thrown right to him by former Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky.
EDGE Nick Herbig (76.8, 13) was a force, with 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss, and four combined tackles. His lowest grades were coverage (62.0) and run defense (60.8). He tackled a 3-yard catch in coverage early in the game, and his lone run tackle went for 8 yards. Definitely thought his pass rush production deserved higher than a 74.6 grade as well.
DeMarvin Leal (75.9, 13) played across the DL with versatility even more this game. Rather enjoyable was a QB hurry on a twist with DL Montravius Adams, and showed progression in his pass rush moves again, noting good hand use on another win. Run defense was a different story, failing to make plays there on four snaps.
CB Darius Rush (75.9 ,16) had a good day in coverage, with no catches allowed on two targets, namely a pass breakup in the end zone. He didn’t get his head around, but did a nice job to avoid contact on the WR and a potential DPI.
CB Thomas Graham (72.7,28) also had a nice pass breakup, with great timing a crossing route, earning the best Steelers coverage grade in the game. Fantastic to see as the first team slot CB in this one, with other candidates unavailable. But, a 56.1 PRSH and 48.9 RDEF point to improvement areas he should focus on in the finale.
DL Larry Ogunjobi (71.0, 15) encouragingly flashed as a pass rusher, with two hurries on nine pass snaps. The other side of the coin was missing on a sack, along with a run tackle opportunity that impacted his 26.4 TACK grade.
Another who’s who: CB Zyon Gilbert (70.3, 15). Signed even more recently than Washington (Aug. 14), Gilbert had three combined tackles. One was a short gain on a screen late game, while the others were in run defense (10-yard average).
The Bad (Below 50 Grades):
A whopping eight players here.;
LB Patrick Queen (49.9, 15) made his Pittsburgh debut. He had two nice tackles, one in coverage short of the sticks, and avoiding a block in run defense on a four-yard gain. Both were the bright side of his abilities we’ve been excited to see. It wasn’t all rainbows though, particularly early. Got turned around in coverage, and two poor run D plays/gap fills.
DL Montravius Adams (46.1, 21) had two tackles, and showed a bit as a pass rusher despite no pressures or sacks. He, along with several teammates, struggled against the run. Blocked out on multiple occasions, along with no tackles on ten run snaps.
LB Mark Robinson (45.5, 23) filled some stats: a tackle for loss, four combined tackles, and two stops. The latter came in coverage, not his reputation, which was nice to see (73.4 COV). A poor 32.1 RDEF was the other side of the coin though, inconsistent in this one. The TFL was a plus block shed and highlight, while I noted him getting pancaked on a long 19 yarder, and missed a tackle on the other end of the spectrum.
LB Jacoby Windmon (44.9, 25) was another culprit of the woes against the run, with a 43.8 grade. On 21 run defense snaps, he had more than a handful of poor reps in my notes.
CB Anthony Averett (44.0, 7). All of his snaps were against the run per PFF, making one assisted tackle, but also had a missed tackle where he was stiff-armed to the ground.
CB Kyler McMichael (42.0, 12) contributed four tackles, all against the run. He also missed a run tackle though, the unfortunate reoccurring theme that feels like a broken record to type. On top of that, he had the horse-collar penalty on another tackle attempt.
Things digressed for LB Payton Wilson (41.5, 26), starting with a forced exit and being evaluated for a concussion. Run defense (29.6) and tackling (32.8) were his lowest grades, though three total tackles and none missed on PFF’s charting seems inconsistent. Did notice him getting turned around in run defense on a few occasions, usually a bad sign, but cashed in a good tackle on one of them.
DL Isaiahh Loudermilk (29.3, 21) was the worst-graded defender. Two missed tackles were tough to see, more than his one assisted tackle. Did provide a hurry though, contributing to his highest 49.0 PRSH (30.0 RDEF, 24.9 TACK).
Special Teams:
Excellent (90-Plus Grades):
NONE. No Steeler on offense, defense, or special teams had an excellent grade, which will hopefully change in the preseason finale.
Great (80-Plus Grades):
Two here. Nick Herbig (84.4, 12) played on four units. He was in on a nice punt return combined tackle, stopping it for a 6-yard gain. Also noted a solid punt coverage block, but he was required to push out the long 31-yard kick return as well.
Mark Robinson (83.4, 10) also played on four teams, laying the wood on a highlight punt return tackle in its tracks.
Good (70-Plus Grades):
Three players. LS Christian Kuntz (77.4, 7) had a substantially better game, including snapping and assisted on a punt coverage tackle too.
Loudermilk (73.3, 2) added a tackle in minimal kick coverage opportunities, returned for 18 yards.
Connor Heyward (70.2, 13) was another four-teamer, and joined forces with Kuntz on the aforementioned punt coverage tackle.
The Bad (Below 50 Grades):
Three here. Dez Fitzpatrick (46.9, 10) made a kick coverage tackle, but also missed a tackle on another opportunity. He did play on four teams though.
Ryan Watts (38.6, 11) was on three teams, including first team gunner with Fitzpatrick. I thought his grade would be higher, noting a good block on the opening kick return, drawing an illegal block in the back penalty, but no tackles.
La’Michal Perine (34.4, 4) was the lowest graded special teamer. The main culprit was a block in the back penalty on his lone punt coverage snap, and wasn’t awe inspiring as a kick returner.
Surprises:
- LB Luquay Washington’s team leading defensive grade.
- T Broderick Jones not the worst o-line grade.
- P Cameron Johnston’s 67.3 punt grade, despite a stellar outing.
Plenty to choose from, who were yours?
STEELERS PRESEASON WEEK 2 VS. BILLS AND TOTAL SNAP COUNTS:
SNAP LEADERS(GAME):
OFF- Zach Frazier
DEF- Julius Welschof, Kyron Johnson
ST- Tyler Matakevich
SNAP LEADERS(PRESEASON):
OFF- Zach Frazier
DEF- Julius Welschof
ST- Dez Fitzpatrick
TOT- Julius Welschof
