The Pittsburgh Steelers blew out the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football to the tune of a 37-15 finish. Russell Wilson’s first start was the story, but the Steelers got a number of very impressive performances in all three phases of the game. Pro Football Focus released its weekly grades for the game. The top five Steelers according to PFF were Keeanu Benton, George Pickens, Alex Highsmith, Darnell Washington, and Beanie Bishop Jr.
Benton and Pickens were the only two players to receive “Elite” grades of over 90.0.
That is pretty impressive for Benton given that he was primarily matched up on C Joe Tippmann, who is a very solid young center in the league. Aaron Rodgers was getting the ball out quick, which means the defensive line didn’t have time to get a ton of pressure or sacks, but they made up for it by deflecting passes at the line of scrimmage. Benton had two of those to pair with his two total tackles. PFF also credited him for one total pressure.
Benton has come very close to posting an elite single-game grade in the past, but this is the first one of his career. The first of many, most likely, as one of the young rising stars of the defense.
Pickens also posted an elite grade of 90.1. It is by far his highest grade of the season so far, and probably no coincidence that it came while working with QB Russell Wilson. He hadn’t even posted a grade of 80.0 or higher this season yet. He has two other elite game grades in his career coming in 2023.
He’s had better games statistically before, but his timely big plays were a big reason why the Steelers’ offense was able to score 37 points. He caught 5 of his 9 targets for 111 yards and his first touchdown of the season. His yards per reception was all the way up at 22.2, which is by far his highest of the season and back in line with his 2023 excellence in that area.
Pickens also had a 29-yard pass interference penalty while being covered by Sauce Gardner before halftime. That led to his receiving touchdown and was a big turning point in the game to prevent starting out the second half in a big hole.
Highsmith posted an 84.3 grade in his first game back from a groin injury. His absence in the lineup was being felt in a big way, especially once Nick Herbig injured his ankle. He had two QB hits, and was credited for three total pressures by PFF.
Washington was known as a blocking tight end in his rookie season last year, but that is starting to turn around in a big way. He is still a big threat as a blocker, but he is now proving to be a weapon in the receiving game. After posting 7 receptions for 61 yards in his entire rookie season, Washington already has 10 receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown this year. He had a career-best 4 receptions against the Jets. He looks dangerous with the ball in his hands. I wouldn’t want to tackle him.
One of the big stories of the game was undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop Jr. intercepting Aaron Rodgers two times. He completely killed their momentum on both occasions. PFF gave him a 78.8 overall grade for the day. That is by far the best grade of his career. They had him down for allowing 4 receptions on 7 targets for 35 yards. That is excellent for a player that many thought Rodgers would be picking on all game.
For anyone curious, Russell Wilson had a 64.1 overall grade for the game. His slow first half probably dragged his score down quite a bit, but we all saw how effective he was in that second half.
