The Pittsburgh Steelers’ pass rush has been lagging behind its sacks pace from previous years for a number of reasons, but Alex Highsmith’s groin injury was near the top of that list. With Highsmith back in the lineup opposite T.J. Watt, they both played at their best during the Steelers’ 26-18 Monday Night Football win over the New York Giants.
Watt and Highsmith each logged two sacks, and Watt helped seal the game with a strip-sack that he recovered himself late in the fourth quarter.
For their efforts in Week 8, Watt and Highsmith received the highest grades among all NFL pass rushers from Pro Football Focus. Both of their grades were above 90.0, which puts their performances in the “elite” category.
Watt had seven total tackles, five solo tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, and six total pressures. This is his fourth elite game grade of the season, and he is the No. 2-graded pass rusher in the NFL at 93.1, including a league-best run defense grade of 93.6.
He is up to 6.5 sacks, which has him slightly closer to his normal pace to win the sack crown. Even more impressive, he already has four forced fumbles, which already matches his 2023 total. He also had two forced fumbles negated by penalty in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
Highsmith’s grade was slightly lower than Watt’s, but he had four solo tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and a whopping six quarterback hits in this game. His overall grade was 87.5, but that included an elite 91.3 pass-rushing grade. PFF credited him with an incredible 11 total pressures, which is a very abnormal number, to say the least.
Highsmith missed a few games with a groin injury but is now rounding back into form and providing a large boost to the Steelers’ defense. Highsmith is one of the very best in the league at creating pressures, and it seems that he is trending in a better direction in terms of finishing those pressures with sacks. He is already on pace to beat his 2023 sack total despite missing time in 2024 after playing a full 17 games in 2023.
I wrote about his abnormal pressure to sack ratio this offseason and how his sack total was bound to improve. He only has three sacks this season, but a double-digit season is not out of the question with the way he is playing.
Watt and Highsmith are expected to be the engine that powers the defense’s success. They are just starting to round into their full potential, which should mean big things for the defense moving forward.
