Sunday was a disaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers as nothing went right for them against the Philadelphia Eagles, resulting in a blowout loss to fall to 10-4.
The offense couldn’t muster much of anything while the defense couldn’t find a way to slow down the high-powered Eagles offense, Philadelphia closing out its 27-13 win with a 21-play, 88-yard drive that consumed more than 10 minutes of the fourth quarter.
As things didn’t go well, neither did the Pro Football Focus grades for the Black and Gold. Just one player earned a grade higher than 80.0 overall following the beatdown loss.
That would be star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who graded out at an 88.7 from PFF, generating five pressures, two sacks, five run stops and a forced fumble.
He was quite good throughout a marquee matchup against Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson before exiting the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, which has him questionable for Saturday’s Week 16 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
Watt had a sack on back-to-back plays, earning credit for taking down Eagles QB Jalen Hurts at the line of scrimmage after a scramble and then racing home around a chip and Johnson to get to Hurts, nearly knocking the football out in the process.
After Watt, fellow OLB Alex Highsmith was the next highest-graded Steeler on the evening, checking in at a 72.4 overall from PFF. Highsmith finished the game with four pressures and a sack. He added seven run stops, setting the edge well and handling himself in impressive fashion against Eagles LT Jordan Mailata.
Seeing more snaps in place of the injured DeShon Elliott, safety Damontae Kazee was third in PFF grades for the Steelers, checking in at a 70.0 overall. Kazee played 64 snaps and had a 63.1 grade against the run and a 67.8 in coverage.
Kazee wasn’t targeted at all in coverage, but he did miss one tackle in the loss to the Eagles.
Outside linebacker Nick Herbig checked in at No. 4 for the Steelers among highest PFF grades in Week 15, grading out at a 68.7 overall. Herbig played 32 snaps and had a 70.4 against the run and ad 77.9 rushing the passer.
Herbig generated two pressures on 12 pass-rush reps and drew a holding call on Lane Johnson.
Wide receiver Calvin Austin III was the highest-graded offensive piece for the Steelers in the loss, checking in at a 68.1 overall. Austin played 35 snaps and aligned in the slot on 15 reps and out wide on 10 snaps in passing situations. Austin finished the game with five receptions for 65 yards, including a 31-yarder in the third quarter on a flea-flicker from QB Russell Wilson.
As the grades show, it was a rough day for the Steelers.
Offensively, RB Najee Harris had the lowest grade for the Black and Gold, grading out at a 37.8 overall. He had a fumble in the third quarter that changed the game, and he struggled to get anything going in the run game, finishing with six carries for 14 yards.
Defensively, rookie LB Payton Wilson was the lowest-graded Steeler at 49.3 overall. Wilson had a 62.4 run defense grade, a 29.7 in tackling, and a 49.2 in coverage. Wilson was charged with two missed tackles and allowed two receptions on three targets for 18 yards.
