There are quite a few differing views on the product that is Pro Football Focus.
It’s a great analytics tool from a statistical standpoint, it helps with film study work, and snap counts and alignment. But on the other hand, the grading system and the rankings just don’t make a lick of sense more often than not.
With the grading system, the common criticism is that you can’t put a grade on someone, especially defensively, if you don’t know what their assignment was on a given play. Players have said it, coaches say it and more and more media members are buying into that, too.
But the players remain the loudest.
One of those players is Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Slay.
Slay fired back at Pro Football Focus after the outlet said he led the NFL in receiving yards allowed in Week 4.
“Now PFF I kno u lying,” Slay tweeted Thursday night with the laughing emoji, quote-tweeting information from Underdog fantasy sports.
PFF tweeted that Slay allowed 123 receiving yards in the Steelers’ 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings, the most in the NFL and 11 more than former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Xavien Howard before abruptly retiring this week.
PFF charged Slay with five receptions allowed on six targets for 123 yards, including 56 yards after the catch. It appears that PFF blamed Slay for the 81-yard catch and run from Minnesota’s Jordan Addison late in the game, which occurred on a coverage bust in which Slay and safety Chuck Clark were present.
Clark was charged with allowing just one reception for nine yards in the win, so PFF is making clear where it thinks the blame lies on the 81-yard play.
Slay isn’t having any of it. He’s not throwing a teammate under the bus, either. He’s just targeting PFF, because, again, it doesn’t know the assignments on every single play, especially in coverage.
In that moment, the Steelers were significantly shorthanded in the secondary due to injuries. Jalen Ramsey was trying to play through a hamstring injury and wasn’t on the field at the time. Instead, the Steelers had Slay, James Pierre and a three-safety look with Clark, Juan Thornhill and DeShon Elliott.
Miscommunication happened, and it resulted in a massive play. Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin took the blame on that play, stating that he shouldn’t have called something so difficult with all the injuries the Steelers were dealing with, leading to the blown coverage.
In hindsight Austin is right. But in that moment, two veterans like Clark and Slay have to be able to communicate and be on the same page. There was a lot of talk before the snap from Clark, but it ultimately didn’t materialize post-snap as Addison ran free and Slay somehow gets the blame.
