There weren’t many negatives to take away from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 23-9 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, and that’s reflected in the team’s Pro Football Focus grades for the week. Aaron Rodgers, after weeks of being graded lower than he probably should’ve, received an impressive 82.9 mark while EDGE Nick Herbig had the highest grade on the team with a whopping 94.8 after a two-sack day.
PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS OFFENSIVE GRADES VS. BROWNS
1. TE Connor Heyward – 88.9
2. QB Aaron Rodgers – 82.9
3. WR DK Metcalf – 79.0
4. WR Roman Wilson – 67.1
5. RB Jaylen Warren – 65.9
PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS DEFENSIVE GRADES VS. BROWNS
1. OLB Nick Herbig – 94.8
2. CB James Pierre – 86.1
3. OLB T.J. Watt – 84.9
4. OLB Alex Highsmith – 84.5
5. CB Joey Porter Jr. – 82.0
Notably, Connor Heyward led the Steelers offensively despite only playing six snaps but catching a touchdown pass, while Roman Wilson ranked fourth despite only logging 15 snaps. Had players with only 20 or more snaps been included, TE Pat Freiermuth (63.5 in 21 snaps) and OT Troy Fautanu (63.1 in 59 snaps) would’ve cracked the top five. Defensively, Pierre had 14 snaps, and if we included a 20-snap limit, then OLB Jack Sawyer (27.6 in 24 snaps) would’ve made the top five, giving the Steelers all four of their outside linebackers in the top five.
It’s nice to see Rodgers finally get some respect from PFF. Outside of one badly underthrown deep ball intended for DK Metcalf, he had a good day. He threw for two touchdowns and 235 yards while continuing to build a connection with Metcalf and TE Darnell Washington, who somehow managed just a 45.8 overall grade.
In fact, the Steelers’ jumbo personnel did not fare well in PFF’s grades this week. Spencer Anderson had the lowest grade on offense (36.7) and the team’s offensive line got dinged despite leading the charge for a solid day on the ground against a stout Cleveland front. Broderick Jones, who earned praise from Rodgers after the game, received just a 38.9 overall grade, even though he did a good job limiting Myles Garrett on the stat sheet. Mason McCormick received a 48.3 grade, barely edging Washington.
Defensively, no grade stands out as being too low as much as LB Patrick Queen receiving just a 56.2 overall grade. Queen had another strong week and finally looks to be the player the Steelers thought they were getting when they signed him ahead of last season.
At the end of the day, the Steelers won and moved to 4-1, widening their AFC North lead. While some grades may look too low, no one on the team is worried about anything else other than getting a win on Thursday.
