Pittsburgh Steelers Week 1 PFF Grades: Stars Shine To Open Season

It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-0 after beating the Atlanta Falcons, 20-13. It was a historic game for T.J. Watt, who registered two sacks and a pick-six, and Watt wasn’t the only Steelers star player to step up to begin the season. In Pro Football Focus’ Week 1 grades, Watt was joined by the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Alex Highsmith and Cameron Heyward among the team’s highest-graded players.

PFF OFFENSIVE GRADES VS. FALCONS

1. QB Aaron Rodgers (80.5)
2. OT Dylan Cook (73.5)
3. TE Pat Freiermuth (71.0)
4. TE Darnell Washington (65.6)
5. C Zach Frazier (62.7)

PFF DEFENSIVE GRADES VS. FALCONS

1. EDGE T.J. Watt (92.3)
2. EDGE Alex Highsmith (81.8)
3. DL Cameron Heyward (81.3)
4. CB Jamel Dean (78.6)
5. S Jaquan Brisker (78.1)

It’s not surprising that the offensive grades lagged so far behind the defensive ones. Pittsburgh’s defense was dominant to open the season, and while the Steelers had the benefit of playing against Cooper Rush, it was still a great outing to begin the season. Things weren’t as impressive on the other side of the ball, as the offense only scored one touchdown and struggled to maintain drives.

Despite that, it was a good outing from Rodgers, who could’ve had a better day had it not been for drops and penalties, with DK Metcalf picking up two offensive pass interference penalties in the first half and dropping a perfect throw from Rodgers. He recorded 9.2 air yards per target, a much better number than we’ve seen during his Steelers tenure. Metcalf predictably graded out poorly from PFF with a 49.8 overall grade.

Of players who were on the field for at least 10 snaps, Keeanu Benton, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Nick Herbig and Jalen Ramsey had grades above 66.0. If the Steelers can continue to play the way they did on defense this week, it’s a unit that should be one of the best, if not the best, in the NFL.

But the offense needs to clean things up. WR Michael Pittman Jr. was the only receiver with a grade over 60.0 but only barely with a 60.3 overall grade. Jaylen Warren had a 56.7 overall grade while Rico Dowdle was much lower with a 45.5 overall grade, the second worst on the offense only ahead of OT Troy Fautanu, who had a 44.4 overall grade.

With an offensive-minded head coach in Mike McCarthy, it’s reasonable to expect the offense to improve. But the unit left a lot to be desired in Week 1, and the poor PFF grades reflect that.