Steelers Week 6 grades illustrate the confusing nature of Pro Football Focus

This week’s round of grades is out courtesy of the smart guys at Pro Football Focus and we decided to dig in on the grades for the Pittsburgh Steelers. What we discovered is probably the perfect example of why PFF grades are so confounding and oftentimes so polarizing.

What you see below are the five highest-graded players on the Steelers from their 23-20 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night.

Looking at this list of the five highest-graded Steelers two things stand out as a contrast. First, the good. Defensive tackle Cam Heyward was the highest-graded Steeler on the team with a 90.0 grade. Makes perfect sense and would be a great player to use if you wanted to defend the grading system.

Then you look at number five and you see linebacker T.J. Watt nearly 20 points lower with a 70.9. If you saw that score on its own you wouldn’t be happy. But you see it in contrast to Heyward’s and fans come unglued.

Highest-graded #Steelers in Week 6 (min. 25 snaps):

1️⃣ Cameron Heyward, DI- 90.0
2️⃣ Pat Freiermuth, TE- 74.1
3️⃣ Chris Wormley, DI- 72.2
4️⃣ Alex Highsmith, EDGE- 72.0
5️⃣ T.J. Watt, EDGE- 70.9 pic.twitter.com/VErdPcaO0a

— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) October 18, 2021