The s are 1-0 after a y in opposition to the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 13 at Acrisure Stadium.
The celebrities performed a giant half in getting them there. n for a landing to supply the game-winning factors. Veteran receiver Michael Pittman Jr. – the headliner of the staff’s 2026 free agent class – caught three passes for 58 yards. And Alex Highsmith knifed by way of Atlanta blockers to report two sacks of his personal.
Add all of it up, and the positives have been plentiful for first-year coach t.
Right here’s a take a look at among the highlights and lowlights by way of the eyes of Professional Soccer Focus evaluators, who research each play on movie to grade every participant individually. For context, gamers are graded on a 0-100 scale.
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Contents
Aaron Rodgers (80.5)
The quantity that jumps off the web page for the longer term Corridor of Fame quarterback is a median depth of goal (ADOT) of 10.1 yards. In former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s system a yr in the past, he averaged simply 6.6 yards per throw. That was a profession low. He additionally recorded the quickest common time to throw of his profession at 2.60 seconds. Sunday, that determine was 2.84. McCarthy is giving him the time and encouragement to look down the sector and resemble one thing a lot nearer to the Rodgers of his MVP-winning days with the s. He is probably not fairly that good bodily anymore, robbing him of among the pocket maneuverability he as soon as had. Nonetheless, s followers will seemingly love seeing him a bit extra in his aspect than he was below Arthur Smith. Particularly if receivers like DK Metcalf and Roman Wilson can begin really coming down with extra passes than they did Sunday.
T.J. Watt (92.3)
If he retains taking part in like this, he might need yet one more defensive participant of the yr award in him with the Packers’ Micah Parsons and the Rams’ Myles Garrett each injured this season. It wasn’t simply the game-winning interception return that was encouraging, even because it was clearly the exclamation level. It was two sacks. It was 4 complete pressures of Falcons quarterback Cooper Rush. It was 4 stops, which PFF defines as performs that end in failure for an opposing offense on a given down. These helped comprise Atlanta star Bijan Robinson to simply 83 yards throughout his 21 carries for the afternoon. Watt was in every single place, a stark departure from final season when he had simply seven sacks and 49 pressures, his worst complete in a wholesome season since his rookie marketing campaign in 2017.
Troy Fautanu (44.4)
The early returns on his transition again to left sort out weren’t promising. The veteran in his third season allowed three pressures of Rodgers – two hurries and successful. That was probably the most of any Steelers offensive lineman. And his run blocking rating was an unpleasant 37.4. Not one of the different Steelers regulars scored worse than a 55.8 in that class, even because the staff averaged an inefficient 2.8 yards per carry. Fautanu hasn’t protected a quarterback’s blindside since earlier than lefty Michael Penix Jr. arrived at Washington in 2023, so some rising pains have been to be anticipated right here. Nonetheless, had former teammate Broderick Jones turned in such a efficiency, he’d be getting crushed for it. So it’s solely honest to notice that Fautanu must be higher.
Jamel Dean (78.6) and Jaquan Brisker (78.1)
Taking part in with out injured teammate Joey Porter Jr., the protection’s key offseason acquisitions have been nice. Between them, they have been challenged simply 3 times by Rush. They allowed a pair of receptions for 27 yards, however Briker picked off the third move to arrange the offense’s solely landing of the day. Prime Atlanta receiver Drake London managed simply two catches for 29 yards, in order that’s a credit score to Dean, who overcame being banged up for parts of this recreation as properly.
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