The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots gave fans a great game on Sunday. The Steelers lost at the end of it all, but even they provided a few thrills to fans, the performances of Jarvis Jones and David DeCastro informing many NFL sportsbook betting odds for the future.
Everyone will agree that the Steelers definitely deserved their loss. They made mistakes that even they cannot deny. There were a number of red zone opportunities that could have helped them if they had taken steps to capitalize on them.
Even worse, their defense floundered, unable to shut down the running game, especially in the second half; it was there that the game changed for the worse for the Steelers.
That being said, the Steelers were a decent team on Sunday. Naturally, Linebacker Jarvis Jones was selected the best player of the game for the Steelers as per the initial grading.
Jones wasn’t perfect on the night but there were enough positive elements in his performance to warrant some praise, even from Patriots fans. By the time the game concluded, Jones had registered seven tackles on a whole.
That cannot be ignored when you consider the fact that that is the biggest number of tackles Jones has ever recorded since he came to the NFL in his rookie season.
There is a hit on Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady that everyone will remember; the fact that Jones stumbled in a number of instances, fumbling early on but still managing to recover speaks a lot to his abilities.
Things really got exciting on the Patriots first offensive play of the Sunday match; this was when Jones registered his forced fumble, stripping Chris Hogan of the football following a reception.
There were a few holding calls for Jones during the Sunday match; even taking into account the one tackle he registered for a loss, Jones did his part in the game. Sure, he could have done more, but no one can accuse him of mailing it in on Sunday.
And Jones wasn’t the only player to receive the highest praise from Pro Football Focus. A lot of Jones’ achievements came on the backs of the performances of his teammates who also stepped up to the plate when it counted.
This includes David DeCastro, the guard leading the way with 79.0. Closely trailing him is Ramon Foster, another guard that came in with 78.9. Coming third but definitely not least is Center Maurkice Pouncey with 78.5.
The three linemen definitely represented their team where it counted. By the time the game ended, the Steelers hadn’t given up a single sack to their opponents.
The Pro Focus Football Game Grader also made sure to commend Wide receiver Antonio Brown for his ability as a skill position player.
The Wide Receiver caught seven passes (out of eleven that were through his way) for 106 yards.
LeVeaon Bell was nowhere to be seen in the top five; which makes little sense seeing as he registered 149-yards from scrimmage. He also touched the ball 31 times.
Roethlisberger stand in Landry Jones scored a 49.6 grade, which isn’t exactly terrible.
