PFF rated Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata among the best offensive tackles in the NFL at winning 1-on-1 matchups on an island
The Eagles are 8-2, and Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata have significantly contributed to their overall success over the past few years. Johnson is a perennial All-Pro and Pro Bowler, while Mailata has been dominant and should make one of those lists this season.
Philadelphia has the NFL’s best offensive line, and a significant component of that success is Johnson and Mailata’s ability to win one-on-one matchups on the outside.
PFF recently ranked and rated the best in the league at winning on the island, and the Eagles duo tops the list, with Mailata at No. 1.
So much of the Eagles’ offense is predicated to letting Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata win on their own. https://t.co/xJU1MtEH2c
Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was the top-rated defensive lineman in Week 11 according to PFF.
The Tennessee Titans are a team in purgatory right now. They are improving and getting incrementally better every week, yet those improvements have not translated to victories on the field.
One player that is setting the tone for the defense is defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Simmons is in the midst of a string of outstanding performances. This is not just from a production standpoint, it is from an analytical perspective as well.
Jeffery Simmons among interior D-linemen in Week 11:
This week, Simmons was ranked the top-rated defensive tackle in the NFL by PFF with an overall 88.7 grade. His pass rush grade, pressures, and pressure rate were also tops in the league. Overall he had four tackles and a forced fumble, but his impact goes far beyond the stat sheet.
Just weeks after the Titans rebuffed potential trade opportunities for him, Simmons is showing fans and opponents why he was untouchable at the deadline and why the team considers him a building block for their future. He is also a locker room leader who helps set the tone on a weekly basis.
Moving forward, Simmons and rookie defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat should only get better playing next to each other. Already a solid tandem, they should continue to grow into one of the most dynamic defensive fronts in the NFL and consistently anchor the Titans’ defense.
Simmons will be back in action on Sunday when the Titans head to NRG Stadium to take on the Houston Texans.
Georgia football’s PFF grades from their win vs. Tennessee have been announced.
The Georgia Bulldogs entered a do-or-die game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday. Fresh off their second loss of the season against the Ole Miss Rebels, they UGA was in must-win territory if they wanted to make the College Football Playoff. Georgia took care of business, winning against the Volunteers 31-17.
The passing game finally emerged for the Bulldogs after looking dreadful recently. Carson Beck silenced the critics with 347 passing yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. As a result, he made PFF’s All-SEC team. Beck distributed the ball well. A staggering five different receivers finished with over 50 yards. Oscar Delp emerged as his No. 1 red zone target.
The defense was less consistent than in past games, but at the start of the second half, they finally gelled together to shutout Nico Iamaleava and the Volunteers offense. Chaz Chambliss led the team with two sacks. Smael Mondon Jr. had a sack and a tackle for loss, looking as healthy as ever. As a cherry on top, Damon Wilson II stripped Nico Iamaleava of the ball to end the game.
Highest and lowest PFF grades from the Georgia offense and defense vs. TENNESSEE
Offense
Best Grades
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Tight End Oscar Delp: 87.0 overall grade, 88.3 receiving grade, 73.3 pass-blocking grade, 56.8 run-blocking grade
Five stats to know from the Packers’ win over the Bears on Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers got explosive plays from Christian Watson, an encouraging performance from Rashan Gary and near-perfect passing day from Jordan Love under pressure, but lingering struggles in the red zone on offense and coverage problems in the passing game on defense turned Sunday’s showdown with the Chicago Bears into a nail-biter at Soldier Field.
In the end, it took an impressive special teams play from the Packers to secure a victory.
Here are five stats from Pro Football Focus to know from Sunday:
10.0: The receiving yards averaged per route run by Packers receiver Christian Watson. Anything above 2.0 yards per route run is elite for a season; 10.0 for a game is otherworldly. Watson ran only 15 routes but caught four passes for 150 yards, including three of at least 25 yards. His 25-yarder set up a touchdown in the third quarter, and his 60-yarder set up the final go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter.
5: The number of pressures from Rashan Gary, a team high. He produced three hurries, one quarterback hit and one sack — an impressive feat considering how often the Bears were throwing quick or short. Gary added four run stops, another team high. The problem? While Gary was great, no one else on the Packers defense had a particularly good day on Sunday.
8-for-8: Jordan Love’s passing numbers while under pressure. He has struggled while pressured this season, but not Sunday. He connected on all eight passes for 185 yards, or 23.1 per attempt. Don’t be surprised if Love, now with two healthy legs, is much, much better against pressure down the stretch of this season.
8-for-10: Caleb Williams’ passing numbers when blitzed by the Packers. The rookie quarterback completed eight passes for 87 yards and twice scrambled against extra pressure. On the final drive, he identified a blitz coming pre-snap, changed the protection and fired a completion to Keenan Allen to get the Bears into field goal range. His passing grade against the blitz was elite — 94.5. The Packers only pressured Williams on 11 of 39 dropbacks.
7: The number of Packers defenders who were charged with giving up multiple completions. Williams and the Bears attacked everyone. Javon Bullard, Edgerrin Cooper, Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Xavier McKinney all gave up at least three completions into their coverage. Sunday was the Packers’ third-lowest coverage grade of the season.
Nik Bonitto (90.0) was the Broncos’ best player vs. the Falcons, followed by Quinn Meinerz (92.1) and Bo Nix (83.3). View more PFF grades.
Following the Denver Broncos‘ 38-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Pro Football Focus has released grades for each player’s Week 11 performance.
PFF grades players on a 0 (worst) to 100 (best) scale. Check out the best and worst of Week 11 below.
Best Offensive Players
G Quinn Meinerz: 92.1
QB Bo Nix: 83.3
OT Mike McGlinchey: 77.4
WR Devaughn Vele: 75.5
RB Javonte Williams: 73.8
Bo Nix had the best game of his career in a record-breaking performance. Denver has also found creative ways to get WR Marvin Mims (73.2) involved, and he ended the day with the sixth-best grade on offense.
Best Defensive Players
OLB Nik Bonitto: 90.0
DL John Franklin-Myers: 77.4
DB Devon Key: 75.3
CB Pat Surtain: 70.1
DL Zach Allen: 65.6
Nik Bonitto has now topped his 2023 sack total and he’s just one sack away from the first double-digit sack season of his career. Bonitto’s nine sacks are tied for second-most in the NFL this season.
Worst Offensive Players
G Ben Powers: 51.1
RB Jaleel McLaughlin: 54.6
C Luke Wattenberg: 59.0
TE Adam Trautman: 59.0
TE Lucas Krull: 59.3
Tight end needs to be a priority position for the Broncos in the offseason. Tyler Warren would be a dream draft target.
Worst Defensive Players
DL Jordan Jackson: 29.5
LB Levelle Bailey: 41.9
DL Malcolm Roach: 45.7
OLB Jonathon Cooper: 46.3
CB Riley Moss: 48.2
The Cooper and Moss grades seem a bit harsh.
Special Teams
ST Devon Key: 86.2
LS Mitchell Fraboni: 77.8
R Marvin Mims: 61.3
K Wil Lutz: 68.0 (FG) 55.2 (KO)
P Riley Dixon: 55.9
You can view grades for every player on the paid version of PFF’s website.
Cam Heyward’s elite 2024 play has been pivotal for the Steelers’ defense, proving age is just a number for the veteran DT.
Cam Heyward has either perfected time travel, discovered the fountain of youth, or is doing his greatest Benjamin Button impersonation in 2024, as the Steelers’ DT continues to turn back the clock with his elite play at 35 years old.
With an impressive five sacks, 14 QB hits, six tackles for loss, and a whopping 31 QB pressures, PFF considers Heyward the best defensive lineman of 2024 so far.
Throughout Heyward’s illustrious 14-year career, the Steelers’ DT has accumulated 85.5 sacks, 127 TFLs, 193 QB hits, and eight forced fumbles.
Heyward’s play in 2024 has been a pivotal factor in not only the team’s fourth-ranked defense against the run but also the overall success of the 7-2 Pittsburgh Steelers.
While teammate T.J. Watt is considered a favorite for the Defensive Player of the Year award, Heyward is looking more and more like a dark horse candidate with each passing week.
Heyward will face a tough challenge in Week 11 as he and the Steelers take on the 7-3 Baltimore Ravens on November 17th at 1:00 PM EST.
Derek Carr has been one of the best quarterbacks working off of play action, and the Saints should lean into it against the Browns:
Pro Football Focus would suggest the New Orleans Saints offense has one huge advantage over the Cleveland Browns defense. That comes in the form of play action passing.
Derek Carr grades out as one of the best quarterbacks in the league when using play action. The lack of play action was one of the things missing from last year’s offensive game plan. Under Klint Kubiak, PFF grades Carr as the third-best quarterback when using play action. Against play action, the Browns allow the 30th most yards in the NFL.
That creates a matchup between a top-five quarterback and bottom-five defense in this specific stat. You can’t run play action all game, but New Orleans does like to hit shot plays off of play action. We saw it last week with Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s big debut. A defense that allows a good amount of yardage on play action could open the door for more explosive plays like we saw last week.
According to charting from Pro Football Reference, the Saints are tied with the Browns for the 11th-most pass attempts off of play action (72), but New Orleans has been much more successful on those plays. They’re one of six teams to gain 700 or more yards off of play-action passing. If the Saints are going to win back-to-back games, they’ll need to lean on this aspect of their offense.
PFF: Former Wisconsin linebacker is the highest-graded LB from Week 8-10
Former Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Zack Baun is ProFootballFocus’ highest-graded linebacker from Weeks 8-10 of the 2024 NFL season
Through nine appearances with the Philadelphia Eagles this season, Baun has been nothing short of incredible. The UW alumnus is responsible for 87 total tackles, 55 solo tackles, three forced fumbles, two sacks and one interception as the Eagles’ mainstay in the linebacker room.
Baun has posted 30 total tackles, three forced fumbles, one interception and two pass deflections just in the last three contests.
His highest grade arrived in the Eagles’ Week 9 game vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars. His 10 tackles and two pass deflections were enough to earn him an overall grade of 92.6, the most among any qualified linebacker across the league.
Baun’s status as one of the NFL’s most elite in the middle of the defense is somewhat of a shocker. Prior to this season, the Brown Deer, Wisconsin native’s career high in tackles for a season was 30 with the New Orleans Saints. As of Nov. 11, he’s No. 11 in total tackles across the league.
Baun and the Eagles will be back in action against the Washington Commanders on Nov. 14 in Philadelphia.
Trevor Penning just might make it. The New Orleans Saints right tackle was recognized as the highest-rated blocker of Week 10 at Pro Football Focus, with a 92.8 PFF player grade.
That’s impressive even with the subjective cautions that come with PFF grades. Penning had the league’s highest grade as a run blocker (4.7) and he was charged with allowing just one pressure on 27 snaps in pass protection. He’s really coming into his own after moving to the right side, even if he isn’t a finished project just yet.
He just needs to keep stacking good days and good games like this. The best thing you can say about an offensive tackle is how little you hear about him on game days, and to his credit Penning has mostly stayed out of the spotlight by cleaning up his mistakes. Outside of a few poorly-timed penalties, anyway. Let’s see if he can keep it up.
