The Jacksonville Jaguars rolled through another opponent, making it five straight wins with a 20-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8.
The formula for the Jaguars was familiar. The team’s talented offense made a lot of impressive plays, but left way too many points on the field and cost itself chances with significant errors. The unheralded defense once again came to the rescue with an excellent showing.
Who was most to blame for the Jaguars’ underwhelming offensive showing? And who deserves the most credit for the defense’s shutdown performance?
Here are the players who received the highest and lowest marks in the grades from Pro Football Focus:
5 highest grades on offense
- QB Trevor Lawrence: 85.6
- TE Evan Engram: 74.3
- WR Calvin Ridley: 71.6
- OT Cam Robinson: 69.2
- OG Brandon Scherff: 67.8
One horrendous decision aside, Lawrence was stellar Sunday. He was a perfect 9-for-9 on third down and made several incredible throws down the field. Engram also had one rough play, but finished with 10 receptions on as many targets.
5 lowest grades on offense
- TE Luke Farrell: 29.3
- C Luke Fortner: 47.7
- OG Tyler Shatley: 47.9
- WR Tim Jones: 51.5
- WR Jamal Agnew: 51.8
The Jaguars had Walker Little active, but weren’t quite comfortable enough with his progress from a knee injury to put him on the field. Having him back after the bye should provide a boost, because there’s been too much pressure coming from inside. Shatley and Fortner were credited with allowing six combined pressures Sunday.
5 highest grades on defense
- DT Folorunso Fatukasi: 89.9
- S Andrew Wingard: 89.8
- CB Darious Williams: 77.7
- DL Roy Robertson-Harris: 77.4
- CB Tre Herndon III: 73.3
The Jaguars defense made George Pickens eat his “Hope Defense” barb with a dominant showing Sunday. Fatukasi was a force up front as no Steelers player got to 20 rushing yards on the day. A secondary missing Andre Cisco and Tyson Campbell dd well, largely thanks to the play of Wingard.
5 lowest grades on defense
- CB Montaric Brown: 41.8
- OLB Dawuane Smoot: 45.5
- OLB Travon Walker: 56.9
- DT Angelo Blackson: 57.0
- LB Foye Oluokun: 57.8
It’s never a bad thing when your lowest graded player on PFF is still above 40. But if there was one thing the Steelers offense did well Sunday, it was getting the ball in Diontae Johnson’s hands. Brown was credited with allowing six receptions on the day. Most were to Johnson, although Brown was also the corner who allowed George Pickens to break free for a touchdown.
5 other notables
- LB Devin Lloyd: 72.6
- DT DaVon Hamilton: 58.6
- RB Travis Etienne: 66.1
- OT Anton Harrison: 59.0
- TE Brenton Strange: 62.3
Lloyd’s 89.3 run defense grade was the best of the game for the Jaguars. Hamilton was on the field for just 14 snaps in his first game back from injured reserve. Harrison was credited with allowing three pressures, not so bad considering he spent the day across from T.J. Watt. Strange was the third highest graded pass blocker and second highest graded run blocker for the Jaguars.
