The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense shut down Myles Garrett in their Week 6 victory. The All-Pro pass rusher only logged a single tackle in the stat sheet and was otherwise held to hurries and pressures as his overall impact on the game was mitigated.
On the surface of that result, it’s easy to put a check next to left tackle Broderick Jones’s name and say that he passed his biggest test of the season. Unfortunately, that would come across as short-sighted in the grand scheme of things.
Jones actually received just a 51.3 overall grade and a 33.9 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus for his performance. Garrett, as is typically the case, graded out rather well despite his modest stat line, hitting a 77.5 overall grade and an 80.2 pass rush grade. But it’s not just PFF glazing Garrett again; the tape backs up a sloppy performance from Jones.
Broderick Jones’ technique still needs polish, but the Pittsburgh Steelers’ plan covered the flaws
That doesn’t mean it’s all doom and gloom for Jones’ outlook, though. Yes, his technique was below the bar on several pass sets, but the schematics of the offense helped hide some of his shortcomings, and that’s where Steelers fans can draw some hope for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Jones was rarely on an island with Garrett, and often when he was, Aaron Rodgers got the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Jones benefited greatly from the extra help he received from Darnell Washington and Jaylen Warren, primarily, with their chips on the outside. At the same time, Isaac Seumalo saved Jones’ bacon on the inside a couple of times, too.
The game plan for Garrett was effective, and that supercedes any of Jones’ failings on Sunday. It takes a team effort to neutralize a threat like Garrett, so credit goes to the trio of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Rodgers, and center Zach Frazier for their roles in creating, setting, and executing the protections.
Jones himself displayed some rough technique, often with the same issues analysts have pointed out before: leaning over his toes and erratic foot and hand placement. Jones allowed a quarterback hit, but otherwise had a clean day without any penalties, too.
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All of this is not to say Jones had a bad game - he didn’t. He wasn’t perfect, but he did take some baby steps forward in his progression, and his teammates helped pick up the slack. It shouldn’t be lost that it takes a full team effort to stifle Garrett like the Steelers did on Sunday.
Early in the season, both Jones and the Steelers’ offense struggled to come up with answers for strong opposing pass rushes. But coming out of the bye week, they formulated an effective plan and put it to work well. Now, the Steelers should have a baseline blueprint on how to deal with dominant pass rushers.
They can put it back into action on Thursday against Trey Hendrickson, if his back injury doesn’t hold him out of the game or Cincinnati doesn’t trade him ahead of time. Otherwise, it’s a plan the Steelers can bring back whenever necessary. And as Jones continues to grow, it just becomes more effective.