Surprising Steelers earn flattering PFF grades from dominant Week 7 showing

As home underdogs for Sunday Night Football in Week 7, most fans were shocked to see the Pittsburgh Steelers trounce Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets in primetime. The Jets were in desperation mode after trading for Davante Adams, but their newest acquisition failed to make an impact.

This is in large part thanks to several stellar individual performances from Pittsburgh's defense. Surprisingly, the best showings didn't come from the players we all expected to see at the top of the list.

While T.J. Watt consistently drew attention from the Jets' offense, he barely made an impact as a pass rusher and was mostly held in check. The same can be said for Cameron Heyward, who never reached the quarterback and earned just two tackles in the 37-15 blowout win.

Thankfully, Pittsburgh had a handful of young heroes in this contest. When it came time for Pro Football Focus to hand out their weekly grades, Keeanu Benton earned the highest marks on the Steelers with a 90.2 overall PFF grade in Week 7. Following him on the list were George Pickens, Alex Highsmith, Darnell Washington, and Beanie Bishop Jr.

Young Steelers stepped up vs. Jets

Benton made his presence felt in Week 7, as he applied pressure on Aaron Rodgers while swatting down a pair of passes. For as well as he has played in his first two seasons, it's shocking to see that he has only one career sack under his belt. There's no question that, if he keeps playing like this, the sacks will come in due time.

Pickens had a bounce-back performance and his best game of the season after a few forgettable games against the Cowboys and Raiders. The switch to quarterback Russell Wilson could be a good sign of things to come for Pickens.

Alex Highsmith earned the third-best PFF grade on the team, and the Steelers are thankful to have him back. With T.J. Watt drawing the attention against the Jets, Highsmith took advantage of one-on-one matchups against offensive tackle Tyron Smith, and his pressure on the quarterback forced Aaron Rodgers to get rid of the ball in a hurry.

Darnell Washington saw his most involved performance in the passing game of his NFL career -- catching all four targets for 36 yards. In addition to being a mauling blocker from the 'Y' tight end position, Washington earned the second-highest receiving grade among all tight ends in Week 7.

Of all the outstanding Steelers performers in Pittsburgh's blowout win over New York, Beanie Bishop Jr. is drawing the most buzz. The undrafted rookie cornerback raked in two interceptions. The first was a one-handed pick down the middle of the field. On his second interception, Bishop came up one yard short of returning the pick for a touchdown.

This was a breakout game for Bishop who earned a solid 78.8 grade in Week 7. Bishop allowed four receptions for 35 yards in this game, but his interceptions more than made up for his minor lapses in coverage. The rookie also was credited with two run stops.