Jaguars vs. Steelers: PFF notes and grades after AFC Divisional Round playoff game

The Jacksonville Jaguars just beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in an offensive shootout.

No, really.

Now they’re onto the AFC Championship game and as close as they’ve ever been to a Super Bowl.

Again... no, really.

How did our friends at Pro Football Focus grade them out?

AFC Divisional Round playoff Jaguars offensive stats

• QB Blake Bortles struggled throughout the game with an overall PFF grade of just 70.1 but it was enough to get the Jaguars the win on Sunday. He led some impressive drives particularly in the fourth quarter. The main area where Bortles struggled was his accuracy as his adjusted completion percentage of 58.3 percent was the lowest by a Quarterback in the Divisional round.
• It was Bortles play when kept clean which was impressive. Bortles had the highest passer rating of any quarterback in the divisional round when kept clean, Bortles completed 12 of his 19 pass attempts from a clean pocket for 197 yards and a touchdown versus the Steelers on Sunday. Bortles played the perfect game on Sunday not turning the ball over and making the big play when needed.
• RB Leonard Fournette looked excellent versus the Steelers. Fournette ran the ball 25 times on Sunday for 109 yards, he had the third best breakaway percentage of any running back of the divisional round with a 31.2 percent breakaway percentage. Fournette was able to create two runs of more than 15 yards which was tied for the most by a runner.
• Despite having the fewest passing plays of any team in the divisional round the Jaguars offensive line still did an excellent job of protecting QB Blake Bortles. The offensive line only allowed four total pressures against the Steelers which was the fewest by an offensive line this week. The team’s Pass-blocking efficiency (PBE) was also the best by any team in the divisional round with a PBE of 89.3.
• Center Bradon Linder was the Jaguars highest graded player versus the Steelers. He earned an overall PFF grade of 89.8 which was the best by a center in the divisional round. On his 28 pass block snaps he didn’t allow a single pressure to give him a perfect PBE of 100, but it was his display in the run game that was truly dominant leading all centers with a run block grade of 89.5.

AFC Divisional Round playoff playoff Jaguars defensive stats

• LB Telvin Smith was the highest graded Jaguars player from a defensive standpoint. Smith earned an overall PFF grade of 84.6 versus the Steelers which was the second best grade by a linebacker in the divisional round. Smith impressed the most in coverage with an 86.3 coverage grade, leading all linebackers with four stops in coverage.
• Another Linbacker who excelled in coverage was Myles Jack who intercepted Roethlisberger in the first quarter. Jack was targeted nine times against the Steelers but only allowed five to be complete, when targeting Jack Roethlisberger only had a passer rating of 34.7, this passer rating was the best by a linebacker in the divisional playoff round and the best by Jack all season.
• In the run game it was DT Malik Jackson that was a dominant force. His run defense grade of 86.7 was third best on the team versus the Steelers which just goes to show how dominant the Jaguars defense was against the run. Jackson had three stops in run defense on Sunday on just 12 run defense snaps which gave him the third best run stop percentage by a defensive tackle in the divisional round at 25 percent.
• CB A.J. Bouye had his worst game of the season on Sunday. His overall grade of 57.5 ranked tenth among corners as he allowed his first two touchdowns in coverage all season. Bouye was targeted nine times versus the Steelers and allowed five completions for 94 yards. Bouye gave up a passer rating of 131.5 when targeted which was the second highest by a cornerback in the divisional round. This was the highest passer rating Bouye has allowed all season and only the third time he has allowed a passer rating of over 100 this season.
• No edge defender had more pressures than Yannick Ngakoue in the divisional round. He had six pressures against the Steelers on Sunday as he caused the Steelers offensive line problems all game. He was the man which forced the fumble of Roethlisberger in the second quarter which LB Telvin Smith picked up and scored. Ngakoue generated his six total pressures on 48 pass rush snaps which gave him a pass-rushing productivity of 9.9 which ranked seventh among 4-3 defensive ends.