Eagles vs. Steelers Preseason Week 3 PFF Grades: Philadelphia's awesome offensive line

Pro Football Focus is a site that grades NFL player performances. Let's take a look at what they had to say about the performances in Philadelphia's 31-21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. [Recap]

PFF offers explanation on their grading system on their website. Read more about that here.

OFFENSE

Best

Jason Peters +2.9
Todd Herremans +2.6
Matt Tobin +2.5
Evan Mathis +2.1
Jason Kelce +1.9
Kenjon Barner +1.6
Andrew Gardner +1.3
Matthew Tucker +1.2
Damaris Johnson +1.1
Mark Sanchez +1.1

Analysis:

Philadelphia's offense gained 482 total yards on 79 plays against Pittsburgh. A lot of the team's offensive success was due to strong blocking up front. Excellent run blocking paved the way for Eagles running backs to finish with a combined 182 yards rushing on 35 attempts for a 5.2 average.

This is the third straight week where the Eagles offensive line (both backups and starters) has finished really well. I don't think offensive line depth should be as big of a concern as it was before. The backups have looked really capable from what I've seen. The team might even have a future quality starter from that group; I'm thinking Matt Tobin.

Recently acquired Kenjon Barner finished with 7 attempts for 32 yards (4.6 average). What made his running impressive is that he made defenders miss 4 tackles and he gained a total of 23 yards after contact.

Mark Sanchez had another great game. 7/9 (77.8%) for 85 yards (9.4 average) and a rating of 106. His pass to undrafted rookie tight end Trey Burton down the seam was a thing of beauty.

Worst

Quron Pratt -1.9
Kevin Graf -1.3
Allen Barbre -1.1
Riley Cooper -1.1

Analysis:

Pratt was called for 3 penalties against the Steelers. One was declined. He only played 16 snaps!

Graf allowed a sack in 8 snaps played.

Barbre didn't have his best performance. Steelers outside linebacker Jason Worilds gave him fits at times. Barbre finished with allowing 1 quarterback hit and 3 quarterback hurries.

DEFENSE

Best

Brandon Bair +1.8
Nate Allen +1.7
Brandon Graham +1.3
Earl Wolff +1.3

Analysis:

Worst

DeMeco Ryans -2.3
Curtis Marsh -1.9
Daytawion Lowe -1.7
Marcus Smith II -1.7
Joe Kruger -1.6
Bryan Braman -1.4
Bradley Fletcher -1.4
Keelan Johnson -1.3
Connor Barwin -1.3
Wade Keliikipi -1.2
Malclm Jenkins -1.2

Analysis:

A lot of players with negative grades suffered from having penalties called on them. As you're quite aware, NFL officials have been extra flag happy in the preseason so that's a big factor here.

Ryans had 1 penalty and a missed tackle. Marsh had 2 penalties and struggled in coverage. Smith II excelled as a run defender (3 tackles, none missed, 2 stops) but was penalized once. The recently released Kruger had three penalties called on him. Braman only played 8 snaps but missed a tackle. Fletcher was flagged twice in 30 snaps. Barwin was flagged twice in 30 snaps as well. Jenkins was flagged once.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Worst

RB Kenjon Barner -1.6
K Alex Henery -1.2

Barner failed to impress as a returner: 1 kickoff return for 22 yards and 1 fair catch on a punt. Henery obviously missed a 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.