Steelers Now
A few weeks ago, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Slay called out Pro Football Focus for claiming that he allowed the most receiving yards by a cornerback in Week 4 (123).
During a recent appearance on Richard Sherman’s podcast, Slay provided more context on how PFF got it wrong.
“This is what made it crazy. They said 123 yards Week 4, not since Week 4,” Slay said. “I said y’all got to be out of your rabbit ass mind. I would (have) got benched with 123 yards on Slay? I would have been going crazy. I would have benched myself, first of all. Hey yo, who ever runs this PFF stuff, y’all got to know the difference between man and zone, please y’all. Y’all got people tagging me like, yeah, we knew Slay was washed. I’m like, what the hell are y’all watching?”
Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin took the blame for the 81-yard Jordan Addison reception in Week 4. With the Steelers banged up at cornerback, Austin called too complicated of a defense, considering the personnel they had available at the time, and should have made a similar, easier-to-execute call.
For the play in question, cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey (hamstring injury) and Brandin Echols (cramps) were both off the field being attended to by trainers, leaving the Steelers with just two healthy cornerbacks in Darius Slay and James Pierre. PFF blamed Slay for the big pass play.
“I’m gonna take that one,” Austin said. “We were struggling with who was in the game, and I probably made a call that probably wasn’t simple enough for everybody, and so that’s on me. … I’ll make sure if that ever happens again, if we have some attrition the way it happened, I gotta give our guys something that’s way more simple, and that they can line up and play.”
J.J. Watt also ripped PFF on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday.
“I’ve had my issues with PFF for a very long time and I was their number one rated player,” Watt said. “They literally had to change their system because of me and I still hate it. PFF has a lot of very beneficial tools but they’ve gotta stop grading players.
“PFF has a ton of great stuff. Player grading sucks. Stop putting it out.”
To say the least, players don’t take PFF’s grades seriously.
"PFF has a TON of great stuff..
Player grading SUCKS..
STOP PUTTING IT OUT" ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive https://t.co/rYeaLCE0MV pic.twitter.com/MBAge4AbtH
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 15, 2025
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers CB Darius Slay Calls Out PFF: ‘What the Hell Are Y’all Watching?’
