• Chris Jones putting up numbers: Jones won five of his 22 pass-rush reps against Matt Feiler, generating five pressures and sacking Justin Herbert once.
• Trevon Diggs holds up against Justin Jefferson: Diggs was graded negatively just twice on 25 coverage reps against Jefferson and gave up 1.3 yards per route faced.
• Trey Hendrickson on top: Hendrickson won nine of his 31 pass-rush reps against Dan Moore Jr., generating seven pressures and two sacks.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
As part of PFF's grading process, we chart every matchup on the football field, allowing us to take a detailed look at in-game battles and highlight the players who come out on top each week.
There can be obvious matchup victories, such as a wide receiver putting up 150 yards against a struggling cornerback or an edge rusher beating the same tackle to sack the quarterback repeatedly. But there can also be those hidden wins, such as a guard quietly beating his opponent on every pass-block rep or a cornerback holding his receiver to zero targets over a game.
Here are the players who got the better of their matchups in Week 11.
EDGE Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals vs. LT Dan Moore Jr., Pittsburgh Steelers
Hendrickson won nine of his 31 pass-rush reps against Moore, generating seven pressures and two sacks.
EDGE T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. RT La’el Collins, Cincinnati Bengals
The Steelers' pass rush was much quieter than in its Week 1 game against the Bengals, mostly because the Bengals learned to design their offense around their pass-protection issues. Individually, Watt had the same dominant game, as he won nine of his 22 pass-rush reps against Collins.
DI Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs vs. LG Matt Feiler, Los Angeles Chargers
Jones’ dominance over Feiler was a classic example of a pass-rusher taking over a game, as he beat Feiler on the Chargers' last two offensive plays of the game. Overall, Jones won five of his 22 pass-rush reps against Feiler, generating five pressures while sacking Justin Herbert once. He did all that while being double-teamed more often than not.
LT Andrew Thomas, New York Giants vs. EDGE John Cominsky, Detroit Lions
The Giants lost, but don’t blame Thomas, who kept a clean sheet against Cominsky on 19 pass-block reps.
LT Andrew Thomas, New York Giants vs. EDGE Julian Okwara, Detroit Lions
We have to praise Thomas twice because he didn’t lose a single pass-block rep against Okwara across 18 pass-blocking snaps.
RT Braden Smith, Indianapolis Colts vs. EDGE Haason Reddick, Philadelphia Eagles
Despite leading for most of the game, the Colts ultimately couldn’t pull off the upset against the Eagles. Smith did all he could, though, as he was perfect against Reddick over 16 pass-rush snaps.
WR Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns vs. CB Dane Jackson, Buffalo Bills
Cooper dominated this matchup in all phases, as he was positively graded on five of his 14 routes against Jackson. He was targeted six times and put up 48 yards on the Bills' third-year corner.
WR A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles vs. CB Stephon Gilmore, Carolina Panthers
The Eagles offense struggled against the Colts, so the box score won't really show how good Brown was in Week 11. However, he was positively graded on eight of his 18 routes against Stephon Gilmore, one of the highest rates this week.
WR Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals vs. CB Cameron Sutton, Pittsburgh Steelers
With Ja’marr Chase still on the sideline, a lot of the Bengals' offense lies on Higgins’ shoulders. He certainly delivered on Sunday. He faced Sutton in coverage only 13 times but was positively graded on seven of those routes, recording 37 yards and three first downs.
WR George Pickens, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. CB Eli Apple, Cincinnati Bengals
Pickens didn’t dominate this matchup with consistent separation, but he made his opportunities count and caught 79 yards on 15 receiving snaps against Apple.
CB Eli Apple, Cincinnati Bengals vs. WR Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Apple had a rough time against Pickens, but he did his job against Diontae Johnson, as he allowed zero completions on 18 coverage snaps against him.
CB Trevon Diggs, Dallas Cowboys vs. WR Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Jefferson had a couple of decisive wins against the Cowboys corner, but there is probably no cornerback in the game who could prevent him from winning his reps. Overall, Diggs was graded negatively just twice on 25 coverage reps against Jefferson and gave up 1.3 yards per route faced. The latter might have been helped by the Cowboys’ dominant pass rush, but the coverage grades are given out independently of whether the QB actually throws the ball.
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