Statistically speaking, powered by Pro Football Focus

HOW IT WORKS:

Pro Football Focus, which nearly a third of the NFL subscribes to, has a complex grading process, looking at every player on every offensive, defensive and special-teams play. Plus or minus grades are given and are based around an average of 0, with each position graded slightly differently. If a player does something you normally would expect, then a score of 0 is given. Grades are given for plays that are reasonably considered to be better or worse than the average or expected play. For the final grade, player participation is factored in, using a normalization factor to set the average player in that facet of the game to 0.

Pro bowl defensive tackle Henry Melton tore the ACL in his left knee in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 40-23 victory against the Steelers on a freakish play, where his knee buckled on a rush. He’s out for the year and will face a long rehabilitation after surgery. Melton’s agent said his recovery should extend until May or June, but that he should be ready for training camp. But right now, the timing is awful.

According to PFF, Melton was having his best game this season after getting off to a slow start because of a concussion in the preseason.[iframe src=”//e.infogr.am/Melton-Matters-77″ width=”300″ height=”465″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″]Jay Cutler’s 41-yard completion to Brandon Marshall was not only a crucial play against the Steelers, but also another sign that Cutler is on target when it comes to passes over 20 yards. After Sunday’s games, Cutler remained the most accurate QB in the league when it came to deep passing.

Here’s his accuracy on those passes over 20 yards, in addition to look at some other key numbers:[iframe src=”//e.infogr.am/Jay-Cutler-591140″ width=”300″ height=”559″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″][iframe src=”//e.infogr.am/-chadmerda_1380041300″ width=”300″ height=”559″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″]The Bears’ decision to attack Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with blitzes made a huge difference. “Big Ben” was at his worst when blitzed.

And it was repeated pressure that forced Roethlisberger to make some key mistakes, including a fumble that Julius Peppers returned for a 42-yard TD to seal the game.

Roethlisberger finished the game with 406 yards on 26 of 41 passing, with 2 TDs and 2 INTs, for a QB rating of 92.1.

Here’s a closer look at the situational breakdown:[iframe src=”//e.infogr.am/-chadmerda_1380042898″ width=”300″ height=”599″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″]