Just like that, the first live football game for the Pittsburgh Steelers came and went Friday night at Raymond James Stadium.
There was a lot of good, some bad, and plenty to react to in coming out of the 27-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, moving to 1-0 in the preseason.
As expected in the first preseason game for both teams, there was some sloppiness, especially with penalties. The one area where sloppiness is largely expected in the first true live-tackling experience many of the players are having for the year, Pittsburgh held up quite well.
It’s time for the first missed tackles report of the 2023 season. Let’s dive in!
Total missed tackles at Buccaneers — 8
Trenton Thompson – 2 (one tackle on three total attempts, 66.7 percent miss rate)
Luq Barcoo – 1 (no tackles on one total attempt, 100 percent miss rate)
Kwon Alexander – 1 (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3 percent miss rate)
Tanner Muse – 1 (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3 percent miss rate)
David Perales – 1 (one tackle on two total attempts, 50 percent miss rate)
Madre Harper – 1 (three tackles on four total attempts, 25 percent miss rate)
Mark Robinson – 1 (six tackles on seven total attempts, 14.3 percent miss rate)
As expected in the first preseason game, many of the guys listed above in the first missed tackles report of the year are fringe-roster guys. Safety Trenton Thompson, who was signed halfway through training camp, led the Steelers with two missed tackles, which certainly won’t help his case when it comes to sticking around on at least the practice squad.
Granted, his interception in the first half will help his overall case, but he can’t be missing tackles at the rate he did Friday night.
Thompson’s first miss came in the first half with him coming downhill after a completion to David Moore.
Thompson took a good angle on the play, but didn’t finish in space, allowing Moore to knife through the middle of the Steelers defense.
After that, veteran free agent linebacker Tanner Muse missed a tackle in space, allowing Moore to get back to the outside and rip down the field for the 38-yard gain. I didn’t give Kenny Robinson a miss on the play because he pulled up thinking Muse was going in for the hit and didn’t want to dish out any friendly fire.
Ugly rep all around from two new faces on the defense.
A few plays later, Thompson recorded another miss, coming downhill in space again.
Again, he does a good job of clicking and closing, covering a lot of ground to get downhill to the catch point. But he’s out of control and takes a poor angle, allowing Tampa Bay receiver Kaylon Geiger to cut back inside for a big gain.
Bad miss in space from Thompson.
Later in the second half, undrafted rookie outside linebacker David Perales recorded his lone miss of the game, coming on a trick play from the Buccaneers and wide receiver Taye Barber.
Perales did a good job getting upfield and getting in position to make a play deep in the backfield for a potential tackle for loss on the reverse, but his lack of athleticism hindered him here. He doesn’t change directions all that well and doesn’t have that explosiveness to cover a short area quickly enough, especially in a situation like this.
It becomes a big miss in the backfield and Barber is able to convert the first down.
The worst misses on the day came on Tampa Bay’s second series of the game, and they were recorded by cornerback Luq Barcoo and veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander.
On a quick throw from Baker Mayfield to wide receiver Devin Thompkins, Barcoo does an excellent job reading the play and firing downhill with force, closing in a hurry on the throw. He does everything right — right up until the point of contact.
He goes low with force aiming to cut Thompkins’ legs out from underneath him but is unsuccessful. He doesn’t wrap up either, and Thompkins is able to bounce out of the hit and keep moving. Alexander comes in to try and clean it up, but he misses in space, too.
Fortunately, the play didn’t go for many yards in the end, but it was rough miss from Barcoo and Alexander.
Offensively, it was a solid day for the Steelers from a forced missed tackles perspective. On the night, the Steelers forced 10 missed tackles, winning the tackles battle by a margin of plus two in the win.
Forced missed tackles at Buccaneers — 10
Diontae Johnson – 2
Anthony McFarland Jr. – 2
Jaylen Warren – 2
George Pickens – 1
Jordan Byrd – 1 (special teams)
Darius Hagans – 1
Greg Bell – 1
Hitting the field Friday night as the first-team offense, the Steelers forced five missed tackles on the game’s first drive.
Diontae Johnson started it fast, forcing two missed tackles on the first play from scrimmage for the Black and Gold.
It remains rather puzzling to me that people consider Johnson to not be dynamic in space with the football. Sure, he had issues last season running backwards, but he makes people miss at a high rate. He’s incredibly dynamic in space, and it showed on the first play from scrimmage.
Two quick moves, two big-time forced missed tackles in a phone booth.
Later on in the same drive, Jaylen Warren forced two missed tackles on his 10-yard run.
First off, great block from Allen Robinson II, finishing the rep even after getting beaten inside. Getting a hat on the defensive back just long enough gives Warren a clear lane. From there, Warren does the rest.
He forces a miss at the line of scrimmage in space and then runs through an arm tackle in the hole, getting to the first down marker in the process. Great run on his second touch of the preseason from Warren, who had a fantastic rookie season.
