Kwon Alexander’s reputation as a downhill thumper who loves to lay the wood to people was well known even before he signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers four days into training camp.
Seeing it live on the field in the preseason opener Friday night on the road at Raymond James Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was rather eye-opening though.
Right from the word “Go!” Alexander was a physical presence defensively. Expect that to continue.
“Yeah, man, this just me. This is love. This is what I’m gonna bring every day, every day at practice, every day at the game,” Alexander tldo reporters following the 27-17 win over Tampa Bay, according to video via Steelers.com. “This is how I’m coming.”
It’s been awhile since the Steelers have had that old-school, downhill thumper, one who seeks out contact and wants to be the punisher. They now have that in Alexander.
Against Tampa Bay Alexander made his presence known quickly.
On the first third down of the game, Alexander came on for his first snap as a Steeler and leveled Tampa Bay running back Keshawn Vaughn in the hole, setting up fourth down and forcing a punt. On the very next drive, Alexander brought down Vaughn in the backfield for a loss of a yard and later chased quarterback Baker Mayfield out of bounds on a scramble.
On the third drive of the game, Alexander truly made his presence known, decking running back Chase Edmonds in the flat for a loss of 2 yards. However, the hard hit was called for unnecessary roughness on Alexander, wiping out the big play and giving Tampa Bay 15 free yards.
Penalty for playing football on Alexander. What a shame.
Though it cost the Steelers as Tampa Bay went down the field and scored on an 8-yard pass from Mayfield to receiver Trey Palmer, Alexander’s play was a bright spot on the night defensively for Pittsburgh.
He’s a veteran presence and is a great complementary piece on the inside to Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb. Pittsburgh rolled Alexander out in sub-packages, taking Roberts off the field, which could be the plan moving forward. Having that veteran presence and most importantly that physical presence in the middle is going to be huge for Pittsburgh.
Alexander made it known exactly what he’s going to bring to the table daily in the Black and Gold. Fans are going to love it.
