The Pittsburgh Steelers won in a thriller Monday night against the Cleveland Browns at home 26-22 with a big reason for the win resting on the efforts of their defense. While Pittsburgh accounted for two defensive touchdowns thanks to their star edge rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, their defense again struggled against the run as well as got picked on in the passing game for the second-straight week. Last week against San Francisco, it was Patrick Peterson who got exposed in coverage, but against Cleveland, CB Levi Wallace had some tough moments against Cleveland’s passing attack.
Wallace admitted after the game that WR Amari Cooper had him “running a track meet” as the veteran wide receiver tested Wallace throughout the contest. When looking back at the tape, Cooper as well as WR Elijah Moore had success against Wallace in coverage due to a couple of reasons as Wallace has been heavily criticized after Monday night’s performance, but context shows that he was close to having a more positive game outside of a few small errors.
The Film
On Wallace’s first reception allowed in the game, we see him lined up across from WR Elijah Moore in press man coverage. Wallace doesn’t get a hand on Moore as he gets off the line but stays with him as Moore tries to get an outside release, fakes the inside step, then gets vertical up the sideline. Wallace runs stride-for-stride with Moore up the sideline but is slow to get his head turned around as Moore hauls in the deep pass from QB Deshaun Watson who places the ball over Wallace’s head over the shoulder to Moore. It’s hard to fault Wallace as he was in tight coverage, but he doesn’t get his head turned around to locate and better play the football in the air.
In the second half, we see a similar play where Wallace was in tight coverage, but Cleveland still connects on the pass. Watch as Wallace runs with WR Amari Cooper step-for-step up the sideline, getting an arm on him as he starts his route to force him toward the sideline. Wallace is in good position again, bur doesn’t get his head around to contest the pass, having Cooper reel in the back shoulder throw from Watson to move the sticks and get Cleveland out of being backed up on their own goal line.
When going back through the tape, you see that most of Wallace’s receptions allowed came in the second half against Cleveland. Shortly after allowing the catch to Cooper shown above, Wallace was challenged again on this rep where he looks to be playing deep third to the top of your screen in Cover 3. Cooper starts pushing his route vertically up the middle of the field but stems his route back inside to the middle of the field where there is no one in sight. Wallace attempts to adjust to Cooper who makes the catch on the deep crossing pattern, swinging him to the ground after making the explosive play.
Another issue with Wallace against Cleveland on Monday night was how large of a cushion he would give receivers when in zone coverage based on down and distance. On this rep, we see Wallace play bail technique as he drops to the deep third of the zone coverage at the top of your screen. With is being second-and-seven, however, Amari Cooper quickly whips back to the ball after going five yards, making the easy catch as Wallace attempts to transition back downhill to meet the receiver. Cooper quickly turns up field toward the sideline and manages to get past the line to gain as Wallace pushes him out to get the first down.
Probably one of the biggest blunders from Wallace on Monday night was the play that he didn’t make that would’ve netted a big positive for him and the Steelers’ defense. Wallace lines up in off coverage, having deep third of the field responsibility in zone. He proceeds to carry WR Marquise Goodwin up the field, tracking the off target pass from Watson that he throws into the end zone. Wallace locates the football, but has the ball go right through his hands for what would have been an easy interception for Pittsburgh’s defense.
Wallace was also a culprit behind RB Jerome Ford’s explosive 69-yard run that set up Cleveland on the goal line. When you watch the play, Wallace was chasing Ford in backside pursuit, but deviated off his path and went diagonally to where the rest of the of Steelers defenders were, leaving a huge cutback lane that Ford exploited to get into green grass. Wallace gets out of position and ends up losing the angle of pursuit on Ford as Ford outruns him to the corner, nearly making it to the end zone before S Minkah Fitzpatrick trips him up from behind to save the touchdown.
It wasn’t all bad by Wallace in coverage against Cleveland on Monday night. He did a good job carrying receivers vertically down the field as well as adjusting at times when the play broke down for the offense. Here’s a good example of the latter against WR Marquise Goodwin where Wallace is a step behind as Goodwin breaks on the out route but adjusts with Goodwin as he turns up the sideline.
Wallace also did a good job of rallying to the football on underneath passes against Cleveland. Watch this play that Wallace makes as he sees Watson checking the ball down to TE Jordan Akins in the flat, getting to Akins shortly after he catches the football and takes him down for a minimal gain on second down.
Conclusion
Levi Wallace had a shaky game against Cleveland on Monday night, but a lot of his bad plays came on him not getting his head turned around in coverage as well as giving too much space in off coverage. The two passes completed against Wallace along the sideline were pretty passes that Wallace had tight coverage on, but he simply didn’t get his head turned around in-time to physically contest the pass. As for the underneath passes, it’s hard to fault Wallace completely as he was dropping into his zone, but it also can be a factor of Wallace’s long speed which isn’t known for being the best, causing him to create more cushion to avoid getting beat deep.
He didn’t get beat deep against Cleveland down the field though as he managed to run in-stride with their receivers as they challenged Pittsburgh vertically. Wallace almost had a big play deep down the field in coverage, but he had it slip through his fingers. When watching Wallace’s game, you see what we have become used to seeing from him: a veteran corner that isn’t the best athlete that competes and provides steady play but isn’t going to be a top-flight cover option against some of the better route runners in football. He’ll have performances in coverage better than Monday night, but his still set has a lower ceiling compared to other cornerbacks with more pedigree and athleticism.
Many Steelers fans, including myself, have started to call for rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. to eat into Wallace’s snaps on the outside, potentially taking over for him as a starting outside corner sooner rather than later. Porter has done well on limited snaps thus far, getting a couple of key pass breakups in Monday’s night game.
Seeing as Porter is the better athlete and the likely long-term answer at cornerback for Pittsburgh, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue to have his role expand and possibly see some time over Wallace should he struggle again in the coming weeks. The starting job right now is Wallace’s to lose, but he needs to play with more spatial awareness and consistency to keep a hold of it going forward this season.
