The Pittsburgh Steelers walked out of Allegiant Stadium with a win Sunday night, defeating the Las Vegas Raiders, 23-18. Pittsburgh goes to 2-1 on the season after defeating a Raiders squad that managed to throw for 324 yards with All-Pro WR Davante Adams having a big game, catching 13 passes on 20 targets for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
The man that was going to be under the microscope in this one against the Raiders’ passing attack was CB Levi Wallace. Wallace took his lumps last week against WR Amari Cooper and the Cleveland Browns, suggesting that he could be in for a tough day at the office facing the likes of Adams as well as WR Jakobi Meyers. According to Pro Football Focus, Wallace allowed eight receptions on 14 targets (57%) for 104 yards against the Raiders, including being on the bad end of both Adams touchdowns. However, when going back through the film, Wallace made several big plays throughout the contest to help Pittsburgh clinch victory.
So, how bad or how good was Wallace on Sunday night? Let’s check the tape for more context behind the stats.
The Film
Wallace was credited with six total tackles Sunday night against Las Vegas, earning a 72.2 run defense grade and a 70.2 coverage grade, according to PFF. You saw his capabilities as a tackler show up on tape like on this goal-line stop on RB Josh Jacobs. Wallace triggers downhill quickly after the quick pitch to Jacobs on the left side, wrapping him up by the waist. He proceeds to swing him down as the rest of the defense rallies to keep him from crossing the goal line.
However, on the very next play, the Raiders go right at Wallace with their best red zone weapon in Adams. Watch as Adams motions across the line of scrimmage to the left side, with Wallace on him in man coverage. Wallace gets a hand on Adams as he sells an outside release, only to spin back inside. Wallace isn’t quick enough to step in front of the pass, contesting the catch with his hand across Adams’ body, but Adams secures the catch for the touchdown.
Wallace was also involved in Adams’ first touchdown reception of the game, but it does need some context. As you can see, Wallace lines up across from Adams in man coverage. He turns his back toward the sideline on the snap, running with Adams down the field. However, Wallace is slow to make his transition to a full sprint as Adams starts to get vertical, working more to the middle of the field away from Wallace, who attempts to recover.
S Minkah Fitzpatrick is there to help Wallace, but he comes down to pick up WR Jakobi Meyers, forcing CB Patrick Peterson, who is covering Meyers to try and redirect to aid Wallace in coverage. Peterson doesn’t get his head around in time as Adams reels in the catch, falling into the end zone for the score. Obviously, you want to see Wallace stay sticker in coverage, but Pittsburgh was in position to help Wallace with Adams. However, Peterson was late to aid Wallace in coverage as and Fitzpatrick jumped the crossing route using a dropkick coverage technique, leading to no help overtop on one of the best wideouts in the league.
According to PFF charting, Adams had six receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns when facing Wallace. Wallace made sure to give Adams the respect he deserved, often playing in off-coverage to give him space to react to underneath throws while also having the cushion to avoid Adams getting on top of him. You see Wallace in the clips below being a tad slow to adjust to Adams coming out of his break with the latter catching the slant for a nice gain in the first clip. In the second clip, you see Adams break hard to the sideline on a short out route, having Wallace freeze for a split second as he wraps up Adams after making the catch, carrying him out of bounds.
Here is a similar play to the second clip above. Wallace gives Adams a lot of cushion prior to the snap, allowing Adams plenty of room to make the easy break toward the sideline for the pitch-and-catch throw for a nice gain.
Still, Wallace did come up with several big plays in coverage on Sunday night. His first notable play came on his first interception of the game, picking off a pass intended for TE Michael Mayer. Wallace lines up overtop of Mayer standing up close to the line of scrimmage and carries him vertically to the top of his route. Wallace then undercuts the route as Mayer breaks inside, stepping in front of the pass for the interception.
Wallace also managed to keep Adams from making a few catches when tasked with covering him. Watch at the top of your screen as Wallace carries Adams vertical as he runs through his zone, keeping his eyes on the football this time compared to last week where he had his eyes glued to the receiver. He plays the ball in the air knocking down the pass as he plays through Adams’ hands, getting help from Fitzpatrick to force the incompletion.
Here’s another pass deflection Wallace picks up while covering Meyers, staying with him in tight coverage as Meyers fakes inside and then back outside before coming across the middle. Wallace works around Meyers to play that ball through his hands, knocking the pass out of his fingertips for the textbook pass breakup.
Seeing all the good and the bad from Wallace in this game, the most important play was the last one he made, which ended up sealing the victory for Pittsburgh. Las Vegas is down five with just seconds left to try and get into position for a Hail Mary pass to the end zone. Wallace has deep third on the top of your screen in coverage and breaks on the pass to Adams along the sideline. Wallace positions himself perfectly for the overthrow by QB Jimmy Garoppolo, leaping up into the air to intercept the pass overtop of Adams with S Keanu Neal also in coverage, coming down with the ball in-bounds to secure the turnover and the win in the process.
Conclusion
Levi Wallace got to ride the roller coaster Sunday night, experiencing the highs and lows that come with playing cornerback in the NFL. He was picked on all night long by Las Vegas and their passing attack, allowing yards and touchdowns to Davante Adams as he looked outmatched for most of the contest. However, Wallace made multiple big plays too, racking up a few key pass deflections as well as two interceptions that Pittsburgh needed to fly out of Vegas with a win.
Wallace isn’t a phenomenal athlete and his warts in coverage were once again exposed on Sunday. However, I do see improvement from last week against Cleveland to this game as he did a much better job getting his eyes on the ball and being in good position to contest passes when in close coverage. He also was better as a run defender, showing a willingness to get after it close to the line of scrimmage and making a couple of key tackles on RB Josh Jacobs.
Wallace had to handle different variables and was tested by fire against the Raiders. He ended up switching sides as CB Joey Porter Jr. would get some run at his right cornerback spot, having him flip to the left side on several occasions. He managed to make it out of the fire, having made more positive plays to help his team compared to previous weeks. He may not be the long-term answer at cornerback for Pittsburgh with his contract up after the season and Porter getting more reps by the week. But Wallace does provide a smart, competitive veteran who will be serviceable as well as provide the splash plays we saw from him on Sunday night.
