One week after struggling in primetime on Monday Night Football in the tackling department, recording 12 missed tackles in a win over the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers cleaned things up in a major way in Week Three against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Steelers put a real emphasis on tackling coming out of the Monday night win over the Browns. Turns out, that emphasis paid off as the Steelers missed just four tackles in the 23-18 win against the Raiders, one of which came on special teams.
None of the misses led to real splash plays for the Raiders, either, which was a huge improvement from the previous week.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES VS. RAIDERS — 4
Kwon Alexander – 1
Minkah Fitzpatrick – 1
Damontae Kazee – 1
Mark Robinson – 1 (special teams)
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH WEEK 3 (3 GAMES) — 25 (8.3 MISSES PER GAME)
Elandon Roberts – 4 (13 tackles on 17 total attempts, 23.5% miss rate)
Cole Holcomb – 3 (18 tackles on 21 total attempts, 14.3% miss rate)
Minkah Fitzpatrick – 3 (21 tackles on 24 total attempts, 12.5% miss rate)
Kwon Alexander – 2 (24 tackles on 26 total attempts, 7.7% miss rate)
Patrick Peterson – 2 (nine tackles on 11 total attempts, 18.2% miss rate)
Montravius Adams – 2 (one on sack attempt) (seven tackles on nine total attempts, 22.2% miss rate)
Elijah Riley – 2 (one on sack attempt) (two tackles on four total attempts, 50% miss rate)
Damontae Kazee – 2 (12 tackles on 14 total attempts, 14.3% miss rate)
Keanu Neal – 1 (15 tackles on 16 total attempts, 6.25% miss rate)
Levi Wallace – 1 (14 tackles on 15 total attempts, 6.6% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 1 (three tackle on four total attempts, 25% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 1 (11 tackles on 12 total attempts, 8.3% miss rate)
Mark Robinson — 1 (special teams) (four tackles on five total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Two of the top three tacklers on the Steelers on Sunday night missed one tackle each, that being safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and linebacker Kwon Alexander. Of course, some misses are going to occur when you’re around the football quite a bit.
Fitzpatrick led the Steelers with 11 tackles on the night, his lone miss coming when he was flying downhill trying to get Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams in space. Alexander had nine tackles in the win and really played well coming downhill against the run game. His miss occurred on Josh Jacobs when he went for a big hit, rather than wrapping up the Raiders running back.
Outside of that, the Steelers were very sound in the tackling department. Let’s take a look at the misses.
Veteran safety Damontae Kazee missed the first tackle of the game for the Steelers in the first quarter, coming down on a crossing route to Las Vegas receiver Jakobi Meyers over the middle.
Kazee does a good job of tracking and closing on the throw, making contact with Meyers right away at the catch point, but he goes high and slides off Meyers.
Meyers does a good job of ducking underneath Kazee’s attempt, but the veteran safety slows him down just enough to cause Meyers to come to a stop after breaking free of Kazee’s tackle attempt. But he has nowhere to go and just gives himself up in the middle of the field.
Fortunately for Kazee, the miss didn’t go for a big play. Missing a tackle in the middle of the field, especially in the passing game, can be killer.
Fitzpatrick learned that the hard way in the third quarter.
On a glance route from Jimmy Garoppolo to Adams on third and 1, the Raiders receiver finds himself running free through the middle of the Steelers defense, getting into the second level quickly after beating cornerback Levi Wallace off the line quickly.
Fitzpatrick does a great job of coming downhill in a hurry, but his angle is just off, and he stops his feet before the point of contact. This gives Adams just a sliver of time and space to change his own running angle, flying past a diving Fitzpatrick for the missed tackle.
The miss ultimately allowed Adams to gain another 14 yards.
Fortunately, the drive stalled as two plays later Garoppolo threw up an ill-advised prayer under pressure intended for Meyers that Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson easily picked off.
In the fourth quarter, Alexander recorded his miss as the Raiders were mounting a comeback. Alexander only missed because he went for the big hit rather than using good technique against Jacobs.
Alexander does a nice job of getting down into the run lane to fill the gap, but he goes for a big hit with his shoulder on Jacobs and never even attempts to wrap his arms up for the tackle. This allows Jacobs to absorb and bounce off the hit, gaining another five to six yards before Fitzpatrick gets the running back on the ground.
You just can’t go for the big hits like this without wrapping in the NFL. Alexander knows this, so it’s puzzling seeing that type of miss on the interior in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers missed just four tackles in the win and forced an impressive 10 missed tackles offensively, meaning that the Steelers won the tackle battle by a mark of plus-six. That improves Pittsburgh’s record in the game within the game to 2-0-1 on the year.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES VS. RAIDERS — 10
Najee Harris – 5
Jaylen Warren – 4
Kenny Pickett – 1
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH WEEK 3 (3 GAMES) — 34 (11.3 PER GAME)
Jaylen Warren – 12
Najee Harris – 11
Calvin Austin III – 6 (two on special teams)
George Pickens – 2
Allen Robinson II – 1
Diontae Johnson – 1
Kenny Pickett — 1
Against the Raiders, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren were forces. They ran hard throughout the game, consistently fell forward and make it difficult for the Raiders in terms of getting the pair on the ground.
According to Next Gen Stats, Harris had 12 yards rushing over expected on the night, meaning he did better than the blocking allowed, which is a positive sign. He started to really get to his game on the night.
One of his runs in the second quarter was a thing of beauty.
Nice blocking here from the offensive line. Dan Moore Jr. kicks out Maxx Crosby while Mason Cole and Isaac Seumalo work a solid double team before Seumalo is able to peel off and pick up the lurking linebacker.
Harris does the rest. He gets through the hole quickly and sets up the defensive back perfectly with a jab step outside before spinning back inside to avoid the tackle.
When he’s going like this, he’s a very difficult back to stop.
Warren was very difficult to stop with the football in his hands, too.
The Steelers didn’t exactly get him the football in advantageous situations as a runner, but Warren did a lot of creating on his own.
Quick toss here to get Warren the football, but Las Vegas cornerback Marcus Peters is already in the backfield quickly to get a shot on the runner. Warren forces him to miss though, running through the arm tackle and generating a few yards on the ground.
Sure is fun to watch him run like this every single time he touches the football. Both running backs are like that. It’s a mindset.
