Blocking and tackling. Football at its most fundamental form. Do those things well and you win. Struggle with those aspects and you lose.
In critical moments in Sunday’s 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers tackled well. Specifically, their inside linebackers did. Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts made three big-time, one-on-one stops to help propel the Steelers to victory.
The first was made by Alexander. With the Ravens backed up but leading 10-3 early in the fourth quarter, Baltimore tried to gain some yardage back on a screen to RB Justice Hill. Last week, the Steelers were burned by screens as the Houston Texans churned out several big plays. Here, they wouldn’t be fooled. Alexander read it, avoided the trash of the lineman pulling out in space, and met Hill as soon as he caught the football, smacking him for a five-yard loss.
It set up 3rd and 21, the Ravens getting only a couple of yards out of it. Facing fourth and long in the shadow of their end zone, Miles Killebrew rushed free and blocked a punt, a momentum-changing play. But it’s all set up by Alexander sniffing out this screen.
Now it’s 10-8. Baltimore with a 3rd and 3, just over six minutes to play. The Ravens try to spread the field with both their tight ends standing up and run a draw off it. Elandon Roberts meets Hill one-on-one in the hole. If he misses the tackle, it’s a first down. But Roberts trips up Hill and takes him down for the stop and punt.
Now I know Gunner Olszewski fumbled away the ensuing punt. But if the Ravens convert here, they kill more clock and had the running game and mentality to basically waste the rest of the game away. So this was still a big stop. And, of course, Joey Porter Jr. made up for the fumble and put Pittsburgh back on track.
Finally, the play before the pick. Huge play, totally forgotten. Ravens facing 2nd and goal from the four. They empty the field, alerting potential quarterback power/designed run (a Baltimore staple inside the five- or 10-yard line). Instead, they call a shovel pass to TE Mark Andrews, taking a play out of the Steelers’ playbook.
Alexander meets Andrews in the hole. And he’s not small man. One of the best and most physical tight ends in football, Alexander drops him behind the line for a short loss.
Getting Andrews to the ground is tough enough. Tackling him so he can’t fall forward, a guy of his size just has to stumble and extend and he’s breaking the plane, is even tougher. This is a huge play in a critical moment. The next snap, Porter intercepts in the end zone and the Steelers’ offense goes to work.
Three massive open field tackles. One led to a blocked punt, one led to an actual punt, and one led to an interception. The “quiet” play before the big one.
While they’re not an All-Star cast, Alexander, Roberts, and LB Cole Holcomb (who had a nice breakup on WR Zay Flowers late in the game) have played some solid football. They’re aggressive, play with an edge, and they can tackle. And they came up large in their first taste of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry.
