The Pittsburgh Steelers got another victory on Sunday, but it came at great cost. They managed to defeat the Green Bay Packers, 23-19, at Acrisure Stadium, but lost LB Kwon Alexander for the year with a reported torn Achilles, putting him on ice along with LB Cole Holcomb, who was lost for the year the week prior to a season-ending knee injury.
With the linebacker corps heavily depleted, more responsibility fell onto the shoulders of LB Elandon Roberts, the lone holdover from Pittsburgh’s promising linebacker rotation to start the season. Roberts would go on to make eight total tackles (six solo) against Green Bay, including a tackle for loss and a pass breakup while playing 96% of the team’s defensive snaps (65), easily a season-high. How did he hold up in an increased role on Sunday? Let’s dive into the tape to find out.
The Film
Elandon Roberts played to his strengths on Sunday as an old school, downhill thumper against the run. OLB T.J. Watt praised Roberts yesterday for setting the tone with his play, and he did that on his first tackle attempt that you see below. Watch how Roberts shifts to the right before the ball is snapped and then triggers downhill. Taking on the pulling guard on the edge, he goes right into the blocker, ultimately putting the offensive lineman on his back while wrapping up RB Aaron Jones in the backfield for a loss. That’s called setting the tone.
Roberts did a good job of staying active near the line of scrimmage for most of the game, flowing to the football to fill his gap. He would adjust back to the ball, as you can see in the first clip below, and get in on the tackle attempt to hold the runner to a short gain. In the second clip, watch as Roberts comes off the edge unblocked flying into the backfield. He manages to make the tackle from behind on AJ Dillon, holding the Packers running back to a short gain.
There were times against Green Bay where Roberts ran himself into blocks rather than staying clean and working around blocks in pursuit of the football. Watch this rep where Dillon gets the handoff and takes it off tackle toward the sideline. Roberts works over to fill the B gap, but as Dillon bounces to the outside, Roberts finds himself in a scrum, getting blocked by the tight end as Dillon races down the down the field. Roberts did a great job going to his gap, but having a little more awareness to see Dillon take the carry off the tackle to the outside would have allowed Roberts to work to keep clean and pursue the runner toward the sideline.
As mentioned above, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Roberts against the Packers. He managed to be the hammer for most of the game, but on this specific rep against LG Elton Jenkins, he was definitely the nail. Watch as Roberts works toward the gap in attempt to make the tackle. Jenkins gives Roberts a huge shot to his side, uprooting the linebacker and putting his butt on the turf as the rest of the defense comes in and rallies to the ball.
When it comes to pass coverage, Roberts is deficient in terms of speed and quickness to turn and run with backs and tight ends in the open field. Still, Roberts will do his best to make the play, hustling to the ball at the catch or limiting the yards gained after a reception. On this rep, Packers RB Aaron Jones runs a speed out from the backfield, immediately putting Roberts in a bind as he attempts to run across the field and close the distance between him and the ball. Roberts does manage to run down Jones near the sideline, tripping him up and saving the touchdown after Jones picks up the first down.
Here is a similar play that Roberts makes in space on Jones with Green Bay running a screen pass to its back in the flat. Roberts reads the screen pass and starts running to the sideline to cut off Jones, working to angle RG Jon Runyan Jr. to the ball. Roberts goes under and around Runyan as Jones catches the pass, attempting to arm tackling the runner. He manages to slow him down just enough for DL Keeanu Benton to come in and clean up on the play. You want to see Roberts execute a better tackle there, but given the circumstances, it was a good play by Roberts to work around the block and prevent Jones from getting to full speed in the open field.
For not being a natural coverage defender, Roberts did make several heady plays against the pass on Sunday. Watch this rep where Roberts starts to the running back shooting out to the flat, but then sees QB Jordan Love redirect his eyes toward the middle of the field. He quickly changes direction to work back to TE Luke Musgrave. Roberts manages to hit Musgrave as the ball arrives, preventing the rookie from completing the catch as the ball drops to the ground for the incompletion. Overall, a very savvy play from Roberts.
While Roberts was able to make some plays against the pass, opposing teams will continue to pick on him in coverage due to his limitations. We saw that in the fourth quarter on this rep. Roberts is tasked with covering Musgrave, who lines up in the slot on the right side of the formation, detached from the line of scrimmage. Roberts reads Musgrave as he approaches him, slow playing his movement until he sees Musgrave commit to going vertical on the skinny corner route to the sideline. Roberts attempts to pick up speed, but it’s too late. Musgrave gets the separation he needs, reeling in the deep pass from Love for the explosive play to move Green Bay into Pittsburgh territory.
Conclusion
Elandon Roberts played well for what was asked of him against the Packers, unexpectedly getting the green dot and having to play nearly double the number of snaps he’s used to seeing after Alexander went down. He had his losses in coverage as well as getting lost in the trash near the line of scrimmage. He did do a great job of setting the tone of the game with his physicality while taking on blocks and aggressiveness in his pursuit of the football.
Pittsburgh likely wants to keep Roberts from being a three-down linebacker. That doesn’t match his skill set, and powerful offenses will look to attack him through the air until he can prove that he can consistently cover. Roberts should look to play more snaps overall as the new green dot guy in Pittsburgh’s defense, but his effectiveness will come down to his ability to make heady plays like he did against Green Bay consistently as well as scheming coverages and blitzes to match his strengths and mask his weaknesses.
Either way, expect to see a lot more of Roberts in the coming weeks, being the lone elder statesmen left standing in the inside linebacker room with the likes of Mark Robinson, Mykal Walker, and Tariq Carpenter all looking to him to lead the charge.
