The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals in convincing fashion on Saturday, winning 34-11 against their AFC North rival. Pittsburgh was able to overcoming some attrition at on their defense with multiple injuries at linebacker and safety, elevating ILB Myles Jack and S Eric Rowe to take on prominent roles in a must-win game.
Rowe made a big impact in his first game as a Steeler, being signed to the team’s practice squad over a month ago. Due to the injuries to Minkah Fitzpatrick, Keanu Neal, and Trenton Thompson as well as the suspension to Damontae Kazee, Rowe was elevated to the team’s active roster as they were severely depleted on the backend, needing reinforcements in a big way. Rowe provided what Pittsburgh needed, finishing second on the team in total tackles with seven along with one pass deflection and one interception. Going back through the tape, you see how Rowe fared in his first game as a Steeler, fitting in well and providing the splash Pittsburgh desperately needed facing playoff elimination.
The Film
Rowe was able to knock the rust off as a tackler quickly, flying to the football in pursuit and using his size and physicality to bring opposing receivers and running backs to the ground. Check out this play Rowe makes early in the second quarter, lining up in the box and initially goes to the flat in coverage before redirecting to RB Chase Brown who takes the handoff off the left sideline. Rowe wraps up Brown and wrestles him to the ground right as Brown reaches for the first down marker.
Just a few plays later, Rowe makes a splash play in coverage, dropping to the flat in zone coverage and then starts to cheat up the field when QB Jake Browning locks onto his intended target WR Tyler Boyd up the left sideline. Rowe steps in-front of Boyd and picks off the pass, running across the field to try and get a good return, picking up blokcs from multiple Steelers before getting tackled inside the Bengals’ 15-yard line.
Shortly after the start of the third quarter, we see Rowe try to make a tackle on WR Tee Higgins who catches a wide-open slant route on a broken coverage by Pittsburgh over the middle of the field. Rowe isn’t responsible for the coverage as LB Mykal Walker vacated the zone where Higgins makes the catch, but Rowe takes a bad angle of pursuit to the football. Rowe tries ot redirect to cut Higgins off who gets a step on him, ultimately diving at his feet as Higgins gets into the open field, stepping out of the diving tackle attempt by Rowe and houses the catch for an 80-yard touchdown.
As mentioned above, Rowe was flying to the football Saturday night, showing little hesitancy in pursuit of the ball. Watch this play below where Rowe breaks on the pass from Browning to Higgins right as the pass is thrown, coming from centerfield to the 30-yard mark in a hurry to tackle him at the catch with CB Joey Porter Jr. to limit Higgins to no yards after the catch.
As mentioned by Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot after the game, Rowe was one of the unsung heroes of the game for the impact he made that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. In the play below, Rowe blew up WR Trenton Irwin on this third-and-short Joe Mixon run up the middle that that set up a failed fourth down throw. Should have Mixon got the first down, Cincinnati could have run four-straight plays inside Pittsburgh’s five-yard line to punch another drive into the end zone when they finished the drive with zero points.
Conclusion
Eric Rowe wasn’t a world beater at safety for Pittsburgh, but he was solid, dependable, and did provide splash both on the stat sheet as well as with effort plays. He and Jack combined to step up in a big way with numerous starters out for Pittsburgh on defense, making an impact this defense needed them to after leaking to the Cardinals, Patriots, and Colts the past three weeks.
Rowe did a great job in coverage as well, limiting Cincinnati’s tight ends from getting heavily active in the passing game. That was huge for pittsburgh as they had been torched by the tight end position the last several weeks, seeing Walker struggled to cover them competently throughout the entire game. Rowe had a pass breakup in coverage against the tight end and did a good job mirroring them in coverage, continuing that solid, steady play he had shown throughout his time with New England and Miami.
With Fitzpatrick and Thompson’s stats for this week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks up in the air, it’s safe to say that we should see Rowe again at least in some capacity this coming weekend for Pittsburgh. Getting one or both of those guys back would allow CB Patrick Peterson to revert back to his natural spot on the outside while allowing Pittsburgh to mix and match their personnel on the backend, utilizing Rowe with Fitzpatrick and Thompson to give Pittsburgh more capable, healthy bodies at safety. If neither can go, Rowe looks ready to play a full complement of snaps after having a strong performance as he continues to give Pittsburgh a much-needed boost down the stretch.
