Conditions were rather dreadful in Week 18 on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. It was a torrential downpour that made traction difficult, not to mention making ball security a major problem for both teams.
Yet, last Saturday against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers had one of their best tackling performances of the season in the poor conditions, while also giving the Ravens’ defense fits when it came to tackling portion.
It all led to a 17-10 win over the Ravens, which ultimately helped the Steelers punch their ticket to the playoffs.
It’s time for the Week 18 missed tackles report.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES AT RAVENS — 4
Patrick Peterson – 2
Miles Killebrew – 1
Myles Jack – 1
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH WEEK 18 (17 GAMES) — 133 (7.82 MISSES PER GAME)
Damontae Kazee – 12 (61 tackles on 73 attempts, 16.4% miss rate)
Elandon Roberts – 12 (one on sack attempt, 101 tackles on 113 attempts, 10.6% miss rate)
Patrick Peterson – 11 (42 tackles on 53 attempts, 20.7% miss rate)
Keanu Neal – 8 (50 tackles on 58 attempts, 13.8% miss rate)
Kwon Alexander – 7 (41 tackles on 48 attempts, 14.6% miss rate)
Minkah Fitzpatrick – 7 (64 tackles on 71 attempts, 9.8% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 6 (43 tackles on 49 attempts, 12.3% miss rate)
Elijah Riley – 5 (two on sack attempts, one on special teams, 12 tackles on 17 attempts, 29.4% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 5 (68 tackles on 73 attempts, 6.9% miss rate)
Levi Wallace – 4 (38 tackles on 42 attempts, 9.5% miss rate)
Larry Ogunjobi – 4 (43 tackles on 47 attempts, 8.5% miss rate)
Mykal Walker — 4 (33 tackles on 37 attempts, 8.5% miss rate)
Cole Holcomb – 4 (54 tackles on 58 attempts, 6.9% miss rate)
Nick Herbig – 4 (one on special teams, 27 tackles on 31 attempts, 13% miss rate)
Miles Killebrew — 3 (two special teams, 26 tackles on 29 attempts, 10.3% miss rate)
Mark Robinson — 3 (both on special teams, 30 tackles on 33 attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
Eric Rowe – 3 (29 tackles on 32 attempts, 9.4% miss rate)
Trenton Thompson – 3 (22 tackles on 25 total attempts, 12% miss rate)
Montravius Adams – 3 (one on sack attempt, 24 tackles on 27 attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Myles Jack — 2 (17 tackles on 19 attempts, 10.5% miss rate)
Cameron Heyward — 2 (33 tackles on 35 attempts, 5.7% miss rate)
Alex Highsmith — 2 (57 tackles on 59 attempts, 3.4% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 2 (36 tackles on 38 attempts, 5.3% miss rate)
Chandon Sullivan — 2 (sack attempt, 22 tackles on 24 attempts, 8.3% miss rate)
Miles Boykin — 2 (special teams, five tackles on seven attempts, 28.6% miss rate)
Markus Golden — 2 (20 tackles on 22 attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
Armon Watts – 1 (15 tackles on 16 attempts, 6.25% miss rate)
Isaiahh Loudermilk — 1 (16 tackles on 17 attempts, 5.9% miss rate)
Connor Heyward – 1 (special teams, two tackles on three attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
DeMarvin Leal — 1 (15 tackles on 16 attempts, 6.25% miss rate)
In poor conditions, the Steelers did a great job tackling against the Ravens.
Despite a downpour with wind and very sloppy conditions, the Steelers had one of the best tackling performances of the season. They tied their season-best mark of just four missed tackles with the Week Three matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders and the Week 15 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.
Against the Ravens, veteran defensive back Patrick Peterson had a rough showing from a tackling perspective, leading the Steelers with two missed tackles. He had stated previously that his biggest test as a safety would be coming downhill to make stops in space. He didn’t pass the test in Week 18 in that area of the game.
Late in the second quarter, Peterson had a rough rep coming downhill on a Gus Edwards run, leading to his first miss of the game.
He takes a fine angle working downhill, but he doesn’t come with physicality, instead aiming to cut off Edwards and turn him in to help.
That doesn’t work, which leads to Peterson getting turned around in rather ugly fashion, letting Edwards chew up another 20 yards on the ground to move the sticks. That give the Ravens the explosive play they were searching for on the ground.
A few plays later Peterson recorded another missed tackle, this one resulting in a Baltimore touchdown.
I didn’t give cornerback Levi Wallace a miss here because he’s tracking to make a play on the ball and break up the pass, rather than go in for the tackle.
Peterson though is there to make the stop and he was barreled through by tight end Isaiah Likely, leading to the Ravens touchdown.
He has to make that play in space, plain and simple. He’s square to Likely late in the rep, but he doesn’t bring any force on the tackle attempt, allowing Likely to run right through him.
Late in the game, linebacker Myles Jack and safety Miles Killebrew recorded their misses in garbage time on the same play.
Baltimore running back Justice Hill is very shifty in space, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him make a play late in the game with the Ravens needing a spark.
It’s a short dump off to Hill out of the backfield from quarterback Tyler Huntley. After the catch, Hill obliterates any angle Jack has, forcing the Steelers linebacker to miss in space. Then, he spins out of a Killebrew tackle attempt before the Steelers rally to get him on the ground.
Offensively, the Steelers had a field day forcing the Ravens to miss tackles. The Steelers generated 15 missed tackles, winning the all-important missed tackles battle by a margin of plus-11, one of the best marks of the season for the Black and Gold.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES AT RAVENS — 15
Najee Harris – 7
Jaylen Warren – 4
Calvin Austin III – 2 (both on special teams)
Diontae Johnson – 1
George Pickens – 1
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH WEEK 18 (17 GAMES) — 187 (11.0 PER GAME)
Jaylen Warren – 69
Najee Harris – 62
Calvin Austin III – 12 (six on special teams)
Diontae Johnson – 11
George Pickens – 10
Pat Freiermuth – 5
Godwin Igwebuike – 5 (special teams)
Connor Heyward – 3
Kenny Pickett — 2
Allen Robinson II – 1
Desmond King II – 1 (special teams)
Darnell Washington — 1
Mitch Trubisky — 1
Once again, it was the dynamic duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren leading the way for the Steelers in the forced missed tackles department. The two set the tone entirely in the second half of the season for the Steelers, running with vengeance every time they touched the football.
It’s been remarkable to watch.
That was again the case on Saturday in Baltimore.
On the second drive of the game, Warren came up big for the Steelers. On a swing pass from quarterback Mason Rudolph to Warren out of the backfield, which was ultimately ruled a backwards pass resulting in a run, Warren showed off his speed and contact balance. He forced two missed tackles by running through arm tackles, leading to a big gain.
That play from Warren gave the Steelers a spark and helped them march down the field, leading to Harris’ 6-yard touchdown.
Then, late in the fourth quarter the Steelers leaned heavily on Harris in the run game. He rewarded them with force.
In his famous “Titanic” moment in the fourth quarter, Harris forced a handful of missed tackles from the Ravens on an impressive run that saw him pick his way through Baltimore’s defense. He refused to go down in the end, getting hoisted into the air by Baltimore cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and being held up by Steelers tight end Darnell Washington.
Heck of a run from Harris and just shows how powerful he truly is with the ball in his hands.
