Sunday’s Week 17 performance on the road against the Seattle Seahawks was one of the most physicality-dominant performances the Pittsburgh Steelers have had in a long, long time.
That dominance showed up time and time again offensively as the Steelers did whatever they wanted to in the run game, rushing for 202 yards and three touchdowns, and hitting a number of big plays through the air in the passing game.
Defensively, the Steelers weren’t as physically dominant as the offense, but they did just enough and had one of the best days from a tackling perspective all season.
Let’s check out the Week 17 missed tackles report from the Steelers’ win over the Seahawks.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES AT SEAHAWKS — 5
Elijah Riley – 1
Mark Robinson – 1
Cameron Heyward – 1
Alex Highsmith – 1
T.J. Watt – 1
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH WEEK 17 (16 GAMES) — 129 (8.06 MISSES PER GAME)
Damontae Kazee – 12 (61 tackles on 73 attempts, 16.4% miss rate)
Elandon Roberts – 12 (one on sack attempt, 100 tackles on 112 attempts, 10.7% miss rate)
Patrick Peterson – 9 (41 tackles on 50 attempts, 18% 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 (60 tackles on 65 attempts, 7.7% miss rate)
Larry Ogunjobi – 4 (42 tackles on 46 attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
Mykal Walker — 4 (31 tackles on 35 attempts, 11.4% miss rate)
Cole Holcomb – 4 (54 tackles on 58 attempts, 6.9% miss rate)
Levi Wallace – 4 (37 tackles on 41 attempts, 9.8% miss rate)
Nick Herbig – 4 (one on special teams, 27 tackles on 31 attempts, 13% miss rate)
Mark Robinson — 3 (both on special teams, 25 tackles on 28 attempts, 10.7% miss rate)
Eric Rowe – 3 (17 tackles on 20 attempts, 15% 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)
Cameron Heyward — 2 (31 tackles on 33 attempts, 6.1% miss rate)
Alex Highsmith — 2 (54 tackles on 56 attempts, 3.6% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 2 (33 tackles on 35 attempts, 5.7% miss rate)
Chandon Sullivan — 2 (sack attempt, 21 tackles on 23 attempts, 8.7% miss rate)
Miles Boykin — 2 (special teams, five tackles on seven attempts, 28.6% miss rate)
Miles Killebrew — 2 (both special teams, 22 tackles on 24 attempts, 8.3% miss rate)
Markus Golden — 2 (17 tackles on 19 attempts, 10.5% miss rate)
Armon Watts – 1 (15 tackles on 16 attempts, 6.25% miss rate)
Isaiahh Loudermilk — 1 (15 tackles on 16 attempts, 6.25% 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)
Myles Jack — 1 (14 tackles on 15 attempts, 6.6% miss rate)
The Steelers had a really tough time early on against the Seahawks and running back Kenneth Walker III, who is quite a physical presence at running back. Of course, the Steelers and their running backs, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, gave the Seahawks fits in their own right (more on that later), but early on, the Steelers didn’t have an answer for Walker.
He is a physical running back with good vision and speed, and he really carved up the Steelers early on in the matchup. It didn’t help that the Steelers simply weren’t making the plays in space when they were there defensively.
Safety Elijah Riley recorded the first miss of the game for the Steelers after getting into the backfield and getting a clean shot at Walker.
The Steelers did a nice job forcing Walker to bounce this where Riley was waiting, but the veteran safety couldn’t make the play. He tried to go low on Walker, but he didn’t bring his feet with him and got caught lunging, allowing Walker to easily step out of the tackle attempt.
After Walker beat Riley, the Seattle running back then beat Alex Highsmith to the corner and won against his arm tackle attempt, leading to a nice run on the play for the former Michigan State product.
Later on in the first quarter, Cameron Heyward missed just his second tackle of the season, failing to get Walker on the ground on a run.
This is a play that Heyward typically makes, especially after getting off of a block.
Strength has been a major calling card for Heyward throughout his career, especially in situations like this.
Heyward, when he gets his hands on you, usually gets you to the ground with force. He showed that earlier in the season after returning from injury, but that wasn’t the case here against Walker. Credit to the Seattle running back for easily shrugging off the veteran defensive tackle, and picking up a nice chunk of yardage.
Kudos to rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr., though, for being there to recover and make the play on Walker in space, limiting his gain after the missed tackle from Heyward.
Finally, late in the game, T.J. Watt missed a tackle on what was initially a great play.
Watt does a fantastic job of getting upfield and ducking underneath the trap block from tight end Colby Parkinson. Watt is so quick that he’s a nightmare for offensive linemen and tight ends to try and block, especially on plays like this. Watt gets a hand on running back Zach Charbonnet, too, but he’s not able to finish the play.
He’s fortunate he didn’t get hurt here on this play because that’s a lot of torque and strain on his right arm here with Charbonnet running through the tackle. Though it’s a miss for Watt, the Steelers recover quickly and get Charbonnet on the ground for a short gain, limiting any damage.
Offensively, the Steelers had a great day in the forced missed tackles department. In the win over the Seahawks, the 22 forced missed tackles is the most the team has ever recorded in a single game in the six seasons I’ve tracked missed tackles for Steelers Depot. Of the 22 forced missed tackles, 17 of them came from running backs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris, which matches the dominance the Steelers’ RB duo had throughout the game.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES AT SEAHAWKS — 22
Jaylen Warren – 9
Najee Harris – 8
Pat Freiermuth – 2
Diontae Johnson – 2
George Pickens – 1
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH WEEK 17 (16 GAMES) — 172 (10.75 PER GAME)
Jaylen Warren – 65
Najee Harris – 55
Diontae Johnson – 10
Calvin Austin III – 10 (four on special teams)
George Pickens – 9
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
The 17 combined forced missed tackles from Harris and Warren are absurd. The fact that they did that while rushing for a combined 202 yards is impressive. In fact, both were featured on the Good Morning Football “Angry Runs” segment from Kyle Brandt, with Harris winning his fifth scepter from the show, tying for the most ever with Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.
He also added a highlight to his resume, stiff-arming cornerback Tariq Woolen into the shadow realm.
Harris must not like the No. 27. He did something rather similar to Atlanta’s Richie Grant last season, winning an “Angry Runs” scepter from that one, too.
That’s just a remarkable run and an eye-opening stiff-arm from Harris. He is a physical runner who wants to punish people and did so to Woolen here.
Warren also had a great game and got a lot of love from Brandt and “Angry Runs” too. He gave Seattle fits, too, and did so right away.
That’s a great spin move to force the edge defender to miss at the line of scrimmage. The great thing about Warren coming out of the spin move is that he doesn’t lose any speed or balance. Once he gets turned back around, he’s able to give rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon the business with a powerful stiff-arm twice, allowing him to turn the corner and pick up a good chunk of yardage.
Together, the Steelers’ RB duo is terrific. They run hard, play with great energy, and really set the tone for the Steelers. It’s fun to watch.
