Overall, the Friday night preseason opener for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Houston Texans was rather sloppy with fumbled snaps ,missed assignments, procedural penalties and poor fundamentals and execution in key situations of the game.
It drew the ire of head coach Mike Tomlin after the game. So, it’s back to work for the Steelers in Latrobe in the week ahead before the second preseason matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
But, there is one positive that the Steelers can take away from the preseason opener. The Steelers, in their first game action of the year, tackled relatively well. On the night, the Steelers missed just seven tackles, only three of which came in the second half with the backups in the game.
That’s a positive.
Let’s dive into the missed tackles report here at Steelers Depot for the preseason opener. Football is so back, baby.
Total Missed Tackles vs. Texans — 7
Payton Wilson – 2 (seven tackles on nine total attempts, 22.2% miss rate)
Anthony Averett – 1 (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Damontae Kazee – 1 (zero tackles on one total attempt, 100% miss rate)
Isaiahh Loudermilk – 1 (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Mark Robinson – 1 (four tackles on five total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Jalen Elliott – 1 (four tackles on five total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Rookie linebacker Payton Wilson played a game-high 44 snaps for the Steelers and was all over the field. His NFL debut for the Black and Gold was rather impressive. He showed off his speed, athleticism and instincts and made plays sideline to sideline.
However, he did have some issues in the tackling department, missing two on the night against the Texans to lead the Steelers.
His worst miss came on a short check down out of the backfield from Houston QB Tim Boyle to running back Cam Akers.
Wilson was in great position for a stop on the quick throw, but he tries to go high on the back of Akers, allowing the veteran running back to twist and duck out of it and force the miss on the rookie. Fortunately for Wilson, teammate and fellow linebacker Mark Robinson was there to clean up the miss, getting the Steelers’ defense off the field on third down.
The worst misses from the Steelers on the night came in the first half, where veteran defensive backs Anthony Averett and Damontae Kazee missed badly on Houston WR Tank Dell, leading to his 34-yard touchdown.
Averett was slow to drive downhill on the post route where hew as expecting some underneath help, leaving Dell wide open. When he got to Dell, he whiffed with the arm tackle. From there, Damontae Kazee couldn’t get the diminutive Dell on the ground, allowing the second-year Houston receiver to muscle his way into the end zone for the game’s opening score.
While the misses were a bit ugly, the Steelers limited the misses on the night, which was a good sign, especially for such a young, new-look team. As the Steelers’ defense missed seven tackles, the offense force 11 misses in the game, meaning that they won the all-important tackle battle with a mark of +4 on the night.
Total Forced Missed Tackles vs. Texans — 11
Najee Harris – 2
George Pickens – 2
Aaron Shampklin – 2
Jaylen Warren – 1
Calvin Austin III – 1
Kyle Allen – 1
Jaray Jenkins – 1
Daijun Edwards – 1
Najee Harris started the game off with a bang for the Steelers in the forced missed tackles department, creating a miss in space on the 16-yard catch-and-run to open things up. He looked in mid-season form right away.
So, too, did fellow running back Jaylen Warren, a guy that was a menace for defenders last season from a forced missed tackles perspective.
Warren had just three touches on the night, but he made the most of it, powering through a Houston defender to force a missed tackle, moving the chains in the process.
He is just shot out of a cannon once the ball touches his hands, and runs so darn hard behind his pads, dishing out as much punishment as possible. It’s not a surprise at this point for Warren. This is who he is. This is who he is going to be moving forward for the Steelers.
In the second half backup wide receiver Jaray Jenkins had a nice moment, forcing a missed tackle on one of his two catches of the game.
Jenkins hauled in a quick hitch route from quarterback Kyle Allen along the Steelers’ sideline, then turned to the sideline, ran through a tackle attempt and gained 16 yards on the play.
For a guy that’s a bottom of the roster guy that is fighting for a potential practice squad role, that’s a very nice play overall from the LSU product, potentially giving himself a leg up on some other receivers at the bottom of the roster when it comes to that battle.
