One week after getting off to an ugly start in the tackling department against the Atlanta Falcons, the Pittsburgh Steelers bounced back nicely in their 13-6 win over the Denver Broncos from a tackling perspective.
The Steelers missed just four tackles defensively on the afternoon and added one miss on special teams, making for a rather clean game from that aspect, which is something that couldn’t be said throughout the game in others.
A pair of rookies cracked the missed tackles list this week, missing four of the five tackles while another veteran continues to struggle in the tackling department through the first two weeks.
It’s time for the Week 2 Steelers at Broncos missed tackles report here at Steelers Depot.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES AT BRONCOS — 5
Payton Wilson – 2 (one on special teams)
Beanie Bishop Jr. – 2
Elandon Roberts – 1
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH TWO WEEKS (TWO GAMES) — 12 (6.0 PER GAME)
Patrick Queen – 3 (six tackles on nine total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Elandon Roberts – 3 (two tackles on five total attempts, 60% miss rate)
Payton Wilson — 2 (one on special teams) (three tackles on five total attempts, 40% miss rate)
Beanie Bishop Jr. — 2 (five tackles on seven total attempts, 28.5% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 1 (five tackles on six total attempts, 16.6% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 1 (seven tackles on eight total attempts, 12.5% miss rate)
One week after missing seven tackles against the Atlanta Falcons on the road, the Pittsburgh Steelers cleaned it up a bit in Week 2 against the Broncos, missing just five tackles.
It was a pair of rookies in linebacker Payton Wilson and cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. who accounted for four of the five missed tackles, too.
Good news is, after leading the team with three misses in Week 1, Patrick Queen bounced back in a major way with no misses on Sunday.
It was a bit frustrating to watch Wilson and Bishop miss tackles on Sunday, as both took poor angles on their misses.
Wilson’s miss came in the first quarter on a short throw from Broncos QB Bo Nix to wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey in the flat. The rookie linebacker showed great range to get to this play from the far side of the formation, but he has to come in under control better.
Wilson gets to the point of contact and leaves his feet, taking himself out of decent position.
It leads to an ugly whiff in space that teammates have to clean up. Fortunately, the Steelers rallied to the ball well and kept the play to a short gain.
Being overzealous and taking a poor angle cost Bishop, too.
Bishop gets beat quickly on the out route, but he fails to use the sideline as an additional defender to squeeze Broncos receiver Josh Reynolds. Reynolds feels that and is able to turn back inside and get up the field, causing Bishop to flail at air.
The veteran receiver turned it into a 9-yard gain. It’s not all that egregious, but there’s hidden yardage there, and Bishop has to have a better feel there and get guys on the ground or out of bounds quickly to limit YAC.
Veteran linebacker Elandon Roberts popped up on the missed tackles report again. He’s playing limited snaps, splitting time with Wilson, and he’s just not sharp right now.
He’s in position to make plays, but he’s not finishing.
Good job here of knifing home to try and make the play, but he has to work around a blocker. In the process, he doesn’t have the strength to finish wrapping up and get Broncos running back Javonte Williams to the turf.
This is the type of play Roberts struggled to finish last season, too, so it’s not all that surprising. He has the ability to get there in situations like this, but he has to start finishing. These are plays left on the table.
Thanks to a solid day in the tackling department with just five misses, the Steelers put themselves in great position to win the all-important tackle battle in the game within the game. They did just that for the second week, this time forcing 13 missed tackles on the Broncos, meaning they won the battle with a mark of +8 to move to 2-0 on the season.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES AT BRONCOS — 13
Justin Fields – 4
Calvin Austin III — 3 (special teams)
Van Jefferson – 2
Najee Harris – 2
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH TWO WEEKS (TWO GAMES) — 25 (12.5 PER GAME)
Najee Harris – 7
Justin Fields – 7
Calvin Austin III – 4 (special teams)
Jaylen Warren – 2
Van Jefferson — 2
George Pickens – 1
It’s not much of a surprise to see quarterback Justin Fields leading the Steelers in the forced missed tackles department on the day. For the most part, the Broncos tackled rather well though they did get gashed in the run game.
But there weren’t many missed tackles that led to huge gains.
Except for one Fields scramble.
Great job here from Fields to feel pressure from the unblocked Jonathon Cooper initially. From there, his athleticism and speed allow him to avoid the negative play by turning the corner. Running away from a Cooper tackle attempt and causing defensive lineman Zach Allen to miss in space, too, Fields rips off a 16-yard gain.
He’s special as a runner and this was a microcosm of that.
Fields didn’t use his legs as much in the win over the Broncos, but when he needed to, he was dynamic.
Running back Najee Harris had a quiet game in the forced missed tackles department compared to Week 1, but he was better overall as a runner than he was a week prior.
He had one nice run I wanted to highlight with a forced missed tackle.
This play didn’t go anywhere, but Harris showed off some nimbleness behind the line of scrimmage to make a defender miss and give him a chance to fight for more blades of grass.
In the second half the Steelers’ offensive line struggled in the run-blocking department, but that didn’t stop Harris from fighting tooth and nail, trying to make something happen.
That’s who he is. That’s what he brings to the table.
