The more reps they get early in the season, the better the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense gets.
That’s not just from a points-allowed perspective, either. One area where the Steelers are very clearly improving week after week is the tackling department. After missing seven tackles in Week 1 against Atlanta and then five tackles in Week 2 against Denver, the Steelers were even better in Week 3. They missed just three tackles, turning in a performance that tied for the best I have charted here at Steelers Depot in eight years.
Take your hat off and hand it to the defense. That unit is truly dominant in every single phase of the game right now, and a big reason why the Steelers are 3-0 early in the year.
Let’s get to the tape and review this week’s missed tackles report.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES VS. CHARGERS — 3
Donte Jackson — 1
Alex Highsmith — 1 (missed sack)
Nick Herbig — 1 (missed sack)
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH THREE WEEKS (THREE GAMES) — 15 (5.0 PER GAME)
Patrick Queen – 3 (14 tackles on 17 total attempts, 17.6% miss rate)
Elandon Roberts – 3 (six tackles on nine total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Payton Wilson — 2 (one on special teams) (five tackles on seven total attempts, 28.6% miss rate)
Beanie Bishop Jr. — 2 (seven tackles on nine total attempts, 22.2% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 1 (nine tackles on 10 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 1 (10 tackles on 11 total attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
Alex Highsmith — 1 (missed sack) (11 tackles on 12 total attempts, 8.3% miss rate)
Nick Herbig — 1 (missed sack) (four tackles on five total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Donte Jackson — 1 (10 tackles on 11 total attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
Just three missed tackles on the day. Really impressive stuff from the Steelers, especially against a physical offensive attack like the one the Chargers brought into the game. Credit the Steelers for being ready to go right out of the gates, matching opponents’ physicality and intensity and making sound tackles.
That carried over throughout the game.
Donte Jackson missed the first tackle of the game for the Steelers, and it only resulted in a 5-yard gain for Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins.
Jackson does a good job here of getting off of a block at the top of the screen and firing downhill to close in on Dobbins.
He attempts to wrap up, using good form, getting his head across and everything. But see that subtle little stiff arm from Dobbins as Jackson goes in for the tackle? It knocks Jackson off his target just a bit, leading to him sliding off of Dobbins’ legs.
Fortunately for Jackson, he had help behind him, limiting Dobbins to a short gain.
Later in the game, outside linebacker Alex Highsmith recorded his first missed tackle of the season, doing so by failing to get quarterback Justin Herbert to the ground for a sack.
It ended up being a painful missed sack, too, as Highsmith aggravated his groin injury that he dealt with in training camp and ultimately had to leave the game. Now, he’ll be out a few weeks with the injury.
And he’ll do so knowing he left a sack on the table. To be fair, Herbert is a big, strong quarterback and tough to get on the ground. He’s like Ben Roethlisberger in that sense or Josh Allen even. But this is a play that Highsmith has to finish for the sack.
Linebacker Patrick Queen has to pick this pass off, too, to bail out his teammate.
Then, there’s Nick Herbig.
Herbig had an outstanding game on Sunday against the Chargers, dominating in just 19 snaps. He rushed the passer eight times and generated three pressures and two sacks. Talk about efficient.
He left a sack on the field, too.
On the final play of the first half, after a missed 62-yard field goal from Chris Boswell, Herbig raced around left tackle Trey Pipkins III and got hands on Herbert, who was moving around in an effort to load up for the Hail Mary. Herbig couldn’t finish, which let Herbert get off a throw that was nearly caught and would have been disastrous for the Steelers.
Fortunately, it fell incomplete.
With just three missed tackles on the afternoon, the Steelers were well-positioned to win the all-important missed tackles battle within the game. They did just that, forcing 15 missed tackles against the Chargers, winning the tackle battle by a margin of +12, moving to 3-0 in the tackling department on the season.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES VS. CHARGERS — 15
Najee Harris — 6
Cordarrelle Patterson — 4
Calvin Austin III — 3 (two on special teams)
Scotty Miller — 2
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH THREE WEEKS (THREE GAMES) — 38 (12.6 PER GAME)
Najee Harris – 13
Justin Fields – 7
Calvin Austin III – 7 (six on special teams)
Cordarrelle Patterson — 4
Scotty Miller — 2
Jaylen Warren – 2
Van Jefferson — 2
George Pickens – 1
Coming into the game against the Chargers, all of the focus was on J.K. Dobbins due to him leading the league in rushing and having a renaissance in the process. Even former Chargers fullback Lorenzo Neal got into the mix, dumping on Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, saying that they didn’t scare him.
Harris had the last laugh, though.
He ran hard all game and was rewarded late as the Chargers wanted nothing to do with tackling him. That’s because of the way he ran throughout the game.
Throughout his career, Harris has done that sort of thing time and time again, throwing a defender to the ground with ease.
The fact that it’s Denzel Perryman here opens some eyes. Perryman is one of the most physical linebackers in football and Harris bounced him off the turf like it was nothing.
He’s as strong as they come at the position and exemplifies what it means to be a Steelers running back.
Then, for the final blow, Harris dragged three defenders with him to the 1-yard line.
That’s vintage Najee Harris right there.
He’s always looking to dish out punishment, and he refuses to go down on first contact. He did a great job taking a couple of tacklers with him, getting to the 1-yard line, allowing the Steelers to kneel on the ball and win the game to move to 3-0 on the season.
