A short week after a very difficult, physical matchup last Sunday led to a rather sloppy, ugly showing for the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night on the road against the Cleveland Browns, resulting in a tough 24-19 loss.
The game gave us everything from the Steelers, from the slow start and sloppy execution pre- and post-snap to poor clock management and baffling personnel decisions, not to mention a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback that the defense ultimately couldn’t make stand.
It’s a tough loss, but it’s not a killer one. The Steelers now head into a mini bye week with a chance to regroup, rest up and prepare for a tough matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14. For now, let’s look at the missed tackles report from this week.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES AT BROWNS — 11
Nick Herbig – 2
Minkah Fitzpatrick – 2
Elandon Roberts – 2
Patrick Queen – 1
Cameron Sutton – 1
Larry Ogunjobi – 1
Preston Smith – 1
Isaiahh Loudermilk – 1 (special teams)
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH 12 WEEKS (11 GAMES) — 69 (6.27 PER GAME)
Patrick Queen – 12 (79 tackles on 91 total attempts, 13.1% miss rate)
Donte Jackson — 8 (29 tackles on 37 total attempts, 21.6% miss rate)
Elandon Roberts – 8 (31 tackles on 39 total attempts, 20.5% miss rate)
Payton Wilson — 6 (two on special teams) (48 tackles on 54 total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 5 (45 tackles on 50 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 5 (40 tackles on 45 total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Nick Herbig — 5 (missed sack) (15 tackles on 20 total attempts, 14.1% miss rate)
Minkah Fitzpatrick — 5 (61 tackles on 66 total attempts, 7.6% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 4 (21 tackles on 25 total attempts, 16% miss rate)
Larry Ogunjobi — 4 (33 tackles on 37 total attempts, 10.8% miss rate)
Beanie Bishop Jr. — 3 (34 tackles on 37 total attempts, 8.1% miss rate)
Preston Smith — 2 (eight tackles on 10 total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Isaiahh Loudermilk — 2 (one on special teams) (nine tackles on 11 total attempts, 18.2% miss rate)
Cameron Heyward — 2 (45 tackles on 47 total attempts, 4.3% miss rate)
Alex Highsmith — 1 (missed sack) (19 tackles on 20 total attempts, 5% miss rate)
Montravius Adams — 1 (eight tackles on nine total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
DeShon Elliott — 1 (72 tackles on 73 total attempts, 1.4% miss rate)
Cameron Sutton — 1 (one tackle on two total attempts, 50% miss rate)
It wasn’t a good performance from the Steelers in the tackling department, period. Their 11 missed tackles were the most in a game this season, eclipsing the 10 missed tackles the Steelers had in their Week 5 Sunday Night Football loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Snowy conditions played a factor in the 11 missed tackles, especially in key situations late in the game. But that’s not an excuse. The Steelers have been one of the better tackling teams all season, and yet they came up small on a short week.
Early on the Steelers were a bit of a mess in the tackling department.
On a slant route to Browns WR Jerry Jeudy, both LB Elandon Roberts and S Minkah Fitzpatrick missed tackles in space.
Jeudy gains just four yards after forcing both Roberts and Fitzpatrick to miss, but it was a sign of things to come.
The Steelers were a bit out of control closing in for tackles. When they were in position, there were a lot of arm-tackle attempts.
Later in the game, Patrick Queen and Roberts came up small in big spots, which helped keep a Cleveland drive alive, resulting in a touchdown and an 18-6 Browns lead.
On a 3rd and 5, Browns QB Jameis Winston hit receiver Cedric Tillman on a crossing route short of the sticks. Queen laid a big hit on Tillman, rocking him backward. Queen forgot to do one thing, which is pretty important: wrap up.
Queen’s big hit stunned Tillman, but he was able to regroup quickly and get back close to the sticks to set up a 4th and 1. Had Queen wrapped up, it would have been around 4th and 2 or 4th and 3. Instead, Tillman was able to fight back to near the first-down marker.
On the next play, Roberts missed a tackle on Nick Chubb in the hole, allowing the Browns RB to convert.
That’s a play Roberts simply has to make. Coming downhill against the run and snuffing out a short-yardage play, that’s the exact reason he’s here.
He just missed in a big spot, and it allowed Chubb to convert. Tough play but one Roberts will bounce back from.
Though the Steelers were poor in the tackling department, they still somehow found a way to win the battle within that battle. The Steelers forced 14 missed tackles, winning the battle by a margin of +3. The Steelers are 10-1 on the year in the tackling battle within the game.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES AT BROWNS — 14
Jaylen Warren – 6
Najee Harris – 4
Russell Wilson – 2
Pat Freiermuth – 1
Darnell Washington – 1
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH 12 WEEKS (11 GAMES) — 137 (12.45 PER GAME)
Najee Harris – 56
Jaylen Warren – 20
Justin Fields – 12
George Pickens – 10
Calvin Austin III – 10 (eight on special teams)
Cordarrelle Patterson — 6
Darnell Washington — 6
Pat Freiermuth — 6
Van Jefferson — 4
Russell Wilson — 3
Scotty Miller — 2
Aaron Shampklin — 2 (one on special teams)
Jonathan Ward — 1
Jaylen Warren had a very strong game in the poor conditions. He brought some juice to the running game and made defenders miss in space quite a bit.
Here on a wind-back counter, Warren forces a missed tackle in the backfield, allowing him to turn the corner and pick up a chunk of yardage.
It’s a hidden play that will get lost in the shuffle, but it was a great run from Warren. If he doesn’t make that defender miss it’s a sizable loss on the play. Instead, he turns into a big positive, keeping the offense on track.
Najee Harris didn’t have the best night, but he still ran hard and made defenders miss. The Browns certainly defended him differently than Warren. Harris ran into an eight man or more box 56.25% of the time Thursday night. Warren faced that just 45.45% of the time, according to Next Gen Stats.
There wasn’t much there on the night for Harris, but he still ran hard.
Harris forced three missed tackles on this run alone. It was a microcosm of what he faced throughout the game against a defense that attacked downhill.
He’s a maniac who refuses to go down on first touch, but on this one he should have conceded late in the run and secured the football. Fortunately, Russell Wilson was right there to jump on it. But this shows just how powerful and relentless Harris is as a runner. Every blade of grass matters to him.
