One week after having a season-worst performance in the tackling department, the Pittsburgh Steelers took advantage of the mini-bye week following the frustrating loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 12. They regrouped in a big way for the Week 13 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
While the offense was firing on all cylinders and put up 37 points in a 44-38 win, the defense was solid in the tackling department, even while allowing a season-high 31 points in the win.
Against the Bengals, the Steelers missed just six tackles, remaining one of the best-tackling teams in football, where they have been all season long.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES AT BENGALS — 6
Nick Herbig – 2
Donte Jackson – 2
Patrick Queen – 1
Cameron Sutton – 1
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH 13 WEEKS (12 GAMES) — 75 (6.25 PER GAME)
Patrick Queen – 13 (88 tackles on 101 total attempts, 12.8% miss rate)
Donte Jackson — 10 (29 tackles on 39 total attempts, 25.6% miss rate)
Elandon Roberts – 8 (32 tackles on 40 total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Payton Wilson — 6 (two on special teams) (51 tackles on 57 total attempts, 10.5% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 5 (50 tackles on 55 total attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 5 (43 tackles on 48 total attempts, 10.4% miss rate)
Nick Herbig — 7 (missed sack) (17 tackles on 24 total attempts, 29.2% miss rate)
Minkah Fitzpatrick — 5 (67 tackles on 72 total attempts, 6.9% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 4 (22 tackles on 26 total attempts, 15.4% miss rate)
Larry Ogunjobi — 4 (35 tackles on 39 total attempts, 10.2% miss rate)
Beanie Bishop Jr. — 3 (36 tackles on 39 total attempts, 7.7% 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 (50 tackles on 52 total attempts, 3.8% 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 (83 tackles on 84 total attempts, 1.2% miss rate)
Cameron Sutton — 2 (five tackles on seven total attempts, 28.6% miss rate)
In a big game on the road, the Steelers responded from a tackling perspective. Just six missed tackles is great to see from a group that struggled in bad conditions the week prior in Cleveland. Sunday’s performance against the Bengals was much more of the norm from the Steelers’ defense.
The only concerning aspect of the six missed tackles was that they came from a handful of key pieces, specifically guys like Nick Herbig, Donte Jackson, Patrick Queen, and Cameron Sutton. Three of the four are veteran players who have had issues this season from a tackling perspective when on the field.
Queen has been playing sound football, but on Sunday, he was a target for the Bengals. According to Pro Football Focus, Patrick Queen was charged with 10 completions allowed on 10 targets for 141 yards, with 102 of those yards after catch. He only missed one tackle, though, and it came during the third play of the game.
He loses Ja’Marr Chase off the line, leading to the easy completion, but he closes quickly to get the point of contact. He’s too high, though, and Chase easily shrugs off the tackle attempt.
Fortunately for Queen, it was a third-and-16, which allowed the Steelers to get off the field on the first possession of the game, even with Queen’s missed tackle.
Later in the game, Jackson was charged with one of his two missed tackles, which was a rather weak one.
Jackson is right there at the catch point on tight end Tanner Hudson. He doesn’t wrap up and slides off of the hit following the reception.
But this is one of the least egregious misses I’ve ever charted. Seriously. Hudson goes nowhere at Minkah Fitzpatrick and Payton Wilson are there to clean up the play for Jackson. It’s a tough miss to chart for the corner, but it’s one nonetheless.
Finally, Cameron Sutton’s missed tackle was difficult to watch, mainly because it came on 3rd and 23 with the Bengals well behind the sticks and off schedule.
That’s just far too easy of a completion against zone coverage on 3rd and 23, and Sutton makes it worse with the missed tackle, allowing Bengals’ WR Tee Higgins to add on yards to it, turning it into a 31-yard gain.
Since coming back from suspension, Sutton hasn’t been all that good. He’s now up to two missed tackles on the season, and his missed tackles rate is alarming at 28.6%. He’s starting to play more over Beanie Bishop Jr., which isn’t surprising, but he needs to be much better moving forward.
While the Steelers’ defense missed just six tackles on the day, the Steelers’ offense gave the Bengals’ defense fits from a tackling perspective. The Steelers forced 14 missed tackles in the win over the Bengals, meaning they won the tackle battle by a mark of +8, moving to 11-1 on the season in the tackling department.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES AT BENGALS — 14
Najee Harris – 9
Cordarrelle Patterson – 3
Jaylen Warren – 1
George Pickens – 1
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH 13 WEEKS (12 GAMES) — 151 (12.58 PER GAME)
Najee Harris – 65
Jaylen Warren – 21
Justin Fields – 12
George Pickens – 11
Calvin Austin III – 10 (eight on special teams)
Cordarrelle Patterson — 9
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
While Najee Harris was a force all game long for the Steelers, it was great to see some other pieces on the offense step up in a big way and force missed tackles against the Bengals.
That includes veteran running back Cordarrelle Patterson, who looked much better on Sunday than he has since returning from his ankle injury. Patterson had some juice in the run game, especially on this 12-yard gain.
Here, on this 12-yard gain out of the shotgun, Patterson is able to run through two tackle attempts, getting to the corner and then turning it upfield to move the chains. When he’s healthy and at his best, runs like this are common from Patterson. He has great contact balance and power and is able to step through arm tackles consistently.
Heck of a job there by Patterson.
Harris was the star of the day, though. Nine forced missed tackles against the Bengals, and it started early.
On a 3rd and 2 in the first quarter, Harris took a quick check-down from Russell Wilson and gained 25 yards, running through two different tackle attempts, busting out a great spin move, and running hard in space.
He’s not the most dynamic back, but man, is he a playmaker who runs hard and refuses to go down on first contact. He exemplifies everything it means to be a Steeler. I wish he were appreciated more.
