After missing a combined 36 tackles in Weeks 15 and 16, the Pittsburgh Steelers vowed to get that part of their game corrected in time for their Christmas Day showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Though very little else went right for the Steelers in the game, they at least cleaned up their tackling issues, missing just four tackles in the loss to the Chiefs at Acrisure Stadium.
That’s a small consolation prize in a blowout loss, but that was at least a positive development after two dreadful weeks in the tackling department.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES VS. CHIEFS — 4
Payton Wilson – 1
Minkah Fitzpatrick – 1
Connor Heyward – 1 (special teams)
Mark Robinson – 1 (special teams)
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH 17 WEEKS (16 GAMES) — 127 (7.93 PER GAME)
Patrick Queen – 20 (124 tackles on 144 total attempts, 13.8% miss rate)
Nick Herbig — 13 (missed sack, three on special teams) (20 tackles on 33 total attempts, 39.4% miss rate)
Donte Jackson — 12 (38 tackles on 50 total attempts, 24% miss rate)
Payton Wilson — 12 (four on special teams) (68 tackles on 80 total attempts, 15% miss rate)
Elandon Roberts – 10 (44 tackles on 54 total attempts, 18.5% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 8 (64 tackles on 72 total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Minkah Fitzpatrick — 8 (93 tackles on 101 total attempts, 7.9% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 7 (31 tackles on 38 total attempts, 18.4% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 7 (61 tackles on 68 total attempts, 10.3% miss rate)
Beanie Bishop Jr. — 5 (45 tackles on 50 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
Larry Ogunjobi — 4 (40 tackles on 44 total attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
Isaiahh Loudermilk — 4 (one on special teams) (17 tackles on 21 total attempts, 19.1% miss rate)
Cameron Heyward — 4 (70 tackles on 74 total attempts, 5.4% miss rate)
Cameron Sutton — 3 (nine tackles on 12 total attempts, 25% miss rate)
Damontae Kazee — 2 (31 tackles on 33 total attempts, 6.1% miss rate)
Montravius Adams — 2 (12 tackles on 14 total attempts, 14.3% miss rate)
Preston Smith — 2 (11 tackles on 13 total attempts, 15.4% miss rate)
Connor Heyward — 2 (special teams) (seven tackles on nine total attempts, 22.2% miss rate)
Alex Highsmith — 1 (missed sack) (38 tackles on 39 total attempts, 2.6% miss rate)
DeShon Elliott — 1 (100 tackles on 101 total attempts, 1.0% miss rate)
Tyler Matakevich — 1 (special teams) (four tackles on five total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Ben Skowronek — 1 (special teams) (five tackles on six total attempts, 16.6% miss rate)
Dean Lowry — 1 (five tackles on six total attempts, 16.6% miss rate)
Cory Trice Jr. — 1 (10 tackles on 11 total attempts, 9.1% miss rate)
James Pierre — 1 (23 tackles on 24 total attempts, 4.2% miss rate)
Mark Robinson — 1 (special teams)(five tackles on six total attempts, 16.6% miss rate)
Just two missed tackles on defense is very encouraging. However, it came on a day where guys were wide open for the Chiefs and things were rather easy overall for QB Patrick Mahomes and company.
The two missed tackles defensively were from rookie linebacker Payton Wilson and veteran safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
On Wilson’s miss, he found himself with the tough task of trying to cover Chiefs rookie speedster Xavier Worthy on a crossing route off play-action out of the backfield. Wilson is able to run with him, but he isn’t able to get Worthy on the ground after the catch.
Wilson tries to grab the back of Worthy’s jersey, rather than going for his legs. His miss allowed Worthy to gain another 12 yards, moving the chains.
Later in the first half, Fitzpatrick missed his tackle, again on Worthy, this time on a run play.
The Chiefs design this nicely, Worthy on a reverse to get his speed out into space with right guard Trey Smith pulling to block for him.
Fitzpatrick reads it quickly and triggers downhill, closing ground in a hurry. He takes an outside angle to turn Worthy back into help. In the process, Fitzpatrick overshoots and doesn’t break down properly, resulting in the missed tackle.
However, his outside angle did turn Worthy back inside, right into Cameron Heyward, who laid a big hit on the rookie receiver, sending Trey Smith flying, too.
Special teams missed two tackles, too, and it came on the same return by the Chiefs’ Nikko Remigio. Both Mark Robinson and Connor Heyward, two guys on the team for their special teams capabilities, missed tackles, leading to a 31-yard kickoff return.
Robinson, after already forcing a fumble on Remigio on a punt return earlier in the game, comes flying for the big hit, but he whiffs in space. Then, Heyward is out-leveraged and dives for Remigio’s legs. He misses, giving Remigio the corner.
James Pierre ultimately is able to get Remigio on the ground, but the big return gave the Chiefs a strong start to the second half.
While the Steelers tackled well throughout the game, their offense had some success forcing missed tackles. Despite the loss to the Chiefs, the Steelers won the tackle battle by a mark of +4, forcing eight missed tackles. That improves their missed tackles battle record to 12-4 on the season.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES VS. CHIEFS — 8
Jaylen Warren – 7
Najee Harris – 1
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH 17 WEEKS (16 GAMES) — 181 (11.31 PER GAME)
Najee Harris – 74
Jaylen Warren – 39
Justin Fields – 12
George Pickens – 11
Cordarrelle Patterson — 11 (one on special teams)
Calvin Austin III – 10 (eight on special teams)
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
MyCole Pruitt — 1
Once again, it was the Jaylen Warren show offensively as he gave the Steelers a real spark.
Warren ran hard, created quite a bit on the day and just refused to go down on first contact time and time again.
On his 22-yard run in the first quarter, Warren ran through a tackle near the line of scrimmage and then was able to shake a Chiefs defensive back at the second level.
Good blocking up front and a good job by Warren hitting the hole with speed. He’s able to easily step through the linebacker’s tackle attempt and then does a fantastic job of setting up the defensive back in space, easily shaking him.
Later in the first half, Warren forced two more missed tackles, this time on a 21-yard catch and run.
The guy just seeks out contact and will never step out of bounds. He cuts it back inside here and then spins out of two tackle attempts before being corralled.
Warren is so hard to tackle in space due to his speed and elusiveness. Add his hard running style and he’s a nightmare for defenders.
