It was an ugly game, but the Pittsburgh Steelers happen to be very good in ugly, one-score games. They were once again on Sunday in Foxboro, beating the New England Patriots, 21-14.
That win snapped a 16-year drought since the Steelers’ last in Foxboro, a 2008 victory. They did it by forcing five turnovers, including two in the red zone. They complemented that by doing just enough offensively at the beginning and end of the game.
The Steelers struggled in the tackling department, too, though it wasn’t that evident during the game. Despite seemingly getting ball carriers on the ground quickly and efficiently, the Steelers missed a season-high 11 tackles in the win over the Patriots. They did well to avoid big plays resulting from missed tackles, though.
Let’s take a look at this week’s missed tackles report.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES AT PATRIOTS — 11
Nick Herbig – 3 (one on special teams)
Patrick Queen – 2
Cole Holcomb – 1
Derrick Harmon – 1
Jalen Ramsey – 1
Juan Thornhill – 1
Keeanu Benton – 1
Chuck Clark – 1
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH THREE WEEKS (THREE GAMES) — 28 (9.3 PER GAME)
Nick Herbig — 4 (one on special teams)(seven tackles on 11 total attempts, 27.3% miss rate)
Juan Thornhill — 3 (22 tackles on 25 total attempts, 12% miss rate)
Patrick Queen — 3 (missed sack) (24 tackles on 27 total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Yahya Black – 2 (one on missed sack) (seven tackles on nine total attempts, 22.2% miss rate)
Chuck Clark — 2 (22 tackles on 24 total attempts, 8.3% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 2 (four tackles on six total attempts, 25% miss rate)
Darius Slay – 2 (10 tackles on 12 total attempts, 16.6% miss rate)
Payton Wilson – 2 (22 tackles on 24 total attempts, 8.3% miss rate)
Alex Highsmith – 1 (nine tackles on 10 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 1 (14 tackles on 15 total attempts, 6.6% miss rate)
Ben Skowronek – 1 (special teams) (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Miles Killebrew – 1 (special teams) (three tackles on four total attempts, 25% miss rate)
Daniel Ekuale — 1 (five tackles on six total attempts, 16.6% miss rate)
Derrick Harmon — 1 (missed sack) (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Jalen Ramsey — 1 (14 tackles on 15 total attempts, 6.6% miss rate)
Cole Holcomb — 1 (nine tackles on 10 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
Throughout the game Sunday in Foxboro, it seemed like the Steelers were doing a nice job of tackling efficiently, getting guys on the ground quickly, and taking away any opportunities of giving up big plays due to mistakes at the tackle point.
Upon further review, though, the Steelers had the most missed tackles of the season with 11 against New England. They even had one on special teams. While that number is concerning, it wasn’t as if the Steelers were blowing assignments and allowing big plays due to misses like they had in previous weeks.
So, the numbers went up, but the performance was better in a roundabout way.
One of the worst misses came from linebacker Cole Holcomb, cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and safety Chuck Clark on a 4th and 1 in the Patriots’ own end early in the game. Holcomb was on the field due to the personnel changes the Steelers made this week, giving him more playing time. He split snaps with Payton Wilson.
He’s in a great position to make this big splash play in the backfield early on, but he doesn’t bring his feet with him. Maybe he just slipped on the turf, as guys often did this past Sunday.
But in this situation, Holcomb has to break down better, play within himself, and make this play. He’s unimpeded going into the backfield and is right there to make a splash play. Hopefully, he’ll start to make these plays as he gets more playing time.
After Holcomb missed in the backfield, Jalen Ramsey records his first miss of the season, and Chuck Clark follows up with a miss, too. Three misses on a 4th-and-1 play doesn’t bode well for anyone. Fortunately, it went for just a 10-yard gain and didn’t wind up as a huge splash play.
Later in the game, Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson forced another pair of missed tackles. Juan Thornhill and Keeanu Benton had a rough go of things in the backfield. Fortunately, Cameron Heyward punched the ball out for a fumble and turnover.
Thornhill has to get to Stevenson here and finish this play. It’s almost as if he’s so surprised he got into the backfield quickly that he hesitates long enough to give Stevenson space to work.
Benton is on the ground and tries to make the play, but he whiffs, giving Stevenson a path towards the goal line. That’s where Heyward’s heroics come into the mix.
Finally, Patrick Queen missed a pair of tackles on Sunday. While he’s playing some good football, sorting through traffic and making plays around the line of scrimmage, the misses remain a concern.
He does everything right here on the zone run. He’s able to sift through the traffic and get underneath the block just enough to get a shot at rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson. He just doesn’t finish.
It’s a nice play from Queen up until the point of contact. He’s too high, doesn’t bring his feet, and doesn’t even try to wrap up. His technique needs to be just a bit better here.
Offensively, the Steelers forced 12 missed tackles in the win, meaning they won the all-important game within the game Sunday, too, moving to 3-0 in the tackles battle.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES AT PATRIOTS — 12
Jaylen Warren – 9
Kenneth Gainwell – 1
Jonnu Smith – 1
Calvin Austin III – 1
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH THREE WEEKS (THREE GAMES) — 37 (12.3 PER GAME)
Jaylen Warren – 21
Kenneth Gainwell – 6
Jonnu Smith – 5
Kaleb Johnson – 3 (two on special teams)
DK Metcalf – 1
Calvin Austin III — 1
Jaylen Warren continues to be a force. It was great to see the Steelers stop with the backfield split and lean on Warren as the workhorse running back.
Though the rushing numbers weren’t as encouraging as things looked throughout the game, he still was outstanding from a missed-tackles-forced perspective. His nine forced misses nearly equaled the misses the Steelers had in the game defensively. Pretty telling.
This was well-blocked, but once again, it comes down to one guy missing an assignment. They’re always one block away from a huge splash play. Unfortunately, Broderick Jones is late getting a hat on the linebacker. Warren does it himself, though, forcing the missed tackle in the hole, allowing him to pick up 11 yards.
Later in the game, the Steelers threw Warren a checkdown in space, leading to another big play.
He’s dynamic in space. Not only does he have great power for the position, but he’s explosive from a shifty aspect, too.
Warren sets up Robert Spillane in space here. He freezes the linebacker with the stutter and then bursts inside. He left Spillane grasping at air on the 15-yard catch and run.
Hopefully, the increased workload for Warren continues.
