Not much went right for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in the 31-17 home opener loss to the Seattle Seahawks. A special teams blunder, a bad decision to punt from midfield in a tie game, and struggles stopping the run again each played a massive part in the loss.
What didn’t, though, for the most part, were the tackling issues for the Black and Gold.
One week after missing nine tackles against the New York Jets, the Steelers improved — though scarcely — in the tackling department.
Let’s check out this week’s missed tackles report against the Seahawks.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES VS. SEAHAWKS — 8
Juan Thornhill – 2
Chuck Clark – 1
Keeanu Benton – 1Â
Payton Wilson – 1Â
Daniel Ekuale – 1Â
Patrick Queen – 1 (missed sack)
Nick Herbig – 1Â
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH TWO WEEKS (TWO GAMES) — 17 (8.5 PER GAME)
Yahya Black – 2 (one on missed sack) (five tackles on seven total attempts, 28.6% miss rate)
Juan Thornhill — 2 (16 tackles on 18 total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Darius Slay – 2 (seven tackles on nine total attempts, 22.2% miss rate)
Payton Wilson – 2 (15 tackles on 17 total attempts, 11.8% miss rate)
Alex Highsmith – 1 (nine tackles on 10 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
T.J. Watt – 1 (nine tackles on 10 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
Ben Skowronek – 1 (special teams) (one tackle on two total attempts, 50% miss rate)
Miles Killebrew – 1 (special teams) (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Chuck Clark — 1 (16 tackles on 17 total attempts, 5.9% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 1 (three tackles on four total attempts, 25% miss rate)
Nick Herbig — 1 (three tackles on four total attempts, 25% miss rate)
Daniel Ekuale — 1 (two tackles on three total attempts, 33.3% miss rate)
Patrick Queen — 1 (missed sack) (14 tackles on 15 total attempts, 6.6% miss rate)
The Seahawks rushed for 119 yards in the game, bullying the Steelers throughout the game. But it wasn’t due solely to missed tackles.
Pittsburgh did a decent job of getting guys on the ground, at least when they were in position to do so.
Still, eight missed tackles are a real concern, especially some of the key ones.
Patrick Queen’s missed sack was a real killer. Pro Football Focus somehow didn’t charge him for a miss on this play, but that’s a miss as clear as day. He has a free rush to quarterback Sam Darnold. The running back arrives late, but this is a play Queen is paid to make.
The Steelers did well to scheme this up, generating a free rusher for Darnold. He should be a sitting duck in the pocket. While he does a nice job of spinning out of it, Queen has to finish this play.
He didn’t, and it turned into a 19-yard gain to tight end AJ Barner, a 3rd-and-9 conversion that ended up being a back-breaking drive.
Earlier in the game, the Steelers were playing the run relatively well. But when they were getting there in the backfield, they weren’t finishing. Daniel Ekuale had some nice moments in the game, but he could have had an even better day if he had finished in the backfield.
A quick win here to get into the backfield free on Kenneth Walker. This should have been shut down for a loss of a few yards. But Ekuale goes high and whiffs on Walker, who ducks underneath.
The Seattle running back can get upfield for a gain of three. It was hidden yardage for Seattle. Ekuale was in position; he just had to make the play. It happened too often in the game on Sunday from the Steelers’ defense.
Finally, Chuck Clark and Juan Thornhill missed a tackle on the same play, allowing a 15-yard gain by Walker.
Clark does a nice job of getting there initially, bouncing off a block and getting himself in position to make the play. But he ends up diving at Walker’s ankle and comes up empty.
That allowed Walker to get to the second level with good vision, where he runs over Thornhill, bouncing him off the turf on the angry run. Fortunately, Cam Heyward backtracked and made the play, but it was a rough rep from the Steelers’ safeties.
While the Steelers missed eight tackles in the loss, offensively, they were able to force 14 misses from Seattle, meaning they won the missed tackles battle by a margin of +6 to improve to 2-0 on the season in the game within the game.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES VS. SEAHAWKS — 14
Jaylen Warren – 9
Kenneth Gainwell – 3Â
Jonnu Smith – 2
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH TWO WEEKS (TWO GAMES) — 25 (12.5 PER GAME)
Jaylen Warren – 12
Kenneth Gainwell – 5
Jonnu Smith – 4
Kaleb Johnson – 3 (two on special teams)
DK Metcalf – 1Â
Jaylen Warren had an unreal game Sunday, generating 134 yards of total offense in the loss on just 18 touches.
One of those touches was remarkable, a 65-yard catch-and-run on a check-down from Aaron Rodgers.
First, this was a great sidearm throw on the move from Rodgers, putting it in stride for Warren. After that, Warren does the rest.
Four of his nine forced missed tackles come on this play. He made some defenders look downright silly. They should have gotten him the ball more than 18 times in this one. He was on a heater right from the jump, yet they had to work in Kenneth Gainwell.
It makes no sense.
At least they have this highlight from the game, though. Warren is remarkable in space.
