Through the first three weeks of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t tackled all that well. They missed 28 combined tackles against the New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks, and New England Patriots. Barely more than nine misses per game wasn’t anything to be overly concerned about. But for a highly-paid defense, they needed to be better.
In Week 4 at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, the Steelers were much better in the tackling department. Great, even.
The Steelers missed just two tackles against the Vikings, setting an all-time best mark for fewest missed tackles in a game since I started tracking the data here at Steelers Depot in 2016.
Let’s take a look.
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES VS. VIKINGS — 2
Patrick Queen – 1Â
Payton Wilson – 1 (missed sack)
TOTAL MISSED TACKLES THROUGH FOUR WEEKS (FOUR GAMES) — 30 (7.5 PER GAME)
Nick Herbig — 4 (one on special teams) (12 tackles on 16 total attempts, 25% miss rate)
Patrick Queen — 4 (missed sack) (35 tackles on 39 total attempts, 10.3% miss rate)
Juan Thornhill — 3 (25 tackles on 28 total attempts, 10.7% miss rate)
Payton Wilson – 3 (one on missed sack) (35 tackles on 38 total attempts, 7.9% miss rate)
Yahya Black – 2 (one on missed sack) (seven tackles on nine total attempts, 22.2% miss rate)
Chuck Clark — 2 (25 tackles on 27 total attempts, 7.4% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton — 2 (eight tackles on 10 total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Darius Slay – 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 (19 tackles on 20 total attempts, 5% miss rate)
Ben Skowronek – 1 (special teams) (five tackles on six total attempts, 16.6% 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) (three tackles on four total attempts, 25% miss rate)
Jalen Ramsey — 1 (18 tackles on 19 total attempts, 5.3% miss rate)
Cole Holcomb — 1 (12 tackles on 13 total attempts, 7.7% miss rate)
On a day in which the two Steelers inside linebackers, Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson, combined for 24 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, and one game-changing tackle after an 81-yard catch-and-run, two total missed tackles combined between the two is pretty darn remarkable.
Queen and Wilson were both outstanding all day, making plays left and right with plenty of physicality. They looked exactly like the linebackers the Steelers envisioned with the pairing, which was very positional.
Wilson’s missed tackle came on a blitz where he had a clean shot at Carson Wentz in the pocket.
Nice design there from the Steelers on the safety blitz, getting DeShon Elliott a run at Wentz. It’s a good blitz pickup from Jordan Mason, and that frees up Wilson to come in unimpeded.
Wilson tries to go high on Wentz, but it backfires as Wentz ducks underneath, flipping Wilson over his back. Fortunately, Elliott is there to clean it up and even forces a fumble in the process.
Queen missed his only tackle early in the game on a simple swing route to Mason out of the backfield.
He reads it and he’s in position to make a play, but he gets caught flat-footed. He does slip a bit at the point he goes for the tackle, and you can even see him look back at the grass at the end of the play, so it might have played a slight factor. But he has to make this play in space.
Queen improved as the game went on and was a real force. Very encouraging performance from him.
Offensively, the Steelers had a field day forcing missed tackles. They forced the Vikings into 13 misses on the afternoon, meaning they won the tackles battle with a margin of +11. That made for an outstanding day as they improved to 4-0 on the season in the game within the game.
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES VS. VIKINGS — 13
Kenneth Gainwell – 8 (one on special teams)
Darnell Washington – 2Â
Trey Sermon – 2 (special teams)
DK Metcalf – 1Â
TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES THROUGH FOUR WEEKS (FOUR GAMES) — 50 (12.5 PER GAME)
Jaylen Warren – 21
Kenneth Gainwell – 14 (one on special teams)
Jonnu Smith – 5
Kaleb Johnson – 3 (two on special teams)
DK Metcalf – 2
Trey Sermon — 2 (special teams)
Calvin Austin III — 1Â
On the day he stepped into the starting lineup for the injured Jaylen Warren, Gainwell was at his best, feasting on the Vikings’ defense. He rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries and added another six receptions for 35 yards, creating plays left and right for the Steelers.
He created plenty after contact, too. According to Pro Football Focus, Gainwell had 78 of his 99 yards after contact on the ground. He forced eight missed tackles in the game, with one on special teams. He’s not the biggest or strongest, but he is slippery, and he showed that Sunday.
This run late in the game was a good example of that.
Gainwell should have been stopped in the backfield for a sizable loss. But he was able to bounce the run, stiff-arm Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson to create room, and run through a tackle attempt from cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, turning what should have been a loss into a 5-yard gain.
He also stayed in bounds, too, keeping the clock running. Heady stuff from the veteran.
His vision was on display throughout the game, too.
Nice run here in the fourth quarter as well, with the patience and footwork to step through an initial tackle attempt in the hole from safety Josh Metellus. He then hits a nice cutback move against safety Theo Jackson, running with force and falling forward at the end of a nice 15-yard run.
He’s the No. 2 back behind a healthy Warren, but his performance Sunday should earn him more work moving forward. It was a great performance.
