A short week after a very tough, physical game last Sunday led to a rather sloppy, ugly performance for the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night, resulting in a tough 24-19 loss.

The game gave us everything the Steelers had, from the slow start and sloppy execution before and after the snap to poor clock management and baffling personnel decisions, not to mention a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback that the defense ultimately couldn’t withstand.

It’s a heavy loss, but not fatal. The Steelers now head into a mini-bye week with a chance to regroup, rest and prepare for a tough matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14. For now, let’s take a look at the missed tackles report of this week.

TOTAL MISSED TACKLES BY BROWNS — 11

Nick Herbig – 2
Minkah Fitzpatrick – 2
Elkon Roberts – 2
Patrick Queen – 1
Cameron Sutton-1
Larry Ogunjobi – 1
Preston Smith-1
Isaiah Loudermilk – 1 (special teams)

TOTAL MISSED TACKLES OVER 12 WEEKS (11 GAMES) — 69 (6.27 PER GAME)

Patrick Queen – 12 (79 tackles on 91 total attempts, 13.1% miss rate)
Donte Jackson-8 (29 tackles on 37 total attempts, 21.6% miss rate)
Elkon Roberts – 8 (31 tackles on 39 total attempts, 20.5% miss rate)
Payton Wilson 6 (two on special teams) (48 tackles on 54 total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Joey Porter Jr. – 5 (45 tackles on 50 total attempts, 10% miss rate)
TJ Watt – 5 (40 tackles on 45 total attempts, 11.1% miss rate)
Nick Herbig-5 (missed sack) (15 tackles on 20 total attempts, 14.1% miss rate)
Minkah Fitzpatrick – 5 (61 tackles on 66 total attempts, 7.6% miss rate)
Keeanu Benton-4 (21 tackles on 25 total attempts, 16% miss rate)
Larry Ogunjobi-4 (33 tackles on 37 total attempts, 10.8% miss rate)
Beanie Bishop Jr. — 3 (34 tackles on 37 total attempts, 8.1% miss rate)
Preston Smith-2 (eight tackles on ten total attempts, 20% miss rate)
Isaiah Loudermilk – 2 (one for special teams) (nine tackles on 11 total attempts, 18.2% miss rate)
Cameron Heyward-2 (45 tackles on 47 total attempts, 4.3% 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 (72 tackles on 73 attempts in total, 1.4% miss rate)
Cameron Sutton-1 (one tackle on two total attempts, 50% miss rate)

It wasn’t a good performance from the Steelers in tackling, period. Their 11 missed tackles were the most in a game this season, eclipsing the 10 missed tackles the Steelers had in their Week 5 Sunday Night Football loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Snow conditions played a role in the 11 missed tackles, especially in key situations late in the game. But that’s no excuse. The Steelers have been one of the better tackling teams all season, and yet they came up short in a short week.

Early on, the Steelers were a bit of a mess in the tackling department.

On a slant route to Browns WR Jerry Jeudy, both LB Elandon Roberts and S Minkah Fitzpatrick missed tackles in space.

Jeudy only gains four yards after forcing both Roberts and Fitzpatrick to miss, but it was a sign of things to come.

The Steelers were a little out of control as they approached tackles. When they were in position, there were a lot of arm tackle attempts.

Later in the game, Patrick Queen and Roberts came up small in big places, helping to keep a Cleveland drive alive, resulting in a touchdown and an 18-6 Browns lead.

On a 3rd and 5, Browns QB Jameis Winston hit receiver Cedric Tillman on a crossing route short of the sticks. Queen delivered a big punch to Tillman and rocked him back. Queen forgot to do one thing, which is quite important: wrap up.

Queen’s big hit stunned Tillman, but he was able to quickly regroup and get close to the sticks to set up a 4th-and-1. If Queen had wrapped it would have been around 4th and 2 or 4th and 3. Instead, Tillman was able to battle back near the first-down marker.

On the next play, Roberts missed a tackle on Nick Chubb in the hole, allowing the Browns RB to convert.

That’s a play Roberts just has to make. Going downhill against the run and breaking out a short-yardage play is exactly the reason he’s here.

He just missed a big spot, allowing Chubb to convert. Tough game, but one that Roberts will bounce back from.

Even though the Steelers were bad in the tackling department, they somehow still found a way to win the battle within that battle. The Steelers forced 14 missed tackles and won the battle by a margin of +3. The Steelers are 10-1 in tackle contention in the game this year.

TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES BY BROWNS – 14

Jaylen Warren – 6
Najee Harris – 4
Russel Wilson – 2
Pat Freiermuth – 1
Darnell Washington – 1

TOTAL FORCED MISSED TACKLES OVER 12 WEEKS (11 GAMES) — 137 (12.45 PER GAME)

Najee Harris – 56
Jaylen Warren – 20
Justin Fields – 12
George Pickens – 10
Calvin Austin III – 10 (eight on special teams)
Cordarelle Patterson – 6
Darnell Washington-6
Pat Freiermuth-6
From Jefferson-4
Russell Wilson 3
Scotty Miller 2
Aaron Shampklin – 2 (one on special teams)
Jonathan Ward-1

Jaylen Warren played a very strong match in the poor conditions. He brought some spice to the running game and made defenders miss a lot in space.

Here on a wind-back counter, Warren forces a missed tackle in the backfield, allowing him to turn the corner and pick up some yardage.

It’s a hidden play that gets lost in the shuffle, but it was a great run by Warren. If he doesn’t make that defender miss, it’s a significant loss to the game. Instead, he turns into a big positive, keeping the offense on track.

Najee Harris didn’t have the best night, but he still ran hard and made defenders miss. The Browns certainly defended him differently than Warren. Harris encountered a box of eight men or more 56.25% of the time on Thursday evening. According to Next Gen Stats, Warren only faced this 45.45% of the time.

There wasn’t much for Harris that night, but he still ran hard.

Harris forced three missed tackles on this run alone. It was a microcosm of what he faced all game against a defense that was attacking downhill.

He’s a maniac who refuses to go down at the first touch, but on this one he should have conceded late in the build-up and secured the football. Luckily, Russell Wilson was there to jump on it. But this shows how powerful and ruthless Harris is as a runner. Every blade of grass is important to him.