The Steelers got any number of big plays from different defenders during three of their goal-line stands against the Detroit Lions, everyone from Tyson Alualu and Vince Williams to Sean Davis and Mike Hilton.
But of the eight plays from inside the 6-yard line in Ford Field on Sunday night, nobody made as many big plays as Javon Hargrave, who is quickly becoming the most disruptive Steelers nose tackle since Casey Hampton.
It was his tackle on running back Dwayne Washington on third down at the Steelers’ 1 that highlighted the first goal-line stand in which the Lions failed to score on three plays from the 3-foot line. Hargrave hit Washington so hard the 223-pound running back’s knees buckled at impact.
“When you buckle backs like that in the hole, those are the kind of hits that win games,” former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger said on NFL Network, where he works as an analyst.
“He was going to win that or I was going to win that,” Hargrave said. “He wasn’t getting in.”
Then, on the Lions’ final chance to tie the game from the Steelers’ 8, Hargrave took center Travis Swanson and pushed him back to quarterback Matthew Stafford, forcing a quick and errant throw that Ryan Shazier almost intercepted, effectively ending the game.
“He put [Swanson] in the quarterback’s lap,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said.
“I got one-on-one with the center, and I ended up winning it,” Hargrave said. “That was good.”
Hargrave, a third-round pick in 2016, is developing into the type of powerful interior lineman that is becoming vogue in the NFL. They are not very tall, not very heavy, but they are powerful and use their lower body to get underneath taller offensive linemen and gain leverage. Former Pitt star Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams is a prime example. So is Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins.
Hargrave is 6-foot-1 and 310 pounds, a little heavier than Donald and Atkins, but he surprises opposing centers and guards with his quickness and overpowers them with his strength. Just ask Swanson. Or even New England Patriots guard Joe Thuney, who got tossed like a rag doll by Hargrave on a sack in the first quarter of the AFC championship.
Javon Hargrave looking like a grown man in the NFL here. He handled it! #Steelers pic.twitter.com/7VTWqcpZZa
— Blitzburgh (@Steel_Curtain4) May 26, 2017
“I don’t call it undersized,” Hargrave said. “When you’re this low you can get under some of the bigger dudes. That’s kind of our advantage. In the trenches it’s all about your leverage. We naturally have good leverage coming off ball, so most of the time we’re going to win that.”
Hargrave did that twice against the Lions, helping to preserve a 20-15 victory and a three-game winning streak heading into the off week.
After eight games, he has already equaled his sack total (2) from the 2016 regular season and is tied with outside linebacker Bud Dupree with 18 tackles, 10th most on the team.
“He’s extraordinarily quick for his size,” Butler said. “You wouldn’t think it. You’d sit there and say, ‘This guy can’t move like that.’ He does.”
Defensive line coach John Mitchell, who has been around long enough to coach Hampton and former nose tackle Joel Steed, said Hargrave uses his hands better than any young player he’s seen this early in their career.
“Plus he can get off blocks,” said Mitchell, who has been with the Steelers since 1994. “It doesn’t look like he’s running fast because of his body, but he’s running pretty fast. A good football player, if they get blocked, they don’t stay blocked. And he doesn’t get blocked where he stays blocked. He can get off blocks and run to the ball.”
But there is one problem with Hargrave: trying to keep him on the field.
Unless there is an injury to defensive ends Cam Heyward or Stephon Tuitt, he typically comes out of the game when the Steelers use their nickel and dime defensive packages.
When Tuitt missed the past two games with a back injury, Hargrave played 55 percent of the time against the Lions (39 snaps) and Cincinnati Bengals (28 snaps). When the Steelers played the run-oriented Jacksonville Jaguars, Hargrave played 61 percent of the snaps (33) and led the team with 10 tackles.
But against a team such as the Kansas City Chiefs, a game in which Tuitt was healthy, Hargrave was on the field for only 21 snaps, or 39 percent of the time.
Butler said the Steelers would like to use Hargrave more and not always let an opposing offense dictate to them what type of defense they should use.
“We can’t allow them to keep him out of the game,” Butler said. “He has to be able to play. He does a good job when he plays.”
But, as Mitchell noted, “I’d like to get him on the field more. But now I got to take Cam [Heyward] or Tuitt off the field.”
Maybe that’s not a bad thing.
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com
First Published: November 3, 2017, 4:00 p.m.
Updated: November 4, 2017, 5:18 a.m.
