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Minkah Fitzpatrick has been a terrific addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers ever since the Steelers traded for the former 1st round pick from the Miami Dolphins back in 2019. He was an immediate impact guy that the Steelers were looking for ever since the retirement of Troy Polamalu. Fitzpatrick took over the NFL by storm with five interceptions including a 96-yard touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts. He was absolutely everything this team was looking for in the back end of their secondary.
Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Now we are in the 2021-22 season and Fitzpatrick is still doing everything for the black and gold. But how good has he actually been? No way he is better than the first year in Pittsburgh, right? He may not be an All-Pro selection with TJ Watt and Cam Heyward, and he may not have five interceptions like the two All-Pro safeties in Jordan Poyer from the Buffalo Bills and Kevin Byard from the Tennessee Titans, but Fitzpatrick sure deserves to be mentioned with them. He finished the 2021 season with just two interceptions, but the stat that really isn’t talked about much is the amount of tackles he had. Fitzpatrick finished the season with 124 tackles. Those are numbers you see from starting middle linebackers, not your starting safety.
Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Comparing his tackles with the other two All-Pro safeties mentioned above, the numbers aren’t close. Poyer would finish the season with 93 tackles and Byard would finish with 88 tackles. People may ask why do tackles matter from safeties? Well, they are the last line of defense from the end zone. While the Steelers had one of the worst run defenses in the NFL this season, you could always count on Minkah to bail them out with touchdown saving tackles. Minkah probably saved a few games with some of his tackles that kept teams out of the end zone. Speaking of saving the season, Minkah did in fact save the season when he punched the ball out from Marquise Brown against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 late in the game. If the pass was caught by Brown, the Ravens had two timeouts at midfield to easily setup Justin Tucker for the game-winning field goal to knock the Steelers out of the playoffs. If it wasn’t for Minkah’s play in the secondary this year, the Steelers would not be in the playoffs.
His numbers may not be pretty with pick six’s and forced fumbles, but if you watch the film, Minkah Fitzpatrick may have had his best season in the black and gold.
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Now we are in the 2021-22 season and Fitzpatrick is still doing everything for the black and gold. But how good has he actually been? No way he is better than the first year in Pittsburgh, right? He may not be an All-Pro selection with TJ Watt and Cam Heyward, and he may not have five interceptions like the two All-Pro safeties in Jordan Poyer from the Buffalo Bills and Kevin Byard from the Tennessee Titans, but Fitzpatrick sure deserves to be mentioned with them. He finished the 2021 season with just two interceptions, but the stat that really isn’t talked about much is the amount of tackles he had. Fitzpatrick finished the season with 124 tackles. Those are numbers you see from starting middle linebackers, not your starting safety.
Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Comparing his tackles with the other two All-Pro safeties mentioned above, the numbers aren’t close. Poyer would finish the season with 93 tackles and Byard would finish with 88 tackles. People may ask why do tackles matter from safeties? Well, they are the last line of defense from the end zone. While the Steelers had one of the worst run defenses in the NFL this season, you could always count on Minkah to bail them out with touchdown saving tackles. Minkah probably saved a few games with some of his tackles that kept teams out of the end zone. Speaking of saving the season, Minkah did in fact save the season when he punched the ball out from Marquise Brown against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 late in the game. If the pass was caught by Brown, the Ravens had two timeouts at midfield to easily setup Justin Tucker for the game-winning field goal to knock the Steelers out of the playoffs. If it wasn’t for Minkah’s play in the secondary this year, the Steelers would not be in the playoffs.
His numbers may not be pretty with pick six’s and forced fumbles, but if you watch the film, Minkah Fitzpatrick may have had his best season in the black and gold.
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
