Micah Kiser has cleaned up his missed tackles

Rams linebacker Micah Kiser was indebted with seven missed tackles in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys, a poor game by any measure and horrid if indicative of how he would continue to play in the future. Obviously if Kiser missed seven tackles per game, he wouldn’t be getting into any games.

Thankfully, tackling has been anything but an issue for Kiser recently.

If it was notable enough for me to write about it as a negative in Week 1, then it is only fair to follow up with Kiser four games later. (He missed Week 5 with a groin injury.) Kiser followed up his seven missed tackles with 15 completed tackles and only one miss in Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles. For that effort, Kiser was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

He hasn’t won any more awards recently, he may just have to settle for the one this season, but Kiser added 13 tackles with no missed opportunities against the San Francisco 49ersi n the most recent game. Added up, Kiser has made 38 tackles and has only been credited with two missed tackles in his last four starts.

Kiser’s missed tackle percentage since Week 2 is only 5%, which is roughly the same as Vikings all-pro Eric Kendricks this season. Kendricks leads the NFL in tackles, but Kiser wouldn’t be far behind if he hadn’t missed Week 5; backup Troy Reeder had 11 tackles and three sacks in his place.

Former Rams linebacker Cory Littleton had 134 tackles and only five missed tackles in 2019. The Kiser we saw in his debut on defense in Week 1 was not on pace for a season like that. The Kiser we’ve seen since seems to be.