Raise your and if, after Corliss Waitman shanked his punt in the loss to the Browns on Thursday Night Football, you said to yourself, “OK. Its T.J. Time….” [See my raised hand.] And raise your hand if you were disappointed when T.J. Watt didn’t…
…Sack Jameis Winston
…Negate a double team by batting down his pass
…Strip the ball from a carrier
…Come up with an interception out of blue
But of course none of the above happened. Although he’d put in a quiet night up in to that point, all of Steelers Nation expected T.J. Watt work one of his game-saving miracles. Yet, Watt wasn’t able to do that. And Steelers Nation stood disappointed.
T.J. Watt sacks Joe Burrow. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review
On one level that shows how spoiled we are, but that’s understandable. Before Watt’s time we’d come to expect the same of Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and Rod Woodson. Our parents and grandparents held similar expectations for Joe Greene, Jack Lambert and Mel Blount. And more often than not, at least in our memories if not in reality, all of them delivered.
- So the disappointment is understandable. But the panic we’re seeing is not.
“T.J. Watt’s been invisible.”
“Opposing offensive coordinators have found a way to neutralize Watt.”
“If T.J. disappears the way Minkah Fitzpatrick has, we’re screwed.”
“T.J. Watt has found his kryptonite.”
- So here’s a word to the wise to those who are worried about Watt: Don’t.
T.J. Watt’s recent slump calls to mind a comment about another Hall of Famer I read in the summer during the lead up to the Steelers 1995 season.
I can’t remember the publication, perhaps it was Street and Smith’s, but in reviewing the Steelers defense it said something like this about Kevin Greene: “…after amassing 10 sacks during the first ten weeks of the 1994 Steelers season, Greene only registered 4 over the final six weeks and none in the playoffs. Is it double teams or age?”
Kevin Greene sacks Stan Humphries in 1993. Photo Credit: AP, via al.com
The implication that we’d witnessed Father Time gaining a step on Kevin Greene in real-time sounded ominous.
It reality, it was ridiculous. Kevin Greene posted 9 sacks in 1995 plus 1.5 more in the playoffs and helped the Steelers reach Super Bowl XXX.
The Steelers let him go in free agency, and Greene went on to post double-digit sack numbers in four more seasons with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.
- The moral of the story? T.J. Watt is will be fine.
The kryptonite comment above is amusing, but it also based on a false premise. T.J. Watt may be a generational talent, but he’s not Superman. He’s also played 91% of the Steelers defensive snaps this season which is up from 83% last season.
Anyone else think that Watt may have made it to that Thursday night game a little more tired than everyone else?
With 7.5 sacks this season Watt’s “only” on schedule to log 11 more. But as we saw against the Giants and Falcons, Watt can and does wreck games with a single play. Moreover, both Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig have proven they’re able to capitalize as opponents double and triple teaming Watt.
Week 12 brings the Steelers to Paycor Stadium against a talented and dangerous Cincinnati Bengals team who’d like nothing more than to play the role of AFC North spoiler.
- T.J. Watt will take 104 career sacks, 31 forced fumbles and 7 interceptions to Cincinnati.
Watt has logged 12 (11.5%) of his career sacks, 5 (16%) of his forced fumbles and 2 (28%) of his interceptions in games against Cincinnati.
In other words, don’t be surprised if T.J. bounces back big against the Bengals.
