Watt's a 'unique,' unstoppable force on so many fronts

It's not often a defensive player completely disrupts everything an opposing team tries to do. After all, you can avoid a really good player in the secondary or simply run away from a defensive lineman, who will be unable to run faster players down.

But linebackers? They're typically built for both power and speed, meaning they can affect the way a game is played in so many more ways.

It's become commonplace to call all outside pass rushers edge defenders now in the NFL, allowing for the nuances of being an outside linebacker or defensive end to be blurred.

But edge defender is the perfect way to describe T.J. Watt. And the edge he typically provides is a winning one.

Nobody in the NFL is playing defense better than Watt this season.

Watt completely took over the Steelers' 20-19 victory over the Ravens Sunday at Heinz Field, recording six tackles, 3.5 sacks, three tackles for a loss, six quarterback hits and a forced fumble. His 12 pressures of Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson were the most recorded by a player in a single game this season, according to the NFL's NextGen Stats.

It was a play that he didn't get a sack on -- pressuring Jackson on a two-point conversion pass at the end of the game to force a bad throw -- that decided the outcome.

"Watt was doing his thing," said Jackson. "That's what he does, just one-on-one and making things happen, I guess."

Watt, a finalist for NFL Defensive Player of the Year in each of the previous two seasons, might just have kicked the door down to winning the award this season.

Though he's missed two full games and parts of two others with injuries, Watt's big day against the Ravens lifted him past the Browns' Myles Garrett and into the NFL sack lead with 16, tying James Harrison's team record set in 2008 when he was Defensive Player of the Year.

Watt has almost single-handedly willed the Steelers (6-5-1) to wins this season and his impact has perhaps been felt the most when he's not been available. The Steelers are 6-2 this season when he starts and plays the whole game. They're 0-3-1 when he doesn't play or leaves a game early due to injury.

The most amazing thing about his game against the Ravens on Sunday, was that Watt was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 List last Monday and wasn't cleared to return to the Steelers until Saturday, just over 24 hours before game day.

"He's unique. He's unique in a collection of unique people," Mike Tomlin said Monday as his team began preparations to play the Vikings (5-7) Thursday in Minneapolis. "But his production, his output is unique. So we shouldn't be surprised that his method or his process is unique. His level of effort, his attention to detail, his intensity, all are unique."

He'll present a unique challenge for Minnesota, which has been one of the better teams in the NFL this season protecting the quarterback. Quarterback Kirk Cousins has been sacked just 18 times, as only the Bills and Buccaneers have given up fewer sacks this season.

Thing is, Watt sat out the entire preseason and training camp this year before signing a contract extension that made him the NFL's highest-paid defender, not practicing until the Friday before the Steelers opened the season against the Bills in Buffalo.

Some questioned whether Watt was worth the 4-year, $112-million contract extension the Steelers gave him, continuing to do so right up until the season was kicked off that day in Buffalo.

All Watt did in that game against a Bills team that has given up just 17 sacks, is record three tackles, two sacks, five quarterback hits and for Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen to fumble. That doesn't count the multiple holding penalties the Bills were assessed, several for trying to impede Watt's rush to the quarterback.

Despite former bookend Bud Dupree having left in free agency for the Titans and the lack of availability of defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt, Watt seems to have taken his game to an even higher level this season.

The Steelers now have a league-best 37 sacks after taking Jackson down seven times -- the most in his career -- Sunday. They have led the league in sacks a league-record four years running, which coincides with when they added Watt to their defense as the 30th pick in the draft in 2017.

He now has matched Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White as the only two players since the sack became a recognized stat in 1982 to have four consecutive seasons with at least 13 sacks each year. And with Watt averaging 1.6 sacks per game, Michael Strahan's NFL record of 22 in a season is in play.

If Watt continues at his current pace, he would finish with 24 -- despite missing two full games. That would continue his move to the top of the Steelers' all-time sack ladder.

He cruised past Heyward into fifth-place on the all-time list Sunday and now has 65.5 -- in just five seasons. Up next is Jason Gildon at 77. Harrison holds the team record with 80.5, a number that could be in reach for Watt early next season if he continues at his current pace.

And it doesn't appear that opponents can stop it.

"Yeah, we game-planned throughout the week," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said when asked if his team had planned for Watt to be activated in time to play in Sunday's game. "Great player."

A game-changing player who delivered when the Steelers needed it most.

Now, the question that remains is can he stay healthy and will the Steelers into the postseason?

"It’s momentum," Watt said of the Steelers' win over the Ravens. "We have a really short turnaround. We need to keep stacking wins. We can’t get satisfied with where we’re at. We need to keep stacking wins because there’s a still a lot ahead of us."