There is no hiding the direct correlation of T.J. Watt's return with the Steelers limiting their opponent to a season-low in points on Sunday.
In the team's return following a much-needed bye week, the Steelers pasted the Saints offense to a limitation of 10 points, which accounted for the third overall time the opposition was held to fewer than 20 points this season. New Orleans was held to 45 total plays from scrimmage and a tick over 21 minutes of possession time, while converting just 3 of 12 third downs and turning the ball over twice.
No. 90's return to the lineup affected nearly every facet of that for the 3-6 Steelers. The box score doesn't particularly pop -- four total tackles and one quarterback hit -- but we know that his play generates more for everybody else.
That comes on all three levels of Pittsburgh's defense.
"It was awesome having him back," Alex Highsmith told me on Monday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "I think his presence was felt immediately. He was in the backfield the first couple plays of the game, so the crowd was getting into it, and we were just enjoying it as a defense, as a whole. Having him back was awesome."
The plays which Highsmith pointed out included gains of zero and one yard for the Saints defense. After the Steelers punted away their first possession and forced the Saints to start on their own 9-yard nine, Watt joined Cam Heyward in blowing up the Saints' five-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara for no gain. He then pitched in alongside Larry Ogunjobi to limit Saints gadget guy Taysom Hill for a one-yard gain. New Orleans net zero yards on the drive and punted.
Highsmith was the main benefactor in having Watt back into the lineup. With Watt drawing the extra attention, Highsmith registered five total tackles and three solo stops with two sacks, a quarterback hit, and a tackle for loss. Highsmith averaged 3.99 yards of separation per play between himself and the Saints' quarterbacks at the time of their throws, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Watt averaged 4.28 yards, and Heyward was at 4.42 yards. The league average is 4.53 yards of separation.
Per Pro Football Focus, Highsmith and Heyward were the Steelers' top two graded players, respectively:
Highest graded Steelers in Week 10 win vs Saints:
— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) November 14, 2022
🥇 Alex Highsmith - 91.4
🥈 Cameron Heyward - 89.9
🥉 Dan Moore Jr. - 88.3
4️⃣ Mason Cole - 78.5
5️⃣ Damontae Kazee - 76.0 pic.twitter.com/XknzLZipc8
"(Watt) always brings the juice and always brings the energy, so he brought it in practice, and it transitioned to the game," Highsmith said.
The return of the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year also means that depth options can revert to being just those. Malik Reed was primarily a depth option who was thrust into the starting lineup for Watt in his absence.
Reed has registered 10 tackles this season, and he had his best game prior to the bye against Philadelphia, when he tallied four tackles and a sack. Per NFL Next Gen Stats Reed averaged 3.69 yards of separation from Eagles QB Jalen Hurts on his throws.
"It's huge to have the Defensive Player of the Year back on the field," Reed said. "A great player, it's always going to add to a defense. ... (My role is now) about being ready. Being able to come in on either side, and when the guys need a breather, and just to hav an impact on when I go into the game, as well. That's where my mindset shifts."
Watt played 79% of the Steelers' snaps and was heavily accounted for, which completely opened up the rest of the defense. Just as any transcendent player does (really, in any sport), his mere presence added a jolt that was missed for weeks.
Pittsburgh limited New Orleans to 186 total yards, a net of 29 rushing yards, and it intercepted quarterback Andy Dalton twice. Dalton's 62.9 rating was the worst among NFL QBs in Week 10 entering Monday night, per Next Gen Stats.
"T.J., one of a kind," Arthur Maulet told me. "Obviously an MVP-type of guy, right? MVP guy. So he's going to affect the game immediately, once he gets in. I can't wait until he gets in his real-season groove. Right now, he's still rusty. He's only played two games."
The math is simple: The quicker Watt and Co. get into the backfield, the quicker the quarterback has to get rid of the football. This inherently results in a defense having to play faster and having players get into their spots quicker.
"The ball's going to come out a little bit quicker, so we can get our heads around and make plays on the ball," Maulet added. "That's why we made a couple more plays because -- it's not totally all T.J., but as a defensive team, him bringing pressure, Alex Highsmith bringing pressure off the other edge, Cam Heyward pushing the center back, our D-line's back fully healthy, and they're doing a good job for us, and the ball has to come out quick."
Safety Damontae Kazee, in his return from injured reserve and while filling in for Minkah Fitzpatrick, also had an instant impact on Sunday's game, including with one of the two interceptions on Dalton.
"It was crazy. It was amazing," Terrell Edmunds said about Kazee's return. "Everybody was surprised about Minkah being out, and with Kazee just coming in and just attacking it with a forward lean and then going out there and making plays, it's just big-time. Helped everyone out."
Kazee said on Sunday that Watt brought "everything" to the team. Edmunds was able to rotate in at safety and take some snaps inside the box on blitzing downs, as he usually does.
But, he hasn't been able to do so in this way, with Watt on the field in two months.
"People have got to eye him, people have got to put two people on him," Edmunds said, "because you don't want to have one person with their mindset on T.J. Watt all day. He's one of the greatest to play the game at this time of age, and it's like, now, that opens up everything for everyone else. Opens up other people to blitz, opens up for other people to go get sacks, because you have multiple people looking at T.J., now other people have the one-on-one matchups they want.
"Really, for us, that helps out a lot because the quarterback, he has to make a split decision. We just have to lock on our guys now and just go out there and make plays, because we know the ball's going to come out fast. Our whole D-line is crazy. When they go out there and make plays for us, it helps us on the back-end so much."
