Tag: T.J. Watt

Steelers injury updates: 2 key defenders already ruled out vs the Raiders

The Steelers have quickly run out of edge rushers.

When Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media on Tuesday, it was almost all bad news on the injury front. The Steelers are preparing to take on the Las Vegas Raiders this week and Tomlin already ruled out edge rushers Nick Herbig and Demarvin Leal with injuries.

This leaves T.J. Watt and Jeremiah Moon as the only edge rushers on the roster. Pittsburgh is already minus Alex Highsmith who is on IR. The Steelers do have three edge defenders on the practice squad and Tomlin said one of them could get an opportunity this week.

They are Adetokunbo Ogundeji, Eku Leota and Jacoby Windmon. Windmon had a pretty strong preseason and showed some solid athleticism as a rookie. We expect to see the Steelers work in inside linebackers Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson into the gameplan as well, either as inside blitzers or even coming off the edge.

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Wisconsin legend reaches record-breaking NFL milestone in Week 5 vs. Cowboys

TJ Watt set another record on Sunday

Wisconsin legend T.J. Watt seems to rewrite a part of the NFL’s statistical encyclopedia whenever he laces his cleats up.

After strip-sacking Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-17 loss on Sunday Night Football in Week 5, Watt officially became the second-fastest player in NFL history to reach 100 career sacks.

The historical moment arrived on a third-and-six defensive sequence with the Cowboys at the Steelers’ 11-yard line. He and fellow Badger alumnus Nick Herbig converged on Prescott to flip the possession back to Pittsburgh and keep the game knotted at three apiece.

At just a few days under 30, Watt is the second-fastest to reach the mark, behind only Hall of Fame pass-rusher Reggie White. The UW alumnus accomplished the feat in 109 games while White, a 13-time Pro Bowler and eight-time All-Pro, reached 100 sacks in 96 games.

 

Watt finished the Week 5 contest with eight tackles, one tackle for loss, three quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble. He now boasts 4.5 sacks and 20 tackles through five games of the 2024 season.

For a franchise that has employed Joe Greene, Cam Heyward, Jack Lambert, James Harrison, Troy Polamalu and Rod Woodson, Watt may already be the greatest defender in Pittsburgh Steelers history. He owns the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year award and has led the NFL in sacks on three separate occasions.

Watt’s Steelers will return to the turf on Sunday, Oct. 13 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Former Wisconsin legends were PFF’s highest-graded edge defenders for NFL Week 5

Former Wisconsin legends were PFF’s highest-graded edge defenders for NFL Week 5

Through five games of the 2024 NFL season, a group of former Wisconsin defenders have wreaked havoc on opposing offenses.

Among those top playmakers are Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig. The duo put on quite the show against the Dallas Cowboys during Week 5 on Sunday Night Football.

Despite losing 20-17 after Cowboy quarterback Dak Prescott engineered a game-winning drive with under 30 seconds to spare, the duo made their presence felt throughout the game. Watt finished with eight tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, one tackle for loss and three quarterback hits while Herbig recorded two tackles, 1/2 sack, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Their spectacular outputs also impressed some folks at ProFootballFocus. Herbig reeled in an overall grade of 91.0, the highest among any qualified edge rusher this week, while Watt finished with a grade of 90.3, tied for second only behind his teammate.

The most notable play for each Badger alumnus occurred on the same sequence. Facing a critical third down sequence, the two converged in the Cowboys’ backfield to strip-sack Prescott to prevent Dallas from scoring and to flip possession back in Pittsburgh’s favor.

While Watt has morphed into the heartbeat the Steelers’ defense, Herbig has just dipped his toes into his NFL career. After selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft, he put up 27 tackles, 3.0 sacks, five tackles, three quarterback hits and two forced fumbles as a rookie.

In just five games, he already boasts eight tackles, 2.5 sacks, three quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. If he continues to play at this pace, Steelers fans will see much more of him alongside Watt throughout the season.

Steelers lose heartbreaker to Cowboys on 4th-down TD pass in final minute

The Steelers defense got carved up by the Cowboys on Sunday night.

This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccurate headline.

After weather delayed kickoff by about 90 minutes, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys squared off on Sunday night in a battle of two of the most popular teams in the league. The Cowboys dominated in the boxscore, but the Steelers held on to a lead heading into the final few minutes. But on fourth-and-goal, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott connected with wide receiver Jalen Tolbert to pull off the 20-17 win.

This loss drops the Steelers to 3-2 on the season and puts them in a tie for the top spot in the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens.

Offensively, the Steelers struggled to find consistency on the ground, which hindered any opportunity for quarterback Justin Fields to get into a rhythm in the passing game.

Defensively, the Steelers were scorched by Prescott to the tune of 352 yards passing. The Steelers lost edge rusher Nick Herbig in the first half and failed to generate any sort of pass rush other than from T.J. Watt, allowing Prescott to march down the field for the game-winning score.

But the Steelers almost secured victory moments before the pass to Tolbert. On second-and-goal from the 1, Elandon Roberts flew over the line of scrimmage and torpedoed running back Rico Dowdle. The ball popped out and lay on the turf, and for a brief moment it appeared a Steeler would fall on it and end the game. But Prescott alertly dived on it.

The Steelers have lost two in a row and now have to prepare for a long road trip out west next week against the Las Vegas Raiders.

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Injury report: Nick Herbig exits Week 5 game early with injury

During the Steelers’ Week 5 contest against the Dallas Cowboys, EDGE Nick Herbig exited the contest with an injury, shattering fans’ hearts.

Hearts were crushed in Pittsburgh’s Week 5 contest, as yet another injury was added to the Steelers growing list of banged-up players.  The Steelers’ defense had little time to celebrate T.J. Watt’s 100th career sack, as all eyes would soon be on Nick Herbig heading into the dreaded blue medical tent.

During the third quarter, Herbig could be seen hobbling and limping on the sideline while the Steelers’ medical team began to get him checked out.

With baited breath, Steelers fans were hopeful he would exit the tent and sprint back onto the field—they were instead forced to watch the promising second-year edge rusher walk into the locker room, barely putting any weight on his injured leg. Furthermore, it was then reported that Herbig was questionable to return with a hamstring injury.

All eyes will be on the situation, as Pittsburgh fans will hope the injury is short term because Alex Highsmith, the teams starting edge rusher opposite T.J. Watt, is likely out until Week 7 with a groin injury.

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T.J. Watt becomes the second fastest player to reach 100 career sacks

T.J Watt has made history in Week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys. He became the second-fastest player to reach 100 career sacks.

With the Steelers versus Cowboys finally underway, after severe weather delayed the contest by over an hour, the stage was set and the game was tied 3-3, when on the last play of the first quarter, T.J. Watt made history.

As Dak Prescott dropped back, Watt teamed up with Nick Herbig for a crucial sack and forced fumble, giving Pittsburgh the momentum they needed. This moment, more than any, solidified Watt’s place among the all-time greats in NFL history.  Watt had done the unthinkable—he became the second-fastest player to achieve 100 career sacks.

Throughout his dominant career in Pittsburgh, Watt has been snubbed for two Defensive Player of the Year awards, but no one can take this milestone away from him.

The Steelers will have to wait until after the game to celebrate, however, as Prescott continues to attack the Pittsburgh defense with help from TE Jake Ferguson and WR CeeDee Lamb.

From Steelers fans around the world—congratulations to T.J. Watt on becoming the second-fastest player to reach 100 career sacks, and here’s to many more!

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin gives perfect 3-word description of T.J. Watt’s struggles

T.J. Watt faces waves of blockers and still finds way to make plays.

Prior to the start of Sunday night’s showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys, head coach Mike Tomlin sat down with NBC analyst Tony Dungy to talk a little ball before the start of the game.

As Dungy and Tomlin broke down some film of the last time the Steelers and Cowboys squared off, Dungy asked Tomlin about edge defender T.J. Watt. As he did, they threw up a video of Watt setting up to rush the passer and the Cowboys had three defenders set to block in.

Tomlin offered up the perfect response when he said “Such is life” for Watt.

No pass rusher in the NFL faces more heat than Watt. He is chipped more than any other player in the NFL by nearly double and that doesn’t even include when he’s just double and triple-teamed. Not to mention all the holds Watt deals with that are never called by the officials.

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Officials miss pivotal holding on T.J. Watt in Sunday’s loss

The officials made several questionable calls on Sunday including this non-call that cost the Steelers a touchdown.

You can’t pin the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on a single play. However, you can point to a handful of plays that had they gone the other way, could have had a massive impact on the outcome of the game.

For example, wide receiver George Pickens’ fumble was a massive blow to the offense at a crucial point and had that turned into points, the entire direction of the game might have been different.

Another play was the touchdown pass Colts quarterback Joe Flacco threw to wide receiver Josh Downs late in the first quarter. The Steelers were down seven and the Colts were facing a third and goal.

As you can see from the video below, Indianapolis right tackle Braden Smith hooked Steelers edge T.J. Watt around the waist to keep him from getting to Flacco on the play.

Had that been called, the Colts would have faced third and goal from the 14-yard line and completely changed the dynamic of that drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfl375AM9m0

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T.J. Watt struggles in Week 4: History will have to wait another week

T.J. Watt will have to wait until Week 5 against the Cowboys for a shot at history, after being shutdown by Braden Smith in Week 4.

There is no singular reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers lost their matchup against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4.  All facets of the offense and defense had their struggles, including the great T.J. Watt, who was looking to become the second-fastest player to achieve 100 career sacks.

On 30 passing plays by the Colts, the Steelers managed to sack the quarterback a measly two times.  Watt, unfortunately, wasn’t involved in either of the two.

Braden Smith, who was initially questionable to play in the contest versus Pittsburgh this week, made Watt a complete non-factor in the game, just as he did in 2022.

https://twitter.com/CodyTalksNFL/status/1840495557456072805

However, let’s not get it twisted, Steelers Nation.  T.J. Watt is still one of the greatest defensive players in the NFL today and will look to bounce back to achieve history in Week 5.  The entirety of Pittsburgh will shoulder the loss, and look to rebound against a tough matchup at home against the Dallas Cowboys next week.

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Steelers fans react to disappointing Week 4 loss

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially fell victim to the infamous trap game. Fans react to their team suffering first loss of the season.

Well, in classic Pittsburgh Steelers fashion, the trap game took shape early, and the team suffered its first loss of the season in Week 4. The blame game is an easy game to play after a heartbreaking loss. The truth of the matter is that the defeat falls on everyone’s shoulders. Some die-hard Steelers fanatics may have a different idea on who to blame, such as the defense, Mike Tomlin, Arthur Smith, the offensive line, the referees, Justin Fields, or even George Pickens and his red-zone turnover.

After a game that was absolutely winnable against an injured Colts team that simply had more heart, Steelers fans are understandably upset. However, some are also optimistic as to what the future holds.  Neither side is wrong, and no one can take away from how dominant the Steeler looked in the first three games of the season.  Here are some of the fan reactions to the Steelers’ Week 4 defeat in Indianapolis:

https://twitter.com/Varcolac/status/1840503924773564547

https://twitter.com/CountFuqua/status/1840503970617319645

https://twitter.com/2HighCoverage/status/1840506427519181260

https://twitter.com/Jody_McFly/status/1840505183295668631

https://twitter.com/HofSpillane/status/1840502943767769171

https://twitter.com/jorge_sanchez_/status/1840506887214870629

https://twitter.com/iamjoshdouglas/status/1840506111407042809

https://twitter.com/SucksBurfict/status/1840505692588777931

https://twitter.com/McGuireSteelers/status/1840504184418045953

https://twitter.com/Steelers6dh/status/1840503146847551774

https://twitter.com/Blakee_Walkerr/status/1840507717418377663

https://twitter.com/AdamBSteelers/status/1840507660569051547

https://twitter.com/daminals76/status/1840507046304870685

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