It was a tight battle in the fourth quarter of the final Monday Night Football game of the 2021 NFL season. Not on the scoreboard. On the stat sheet.
That’s where, with two minutes left in Ben Roethlisberger’s likely Heinz Field finale, the box score gave us this neck-and-neck race.
Baker Mayfield
- completed passes: 10
- sacks taken: 9
The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t pull off the rally, despite the 26-14 victory that kept their playoff hopes alive. Mayfield completed some garbage time passes — a few to his guys, one to Pittsburgh — and eventually secured the “had more completions than sacks” crown. It wasn’t for a lack of trying from TJ Watt.
Watt made sure Roethlisberger left the North Shore a winner in his hometown finale. He sacked Mayfield four times and recorded five more quarterback hits to thoroughly ruin the Browns’ night. That gives the Steeler edge rusher a league-best 21.5 sacks in 14 games this season — only one other player, Robert Quinn, has more than 15 in 2021. He also leads the league in quarterback hits (36) and tackles for loss (20, tied with Micah Parsons).
This has made him a clear frontrunner to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year. His betting odds to win the honor, per Tipico Sportsbook, slingshotted from +175 to -450 after demolishing Cleveland and salting the earth behind him.
Watt’s nightmare-inducing performance has him set to break Aaron Donald’s iron grip on the award. The Los Angeles Rams’ defensive tackle has won DPOY in three of the last four years, beating out Watt by only seven votes last winter. 2022 looks very much like the former Wisconsin’s star’s year to join his brother JJ among the league’s immortal list of pass-rushing, run-stuffing, drive-erasing royalty.
He doesn’t have his votes cinched up just yet. Let’s take a look at who could siphon Watt’s votes for an award he’s probably gonna win anyway. All odds via Tipico.