Jason Mackey: T.J. Watt's island an impressive place, one that should get a new decoration soon
Jason Mackey / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Five Giants failed to block Alex Highsmith on a two-point conversation try in the fourth quarter. Yet it somehow wasn’t the most foolish thing we saw before, during or after the Steelers’ 26-18 victory on Monday at Acrisure Stadium.
No, that award went to Giants tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, who may have been illuminating but was also highly illogical with his stated desire to be “on an island” with T.J.Watt.
Yeah, that went about as well as anyone could’ve expected.
Watt finished with seven tackles (five solo), two sacks and made one of the biggest plays of the game: a strip-sack of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones around the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter to get the Steelers the ball back after Russell Wilson’s fumble.
Perhaps Eluemunor learned it’s smart to let sleeping Watts lie.
“I respect each and every player in the National Football League,” Watt said. “They work hard. I work hard. I’m just trying to make plays when they’re presented to me. I haven’t had a lot of 1-on-1s this year, but when I do, I try to make the most of them.”
Now, to be fair, I’m not sure anyone in New York asked Eluemunor for clarification. Perhaps he was referencing a Caribbean vacation or “Survivor” episode. But as the quote read, it felt like he was challenging Watt, which is never smart.
“I’m plenty motivated,” Watt said. “I don’t need extra stuff.”
Eluemunor-Watt was a fun storyline, a one-game dusting that unfortunately consumed an interesting player (Eluemunor’s from London, moved here when he was 14 and went from reserve to regular two years ago at age 28).
But the power of Watt has evolved into a much larger discussion, one that involves a lingering insult from last season when he wasn’t named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
No way that can happen again, right?
Despite constant double teams, Watt is up to 6.5 sacks on the year. Among players with at least five of those, Watt is also second in solo tackles (24) and tied for the top spot in total tackles (33).
His number of tackles for a loss (10) ranks second among all NFL defenders, while Watt’s four forced fumbles are twice as many as anyone else.
“I’m not surprised by it, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not appreciated,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of Watt’s season and ability to produce in clutch moments. “I’ve just come to expect it because he’s got a unique talent, a unique approach.
“Usually that produces unique results with a really consistent tone to it and usually at the most timely moments.”
It’s impressive, to be sure.
And should this level of dominance from Watt continue, it’s hard to fathom how it doesn’t result in Watt’s third … sorry, second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
After all, look at the competition:
• Dexter Lawrence II (nine sacks, seven TFLs) of the Giants and Will McDonald IV (eight sacks, seven TFLs) of the Jets could theoretically have cases, I suppose. But they’re on very bad teams. Watt will also likely have better numbers by the end of this thing.
• Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (7.5 sacks) is out for the year with a broken tibia and fibula, which means that Watt's 93.7 PFF Pro Football Focus grade ranks No. 1 among all defenders.
• Will Anderson Jr. of the Texans has a decent case with 7.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, but his pass-rush grade (67.6) makes me think that first number probably won’t get much bigger.
• Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby are great players with legitimate track records. But they also haven’t produced more than Watt. They’re also on bad teams.
Nick Bosa, Khalil Mack … obviously excellent players, but I can’t come up with anyone I’d put ahead of Watt.
For those of us who’ve watched the Steelers every week, it honestly shouldn’t be much of a discussion. But I’m trying to consider the conversation on a larger scale, the same way a voter outside of Pittsburgh would.
But the numbers — and not just this year — are just positively incredible:
• Watt has averaged 0.92 sacks per game since entering the NFL in 2017. That’s the best in league history among guys with at least 100 starts.
• His 31 forced fumbles lead all active players. His 22 strip sacks are No. 2.
• Watt has 57 sacks in the second half or overtime since ’17, also most in the NFL.
• He leads the NFL in sacks (103), quarterback hits (212), forced fumbles (31) and fumble recoveries (tied with 12) since 2017, and he’s second in tackles for loss (117).
From a guy with one defensive player of the year award, I might remind.
“He’s the best in the world,” Alex Highsmith said. “It’s an honor every single week to go to war with him and the rest of this team.”
In addition to watching Watt and Highsmith torture a woeful Giants offensive line, the interplay between the two piqued my interest.
They flipped sides a few times to try and create better matchups, something I could easily see them doing after the bye week, when six of their final nine regular season games come against AFC North foes.
“We have to work on our rushes from the other side,” Highsmith said. “It was effective because it threw them off a little bit. It’s something we’ve just got to keep working on.”
That should keep Watt plenty busy on his own little NFL island.
Unless, of course, another NFL tackle foolishly thinks it’s smart to try and join him.
Jason Mackey: [email protected] and @JMackeyPG on X.