When the Pittsburgh Steelers take the field on Sunday, they will have the last two NFL Defensive Player of the Year award winners on the field with OLB T.J. Watt suiting up for the Black and Gold and DE Nick Bosa back in time for San Francisco after ending his holdout.
Bosa won the award last season after a spectacular 2022 campaign in which he racked up 18.5 sacks. Watt wasn’t in the running to defend the award as he missed seven games last season with a torn pec, causing him to miss seven games. Bosa may be the most recent recipient of the honor, but that isn’t stopping former NFL executive Marc Ross from thinking that Watt will best Bosa when the Steelers and 49ers square off in Week One. Ross took part in an NFL Week One bold predictions for NFL.com, predicting Watt to get off to a fast start in his pursuit for a second DPOY award.
“All the attention will be on Nick Bosa after he signed a deal that made him the highest-paid defensive player in league history,” said Ross, who is now an analyst for NFL.com. “However, the best edge rusher in Sunday’s 49ers-Steelers contest will be Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt. He leads the home team to a dominant performance with a pair of sacks and a forced fumble.”
Given that Bosa has missed all of training camp and preseason action, it’s fair to question how much he plays on Sunday and how effective he will be. Watt, on the other hand, appears fully healthy and has been known for making fast starts in the past to kick off the season, having posted six total tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, an interception, and two pass deflections last season against Cincinnati in the regular-season opener before going down with his pec injury late in the game. He did the same the year before against Buffalo, posting three total tackles, two sacks, five quarterbacks, hits and a forced fumble on one of the sacks.
Sunday’s contest will present a clash of the titans as San Francisco boasted the top defense last season with Bosa leading the way. However, Pittsburgh looks to be on its way back to having one of the better defensive units in football this season, with Watt healthy and ready to terrorize opposing quarterbacks once again. Two sacks and a forced fumble may be a bold prediction for many other pass rushers in the league, but for Watt, that could be viewed as another day at the office.
And a benchmark he can realistically attain Sunday.
