Throughout the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers inside Allegiant Stadium, one player consistently stood out above the rest.
That would be one Trent Jordan Watt, wearing No. 90 in white for the Steelers.
Watt was once again dominant, generating six pressures, two sacks and three quarterback hits. The Raiders and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor had no answer for Watt as he had a pass-rush pressure rate of 20.7% on 29 pass-rush reps.
For former NFL offensive lineman and Good Morning Football co-host Shaun O’Hara on NFL Network Monday morning, he was “mesmerized” by Watt, who single-handedly wrecked Las Vegas’ offensive attack in the 23-18 win.
“I was mesmerized by T.J. Watt in this game. Alright look, I know I’m a former offensive lineman so I gravitate towards the line of scrimmage, but it’s not the sacks … it’s the amount of times I saw Jimmy Garoppolo do this [avoid contact],” O’Hara said of Watt and the Steelers’ pass rush, according to video via NFL.com. “That little impact right there, as a quarterback you’re aware of it all the time. You see the sacks and the way he disrupted the game, but it’s not even the sacks or the hits. It’s just his presence. Every single time the quarterback would drop back it was like here comes this big paw coming in to swipe.
“It’s unbelievable to watch him, his explosiveness, how fast he is and his craft. I couldn’t help but just lock in on him.”
O’Hara isn’t alone in feeling that way. That’s the general consensus across the NFL landscape at this point with Watt.
One week after setting the Steelers’ new all-time sacks record, surpassing James Harrison, Watt built on the mark Sunday night, sacking Garoppolo twice. Two of his pressures led to interceptions by cornerback Levi Wallace, too, as the pass rush and coverage went hand in hand on a few reps.
Entering the matchup against the Raiders, it was a favorable one for Watt as Eluemunor was the worst-graded offensive lineman for the Raiders from a pass blocking standpoint. Though there was talk all last week of the Raiders having not allowed a sack all season, Watt and the Steelers quickly changed that.
Along with Watt’s two sacks, rookie defensive tackle Keeanu Benton had a sack in the win, while veteran outside linebacker Markus Golden added one as well, giving him a sack in back-to-back weeks.
While the debate rages on regarding Watt, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, San Francisco’s Nick Bosa and Dallas’ Micah Parsons when it comes to NFL pass rushers, there is no denying Watt’s overall impact on the game.
According to ESPN’s Stats and Info, Watt became the first defensive player in NFL history to have 6.0 sacks and have a defensive touchdown in a team’s first three games of a season since individual sacks were first tracked in 1982.
Not only that, former NFL defensive tackle Gerald McCoy called him the best defensive player in football earlier in the week, matching comments made by ESPN’s Bart Scott prior to the start of the season. Older brother J.J. Watt doubled down on comments, calling Watt the best defensive player in football, too.
It’s hard to argue with those opinions at this point. Through three games, Watt is on pace for 51 sacks. Of course, he’s not going to have 51 sacks, but that shows just how dominant he’s been through the season’s first three weeks. He’s going to threaten the NFL’s single-season sacks record, too, for the second time in three seasons.
Mesmerizing for sure.
