Now retired, the only football J.J. Watt will be partaking in is watching games, particularly ones featuring brother T.J. on Sundays. He got to enjoy one heck of a show in Sunday’s opener. While the Pittsburgh Steelers as a whole struggled, Watt was a lone bright spot, finishing the game with three sacks and two forced fumbles. The performance tied him with James Harrison for the most sacks in Steeler’s history, 80.5, a record Watt could break Monday night against the Cleveland Browns.
As our Dave Bryan noted, T.J. also surpassed his big brother for most sacks through their first 88 NFL games.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday, J.J. believes T.J. is just getting started.
“I’m extremely happy for him,” J.J. said when asked about T.J. breaking his marks. “We give him plenty of shit as a brother, as a friend…passing my records and anytime you’re mentioned alongside Reggie White, I’m elated for him. He’s going to start passing my records at a much greater clip now because he’s entering the point of his career where I had all my injuries start to stack up. He’s going to blow by them.”
And a nice little shoutout to Steelers Depot and Dave Bryan from the Pat McAfee show.
Coming off a 2022 season marred by injuries, most notably a partially torn pectoral, Watt’s 5.5-sack season caused him to get lost behind names like Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons. It dropped him down offseason ranking lists, including the NFL’s Top 100, something J.J. struggled to understand.
“I watched this offseason as rankings come out. Who is the best defensive player in the NFL and he’s getting listed fourth, fifth in the NFL,” J.J. said. “I’m like, ‘Are you guys nuts? Are you guys literally nuts?’ And then he goes out there and reminds everyone real quickly why he’s the best defensive player in the world.”
Watt schooled 49ers right tackle Colton McKivitz throughout the game last Sunday, ripping and bending the edge on his way to the quarterback. In an otherwise ugly 30-7 loss, Watt played his normal excellent game. A fast starter, his 11 sacks in Week Ones are the NFL’s most since he entered the league in 2017.
He has a chance to fill up the stat sheet even more Monday night when he takes on rookie offensive tackle Dawand Jones, who will be making his first NFL start for the injured Jack Conklin. Jones has played well in limited action but will face an awfully difficult matchup. Another three-sack day is possible. The last time Watt faced a rookie Browns right tackle, he picked up four sacks on Baker Mayfield in a Steelers win.
“He’s going to have an incredible year,” Watt concluded.
If Watt can have another multi-sack day, he’ll be off to a hot start in pursuit of the NFL official sack record. He’s currently tied with Michael Strahan for the most with 22.5. If Watt can get to say five sacks through two weeks, he’ll have a chance to stand alone by year’s end.
