Though the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t have the day they wanted in their season opener, T.J. Watt played like his usual dominant self. A three-sack, two-forced fumble performance led him to be Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded pass rusher of the week, beating out strong competition.
According to the site, Watt’s 94.9 grade edged out Indianapolis Colts DL DeForest Buckner’s mark. Also trailing were Dallas Cowboys EDGE/LB Micah Parsons and Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett, all of whom scored in the 90s but not as high as Watt.
As expected, Watt teed off on San Francisco 49ers right tackle Colton McKivitz, replacing the departed Mike McGlinchey, who signed a contract with the Denver Broncos. Despite chips from George Kittle and a steady run game, Watt still found ways to get after QB Brock Purdy.
Overall, Watt carried the third-highest PFF grade of any Week One defender, only trailing the Colts’ E.J. Speed (who played limited snaps) and Falcons’ FS Jesse Bates, who picked off a pair of passes in last Sunday’s opener.
As we’ve written, no player has more Week One sacks than Watt’s 11 since he entered the league in 2017. This was Watt’s sixth career game with three or more sacks, tying James Harrison for the team’s top mark. He also tied Harrison for the most sacks in Steelers’ franchise history, 80.5, and should soon break the record. That could come Monday night when he faces Cleveland Browns’ rookie right tackle Dawand Jones, replacing veteran Jack Conklin, who out for the rest of the year due to an ACL and MCL tear.
Though Watt played well, the rest of the Steelers’ defense must step up, especially with the team losing DL Cam Heyward for the next two months. Overall, Pittsburgh’s EDGE rushers performed well with Markus Golden stellar against the run and rookie Nick Herbig getting his feet wet Sunday. Still, the run defense wasn’t good overall, the 49ers averaging 5.5 yards per carry and rushing for nearly 200 yards.
Things don’t get easier in Week Two when Pittsburgh faces RB Nick Chubb, who went over 100 yards in an easy defeat of the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday. For his career, Chubb has rushed for 653 yards and 4.6 yards per carry against the Steelers. In their two meetings last year, Chubb rushed for 113 yards and a score in Week 3 before ending the season with 77 yards and a gaudy 6.4 yards per carry average.
