T.J. Watt is coming off a big Week One, recording three sacks in the opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Facing a rookie right tackle in Cleveland Browns RT Dawand Jones, there’s a chance for it to happen again. But three sacks in one game is hard enough. Doing it back-to-back is even rarer.
To put that in perspective, since 2010, only five players have had back-to-back games with three sacks. The last came in 2019 with Shaquil Barrett having a three-sack game in Week Two followed by a four-sack game in Week Three. Here’s the list of the five who have done it over the last 13 years.
1. Shaquil Barrett – 2019
2. Ziggy Ansah – 2017
3. Greg Hardy – 2013
4. Jason Babin – 2011
5. Clay Matthews – 2010
To take it a couple steps further, no player in official recorded history has done it three games in a row. And the number of players with three sacks and at least one forced fumble in back-to-back games — Watt had two last week — is a list of one. Patrick Kearney did it in 2007. And while hyper specific, only one of those names, Matthews, did it over the first two weeks of the season.
Of course, a productive Watt game doesn’t guarantee success. He dominated Sunday while the Steelers were themselves dominated defensively, allowing 30 points to the 49ers and getting chewed up on the ground and through the air. But you’d rather have a productive Watt than one who isn’t, and his services will be needed all the more while the Steelers are without Cam Heyward, one of their pillars up front.
One flaw of the Steelers’ defense, and it’s probably worth writing in a separate article, is how reliant they are on stars to play well and be used how they must be used. Any defense that loses a top player takes a big hit, that much is obvious, but Pittsburgh’s defense was a shell of itself without Watt last season. Their prospects without Heyward don’t look great while Minkah Fitzpatrick being used as a box/slot guy has not produced quality overall results.
Watt has said it himself. He’s not focused on the individual. But it obviously helps the team. And if the Steelers game goes sideways Monday, the only solace might be watching a special season from Watt. One that could break the NFL single-sack record. And make more history along the way.
