While the Pittsburgh Steelers got humiliated at home in their regular-season opener against the visiting San Francisco 49ers, one player managed to stick out in a positive away in the 30-7 blowout.
OLB T.J. Watt managed to tie Pittsburgh’s franchise sack record Sunday, sacking 49ers QB Brock Purdy three times, forcing two fumbles. Watt now has 80.5 sacks for his career, tying former Steelers OLB James Harrison for the team’s lead all-time.
The accomplishment is quite impressive. Watt has only been in the league since 2017 and well on his way to putting a firm grasp on that record as he continues his fast track as a future Hall of Famer. Still, when asked about tying the record Sunday, Watt downplayed the accomplishment, focusing on the magnitude of the loss and the plays he didn’t make that could have helped make a difference.
“I mean, I don’t wanna diminish what it is, but I’m just super, super upset about the results of today,” Watt told the media via video from Steelers.com. “Not happy with it, not acceptable on many levels and there’s so many more plays to be made out there. I mean, myself included. Just looking at a lot of the runs, what we can do better, what I can do better, and we need to improve quickly, and we have a tough opponent coming up this week, so we need to get in the lab.”
It’s a harsh reality, but there’s no time for a quick pat on the back when you are a leader on a team that just got smacked. Watt holds himself to a high standard, expecting greatness on every play. Even after posting five total tackles, three sacks, a tackle for loss, and two forced fumbles, he’s still focused on the plays he could have done better to prevent San Francisco from having a huge day on offense. San Francisco ran for 188 yards on the ground with RB Christian McCaffrey having his way with Pittsburgh’s defense, ripping off a 65-yard touchdown run to start the second half.
Watt should be able to appreciate the fruits of his labor to an extent. After all, he managed to hit that milestone in just his seventh season with the team, having the most sacks of anyone in the league since he was drafted in 2017. Still, that splash play from Watt needs to turn into better results by the defense as the Steelers need to get off the field and keep games close as their offense again looks to work through some kinks. Watt and the Steelers will have to rebound quickly as the will face their division rival Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals to get off to a fast start in the AFC North.
