The Pittsburgh Steelers could be mistaken for the 1980 Cleveland Browns, who were nicknamed “The Cardiac Kids” due to winning several games late in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh has done the same this season. All six of the Steelers’ wins have been by one possession with several of those wins coming on a fourth-quarter comeback by QB Kenny Pickett and the offense or the defense stepping up in the clutch with big takeaways or keeping opponents out of the end zone.
That’s exactly what happened against the Green Bay Packers in this game. The defense faced the Packers’ offense with one play left at Pittsburgh’s own 16-yard line after Green Bay drove the length of the field, needing a touchdown to win the game. The defense managed to stop Green Bay thanks to S Damontae Kazee picking off QB Jordan Love for the game-sealing interception, giving the Steelers yet another one-score victory.
Watt was asked by the media if he the Steelers feel like they can keep their composure in close games due to the fact that they have played in so many this season and know what it’s like to come up big with the game on the line.
“Yeah,” Watt answered the media on video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “I mean, as a defense, we always want to be out there when the game’s on the line. Obviously we don’t love close games, but if we have to, we want to be able to dictate what happens in the end of the game. And, I mean we’ve had so much built in adversity through the whole process. Coach T’s all about it, so it’s just a matter of not blinking in those moments.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin has made the Tomlinsim “cut your eyelids off” multiple times, telling his team to not blink in the face of adversity but rather step up and perform in the waiting moments of games. The defense managed to accomplish that in this contest after starting the game giving up two touchdowns in Green Bay’s first three possessions. This team has had a knack for coming up in the clutch throughout this season, whether it be CB Joey Porter Jr.’s intercerception against the Baltimore Ravens to give Pittsburgh’s offense the ball back, resulting in a touchdown pass from Pickett to WR George Pickens to take the lead. Or in Week Two against the Cleveland Browns when OLB Alex Highsmith got a strip sack, which Watt recovered and ran into the end zone for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, pushing Pittsburgh to victory.
As a defense, you don’t want to play in close games every single week. You’d prefer to win with a comfortable two-touchdown lead, knowing that the offense has done enough to take some of the pressure off you. However, Watt says that the defense thrives off pressure in Pittsburgh as that is what Tomlin has prepared his players to do, being the reason that Pittsburgh wins close games. They continue to sustain the unsustainable, being outgained in total yardage for the ninth-straight game this season but move to 6-3 on the year. Credit that to this defense and Pittsburgh as a whole coming up in the clutch in the waning moments of games, overcoming adversity created by injuries and broken plays to make the necessary plays when they count.
