Even without a helmet on, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt is going to find a way to get to the quarterback.
Watt, who won the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award after tying the NFL’s single-season sacks record with 22.5, just knows how to get to the quarterback. He did that on Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans in a moment that went viral, too.
The star pass rusher beat Titans right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere around the edge and that’s when things Watt showed why he is Watt. Petit-Frere got his hands up on Watt’s facemask, ripping his helmet off in the process, earning a penalty for illegal use of hands to the face.
Even without his helmet, Watt didn’t stop. He tracked down Tennessee rookie quarterback Will Levis for the sack in the red zone, forcing the Titans to settle for a field goal.
For Steelers’ defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, who appeared on Good Morning Football Friday to discuss the 20-16 win over the Titans, the play by Watt without his helmet “just adds to the T.J. lore.”
“You see the chop/rip, you see him going through it and, I remember talking to him afterwards. I was like, ‘no hat, no sack’ and it was no hat, but you get the sack,” Heyward said to the Good Morning Football panel, according to video via the show’s Twitter page. “So it ended up working in our favor.
“He is a monster every time he puts on that helmet.”
Watt certainly is a monster every time he puts that Steelers helmet on. In his seventh NFL season Watt continues to make it clear time and time again that he’s among the best pass rushers in football, if not the best.
Even without a helmet, there was no chance Watt wasn’t going to get to Levis for the sack, especially on third down. He had no regard for his own personal safety, instead focusing on getting the defense off the field. It was quite the display of emotion after the sack, too, adding to the legend that is T.J. Watt.
Against the Titans, Watt generated seven pressures and a sack, grading out at a 75.3 overall from Pro Football Focus. Watt had just a 69.0 grade as a pass rusher, but he played far better than the PFF grade suggests as he changed the game throughout the night, pairing with Alex Highsmith on the other side to simply wreck the Titans’ offensive line.
That sack sans helmet was quite the moment, and it was a big one early in the game, too. It might not be among his best sacks of his career, but it sure will be a memorable one.
