A Steelers Depot daily segment. A quick hit of some Pittsburgh Steelers-related stories that may not require a complete article but nuggets worth mentioning and passing on to you guys.
Your Depot After Dark for Jan 23.
Record Ratings
The NFL remains king of the hill. Despite pushback for putting a Wild Card game exclusively on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, the league is registering record viewership during the playoffs. This past weekend’s Divisional Round game between the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers posted bonkers numbers, with an average of 40.4 million viewers across all NBC and NFL platforms. That is the most-watched Divisional Game in 30 years.
Detroit came out on top, advancing to the NFC Championship Game, and is now just one win away from the Super Bowl. The Lions will travel to San Francisco and take on the 49ers on Sunday afternoon.
Cope’s Birthday
Make sure you wave your Terrible Towel today. Today is the late, great Myron Cope’s birthday. Born on this day in 1929, four years before the Steelers franchise even existed, Cope became a beloved broadcaster and inventor of the Terrible Towel, an iconic piece of Steelers history.
Cope died in February 2008 at the age of 79.
Watt Passes Porter
With the Steelers’ season over, it’s worth taking a peek at some big-picture items. I like using Pro Football Reference’s “Hall of Fame Monitor” as a reference guide to try and quantify Canton credentials. After a 19-sack season that saw him make the Pro Bowl and All-Pro squads, T.J. Watt is moving up the charts.
Per the site’s updated list, Watt has a HOF score of 69.1. That officially surpasses Joey Porter Sr.’s career mark of 65.58 (Porter made his mark in Pittsburgh and Miami).
Watt’s score puts him ahead of four Hall of Famers at outside linebacker (this list does mix between EDGE rushers and 4-3 OLBs) and in striking distance of three more. If Watt can reach around 100, he should be a lock for the Hall statistically, though his resume already speaks for someone who could retire today and be Canton-bound.
