All Pittsburgh Steelers star outside linebacker T.J. Watt does is make NFL history at this point.
Against the Baltimore Ravens Saturday in the Week 18 finale, Watt recorded two sacks of quarterback Tyler Huntley before exiting the game with a knee injury in the third quarter. Watt was ruled out quickly with the knee injury. The two sacks of Huntley give Watt 19.0 on the season.
By hitting the 19-sack mark, he becomes just the fourth player in NFL history since sacks became an official stat in 1982, to have two seasons of 19 or more sacks, joining his brother, J.J., in that category, as well as former Dallas and Denver defensive end DeMarcus Ware and New York Jets defensive lineman Mark Gastineau, according to Stathead.
Former Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers and Washington defensive lineman Deacon Jones had four seasons with at least 19 sacks in 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968. Again, sacks were not made an official statistic until 1982.
Watt previously recorded his first 19-plus sack season in the 2021 season, recording 22.5 sacks in his Defensive Player of the Year award season, tying Hall of Famer Michael Strahan for most sacks in a single season.
Watt finished the season strong with the two sacks, making a push for his second Defensive Player of the Year award. He finds himself in a battle with Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Dallas Cowboys’ linebacker Micah Parsons for the award, which he won in 2021.
The Steelers star isn’t just a sack artist. He’s a great run defender, drops into coverage and can do it all in the Steelers’ defense. He has one defensive touchdown on the season on a fumble return for touchdown against Cleveland in Week Two and also had an interception in Week Seven on the road against the Los Angeles Rams.
Saturday’s two-sack performance was the 22nd multi-sack game for Watt in his career, which is the most in the NFL since he came into the league in 2017.
