While Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris gave Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt some extra motivation last week in saying that he wouldn’t let Watt wreck the game, Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi is giving Watt his flowers. Lombardi compared Watt to former Los Angeles DL and future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald with the impact he makes on games.
“He’s kind of got an Aaron Donald-like effect on the game. There’s great players in this league, but there’s just a couple guys that I can remember that are as disruptive consistently as this guy. So you better know where he is every play,” Lombardi said via the Broncos’ Twitter account.
Watt’s Week 1 opened a lot of eyes, especially since he wasn’t considered among the top three defensive players to open the season. Watt truly makes an impact on every game, and after wrecking the Falcons in Week 1, he’s going to be getting even more attention going forward.
The Broncos have a rookie quarterback to protect in Bo Nix, and it’s not going to make life easy for the first-round pick if Watt is in his face most of the game. He disrupted a veteran, albeit one coming off an injury, in Kirk Cousins in Week 1, and he could do the same for Nix in Week 2 if the Broncos can’t contain Watt.
With an offensive line that could be missing a key piece in Garrett Boles, the entire Pittsburgh pass rush could look to have a good day, especially Alex Highsmith if he’s facing a backup left tackle. But Watt is the top guy in Pittsburgh and across the league, and a failure to slow him down will make for a long day in Denver.
The last time Lombardi faced Pittsburgh, he was the OC of the Los Angeles Chargers, and they came out on top in a 41-37 win over the Steelers. However, Watt missed that game with an injury, which Lombardi said was “good for us.” He’ll get a look at Watt on Sunday, and there’s no doubt he’s already looking for ways to try and slow him down, since it’s near-impossible to completely stop him.
If Watt can build off his strong Week 1, he’ll once again be in the driver’s seat to win Defensive Player of the Year although he got snubbed for the award last season. Even if Denver tries to come up with ways to slow him down, it’s going to be a lot more difficult in a game setting when he’s actually on the other side, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Watt have another big week.
