Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt was only credited with 1 sack of Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins on Sunday. He also had 3 quarterback hits, 2 tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery. Watt was consistently wrecking shop in the Falcons’ backfield and likely should have had more stats.
One of the reasons Watt didn’t have more stats was due to an offsides call in the final minute of the first half. Watt beat Falcons RT Kaleb McGary off the snap, sacked Cousins and forced a fumble. Unfortunately, the referee threw a flag for offsides. On the very next play, Cousins found TE Kyle Pitts for a 12-yard touchdown.
Watt was furious, and rightfully so. He even said the official told him after halftime that the call was incorrect. Watt took that anger and let it fuel his part in a dominant second-half performance by the Steelers’ defense.
“He picked up a little nugget, he called it, where he saw when the center picked his head up the ball was snapped right away,” Former Steelers DL Chris Hoke said on KDKA TV’s Steelers Extra Point show. “He tried to time it up. The referee from his angle saw that T.J. Watt came off too quick. That sent a message to the Falcons that he was coming and I think it was better that that happened because it teed him off. He was more fired up and that’s why I think he had more impact on the game because he was saying, ‘You’re not going to hold me back. I’m going to make things happen.’”
And Watt did make things happen. He had a second sack-fumble negated by a penalty in the second half. He also had the game-winning sack on the final play, dropping Cousins for a 9-yard loss and the clock ran out on the Falcons.
CB Donte Jackson also gave Watt a shout-out when talking about his late-game interception. Watt and defensive linemen Cam Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi all collapsed the pocket around Cousins. He then heaved a desperation throw that Jackson jumped for an interception with under three minutes remaining in the game.
Watt may have only been credited with a single sack against Cousins, but he was instrumental in ruining Cousins’ debut with the Falcons. Cousins finished the game completing 16 of his 26 passes for 155 yards, a touchdown, 2 interceptions, and was officially sacked twice. Watt’s performance made former All-Pro CB Richard Sherman post that Watt could be named Defensive Player of the Year by the midpoint of the season if he keeps playing like this.
So much for Falcons head coach Raheem Morris’ vow that the he wouldn’t let Watt wreak havoc on their gameplan.
