The story of Week 1 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, besides Chris Boswell being automatic, was how amazing their defense looked. No one ever really looked out of place, and although it was only one game, it seemed like a good sign for the rest of the year. T.J. Watt, in particular, looked unstoppable. The only thing that stopped him was the officials. Analyst Peter King believes that if Watt and the Steelers can continue to play like that, they’ll be able to become contenders.
King, who used to be one of the premiere sportswriters in the NFL world until his retirement earlier this year, raved about the Watt and the Steelers on the SiriusXM show Let’s Go.
“I thought T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers played exactly how they’re going to have to play to turn into any kind of contender this year,” King said. “Watt was absolutely Defensive Player of the Year material throughout their win at Atlanta.
“You know what’s so interesting about T.J. Watt? The simple fact that everybody on the Atlanta offense knew all day that he was coming. They couldn’t do anything about him.”
Officially, Watt ended the day with two tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, and one sack, but he was constantly disruptive. Two strip sacks were taken away by penalties, one of which was a bad call. If a play needed to be made, Watt made it.
King isn’t the only one who thinks Watt is taking the lead for DPOY with his monster performance. Last year, Watt led the league in sacks and was arguably snubbed for the award. This year, it seems that’s made the chip on his shoulder even bigger. His performance in Week 1 was undeniable, and we’ll see if anyone with more pass-rush wins beats him out for DPOY this year.
It’s also interesting that King says the Steelers could become a contender if they continue to play like they did against Atlanta. Many analysts have criticized the Steelers’ play, believing it won’t consistently win them games. However, it’s exactly the identity they want to have.
They want to be a tough, physical team. They want to dominate the line of scrimmage and control the clock while creating turnovers and protecting the ball. They didn’t build their team to be flashy. They built it to enforce their will on opponents. Against the Falcons, they did exactly that.
There are still things they need to clean up, like not being able to score a touchdown, but for the most part, Week 1 was the style of game they wanted to be in. As King says, if they continue to have that type of performance, and Watt continues to wreck games, they should have a chance against anybody.
