In a 13-year career, former Chicago Bears defensive back Charles Tillman perfected the art of punching the football out of ball carriers’ hands, leading to turnovers.
Those forced fumbles, in which he’d punch at the ball, became known as the “Peanut Punch.”
All these years later, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt is continuing to perfect that part of his game. Sunday’s performance in the Steelers’ 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium was another example of that.
On a day in which the Raiders were chipping him and using extra protection in an effort to keep him from changing the game from a pass-rush perspective, Watt adjusted and changed the game in a major way due to his punches.
The star outside linebacker forced 2 fumbles in the win, leading to recoveries from the Steelers in the process. After the game, Watt credited the work he did dating back to college at Wisconsin with outside linebackers coach Tim Tibesar, who spent a year on the Bears’ coaching staff when Tillman was at the height of his powers.
“I can definitely feel the slides and more chips and things of that nature, but I understand that at a certain point, if they want to truly eliminate you getting to the quarterback with getting the ball out quick, the slides, the chips, like a team can pretty much do that if they want to. So, I’m gonna have to try to find ways to continue to affect the game as much as possible,” Watt said of his mindset and the punch outs, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “And I’ve been doing the punchout since, I mean, Tim Tibesar in college at Wisconsin. He coached Peanut Tillman in Chicago and he used to always tell me that Peanut used to always get a ball out every day in practice. And I carried that with me and it’s been something I’ve continued to try to do, especially when you get in those situations.
“And when you have a defense that flies around like this, you’re able to take more chances. I don’t always get the football, but when you do, it’s a big play.”
It certainly is a big play every time Watt lands that punch and knocks the football free.
Since he came into the league in 2017, Watt has really mastered the art of the punch and knocking the football loose.
Just two days after his birthday on Friday, Watt came up with two huge gifts for the Steelers’ offense by way of the turnovers. The biggest one came on Raiders running back Ameer Abdullah in the third quarter at the goal line.
With Abdullah trying to fight for the touchdown, Watt found a way to land the punch on the football and knock it free, leading to a DeShon Elliott recovery that ultimately turned the game for the Steelers.
Usually, when Watt’s creating a turnover, it ends up in the Steelers’ favor.
Credit to Watt for doing whatever is needed for the Steelers’ defense, even on a day in which the Raiders very clearly tried to negate him as a pass rusher. The punch outs show just how deep and lethal Watt’s arsenal is as one of the best defenders in football.
