Come Sunday afternoon, Maxx Crosby is all business. Until then, he can shout out the Pittsburgh Steelers for a job well done. Specifically, he gave T.J. Watt his flowers for his strong performance against the Dallas Cowboys, giving him his 100th-career sack.
“I look at my competition,” Crosby said on his ‘The Rush’ podcast Tuesday. “When I look at somebody else I can truly say is cut from this cloth. Somebody I feel like wrecks games. Not just rushes well, not just plays the run well, overall, fucks up games. I look at this dude like, ‘Me and him are going back and forth.’ So I gotta give a shoutout to T.J. Watt. This dude had eight tackles, sack-and-a-half, forced fumble.”
Watt was a big reason why Pittsburgh’s defense kept the score down early. He and Nick Herbig sacked QB Dak Prescott while the Cowboys were deep in Steelers’ territory. Watt forced the ball out, Herbig recovered, and Pittsburgh got a big red-zone takeaway.
Watt would later pick up a full sack to give him 1.5 for the night. He now has 101 career sacks and became the second-fastest player in official NFL history to reach the century mark, achieving it in his 109th game. Only Reggie White did it faster, getting to 100 in 96 games.
Crosby said that moment deserved special praise.
“We’re playing against him, we don’t want to give him too much fuckin’ love. We love you, T.J. You’re my guy. It was his 100th-career sack. The 100-sack club is no joke. It is a rare group, a lot of legends in there. And he’s done it in a very short time…doesn’t get talked about enough. Dude is a baller. Big shoutout to T.J. Respect the hell out of you and I’ll see you on Sunday.”
Since sacks were officially counted in 1982, Watt is the 44th member of the 100-sack club. And he’s already passed up some of the card-carrying members, now 39th in history in career sacks. He’s 99 away from record holder Bruce Smith’s 200, a feat that seems steep but achievable for someone as talented and hard-working as Watt. Perhaps health will be his biggest obstacle in getting there, Watt already dealing with injuries in recent years that may continue into his 30s.
In fact, Watt already has more sacks than Smith did through their first eight years even though Watt’s only five games into his eighth season. Smith, who missed nearly an entire season due to injury, sat at 92. His longevity and consistency were key, finishing his first six seasons in his 30s with double-digit takedowns.
Through a player’s first eight seasons, Watt is fourth in NFL history trailing only White (124), DeMarcus Ware (111), and Jared Allen (105). Odds are high he’ll pass Allen by year’s end, and he could match or creep past Ware, too. There’s no ceiling on what kind of career Watt will wind up with, and he’s locked into Canton being his final destination.
Crosby is hoping to say the same. Back in the lineup after missing time with an ankle injury, Crosby has 57 sacks through six seasons. He’ll need some of those 20-sack campaigns Watt’s enjoyed to make up Watt’s pace but he’s on track to reach 100 sacks at some point in his career. For now, the focus will be on each man being the better pass rusher this weekend.
