A weekly series I’ll do that captures the forgotten and hidden plays that helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win—or lose. Not the touchdowns, turnovers, or plays that will make the Monday morning highlights—the little ones that, looking back, played a key role in the outcome. I’ll start off with a hidden moment that helped Pittsburgh beat the New York Giants Monday night.
T.J. Watt’s Shoestring Tackle Sets Up The Game’s Biggest Play
T.J. Watt’s strip-sack fumble of QB Daniel Jones was a classic Watt moment. Making the game’s biggest play in its biggest moment. It’s what separates and defines Watt. Not just stuffing the stat sheet, which he most certainly does, but making the plays when they count the most.
Getting the ball right back after Russell Wilson coughed it up was huge. But it doesn’t happen if not for the play before. On second down, Cam Heyward’s power rush collapsed the pocket and flushed Jones right. Here, it wasn’t Watt beating RT Jermaine Eluemunor but retracing his steps and tracking down Jones as he attempted to take off. A shoestring tackle that didn’t go down for a sack but kept New York in third and long.
If Watt doesn’t make this stop, there’s room to run. Probably not for a touchdown but CB Beanie Bishop Jr. is the only player in the immediate area downfield. With a potential blocker coming to Jones’ aid and the toughness he’s shown as a runner, this might end in a first down or at the least, a short third down.
In that world, the Giants don’t need to call a longer-developing pass play on third down. And Watt doesn’t take advantage of their failing to shift TE Theo Johnson over, beating Eluemunor one-on-one, and ending up with the football. Perhaps the Giants move the sticks, find the end zone, and tie Pittsburgh. From there, who knows what happens.
Instead, the Steelers got the win and Watt, though I’m sure it’s of little concern to him, AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
Since being drafted, Watt is now second in the league with 27.5 fourth quarter sacks, passing Myles Garrett with that play, and only trailing Aaron Donald’s 31.5. You have to earn the right to rush in those obvious pass situations. Largely by stopping the run, something Pittsburgh didn’t do a good-enough job of against New York.
But this second-down play became a run, a scrambler like Jones capable of making plays with his feet, and Watt shut it down. His effort was rewarded with the game’s most memorable play, Watt’s latest in a long line of game-wrecking moments.
