T.J. Watt isn’t on the ridiculous sack pace that we are used to seeing from him for a variety of reasons. Near the top of that list is the amount of chips and double teams that he is faces. We have heard it from nearly every opposing coach all season. They are very focused on making sure Watt doesn’t wreck the game.
Watt has historically had a lot of success against the Cleveland Browns. He has only failed to register a sack two times in 13 games, and he has four multi-sack performances against them. In those 13 games, Watt has 17 sacks.
This week could be an opportunity for Watt to make up some lost ground in the race for the sack crown given the Browns’ banged-up offensive line and a backup quarterback who likes to hold onto the ball.
Mike Tomlin explained why an injury to LT Dawand Jones could result in more opportunities for Watt on the other side.
“Their left tackle went down with a major injury this past week, and so they’re gonna have a new left tackle. [Jack] Conklin is a veteran. He’s highly compensated,” Tomlin said via The Mike Tomlin Show with Bob Pompeani on the Steelers website. “When you got a veteran guy, a guy that’s highly compensated working with a backup, most of the time, even if a guy the likes of T.J. Watt is opposite of Conklin, that backup or that inexperienced guy is usually gonna get the schematic help in one-dimensional moments. And so they got an issue to deal with there.
“I would imagine that they’re gonna help that backup.”
The last time Pro Football Focus published chip-percentage data for the full league, Watt was getting chipped way more than the next highest edge rusher on the list. He was being chipped on 35.9 percent of his pass-rush snaps compared to Myles Garrett’s 25.13.
He will still be chipped, and the Browns will still help Conklin as much as possible, but their ability to focus solely on Watt will be limited by their need to start Germain Ifedi at left tackle.
Ifedi is also a veteran with 83 career starts, originally starting out as a tackle for Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. He did not live up to his first-round selection and hasn’t been a starter since 2020 with teams experimenting with his capabilities at guard more recently. For the 2024 season, PFF has given him a 54.8 overall grade and a 48.0 pass-blocking grade.
Nick Herbig has been one of the most efficient pass rushers on a per-snap basis this season, so the Browns can’t just leave Ifedi by himself in that matchup. That could mean big things for Watt if left on an island against Conklin. The Browns are going to have to pick their poison.
Jameis Winston’s tendency to hang onto the football won’t help their cause, either. He has taken 12 sacks in the 3.5 games that he has played for the Browns this season.
Watt is at 7.5 sacks with 10 games played. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a multi-sack performance that could propel him into the top two or three with Trey Hendrickson currently leading the league with 11.5 sacks in 11 games played.
