Let’s play Match Game. T.J. Watt’s performance was so quiet – how quiet was it – he failed to record a single pressure in Thursday night’s loss to the Cleveland Browns. For an elite player like Watt, that simply doesn’t happen. Holding him without a sack is a win for the opposing offense. Zero pressures? Teams don’t even plan or expect that. They just care that he doesn’t ruin the game. Everything else is gravy. For Cleveland, they were eating good in this one.
Per our weekly charting, RT Jack Conklin (and company) shut Watt off the pressure sheet on his 29 rush attempts. In transparency, there was one debatable rep where you could argue Watt got a pressure, getting past a tight end chip and rushing inside that forced Jameis Winston to step up, but Watt was never in position for the sack (partially because Conklin appeared to hold him but that doesn’t factor into our pressure charting).
I wanted to put that in perspective. How often does that happen? Going back through our weekly charting since Watt was drafted (I’ve personally charted the Steelers’ defense since about 2014) in 2017. Excluding games he missed due to injury and even including the ones in which he was hurt mid-game, here are the times Watt’s been held pressure-less.
T.J. Watt Pressure-Less Games (NFL Career)
1. 2017 – Week 4 (Ravens)
2. 2017 – Week 10 (Colts)
3. 2017 – Week 11 (Titans)
4. 2018 – Week 12 (Broncos)
5. 2022 – Week 13 (Falcons)
6. 2024 – Week 12 (Browns)
Thursday’s loss marked just the sixth such instance and only the second since 2019. Half his goose eggs came in his rookie year before he was *the* T.J. Watt, a rookie playing ROLB and working his way into the NFL.
Since Watt truly became recognized as one of the NFL’s best, even with all the attention that comes with, he’s recorded a pressure in nearly only game. In that 2022 game against Atlanta, Watt only logged 47 snaps as Pittsburgh dominated time of possession. Despite the loss, the Falcons didn’t throw a ton, QB Marcus Mariota attempting only 24 passes and taking just one sack.
Against Cleveland, Winston attempted 27 passes as the Browns dropped back 31 total times (Winston’s pair of two-point conversions don’t officially count in box scores but they do in our charting).
Watt was doubled and chipped throughout the game, but hat’s not different than really any other team. Watt didn’t capitalize on the one-on-one chances he did get. And going back through the tape, he got quite a bit. He was chipped and doubled a lot less than Myles Garrett. Watt had a 1v1 matchup against Conklin on 13 of his 29 pass rush reps, 44.8-percent. A handful of the other 16 weren’t chips but play-action or other concepts that didn’t have a true pass rush/pass set.
Below is a compilation of those 13 reps. You could only argue Watt won one of them, the final one, and even that isn’t convincing.
Other facts can play a role. How much you blitz, how many two-way go’s a pass rusher has but overall, that isn’t an issue here. Watt just failed to win these reps, snow or not.
None of this is to raise alarms. Every player has off games, even ones as good as Watt. On the other side, Myles Garrett has been criticized in the past. But it’s rare to talk about such a quiet and non-impactful game from a guy as talented as Watt. He’ll be itching for a loud outing next Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
