Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett took over the team’s Week 12 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers with three sacks in the first half, while T.J. Watt struggled and didn’t even record a pressure. With the Browns coming to Acrisure Stadium later today, the game within the game between Watt and Garrett has been a hot topic, and former NFL DL Gerald McCoy said on NFL Gameday Morning that Watt will have more success today – because he has more help than Garrett.
“Well, today the guy will be T.J. Watt, and it has nothing to do with individuality. It’s because he has help. He has Cam Heyward who’s a Hall of Famer in his own right, Alex Highsmith is back, and T.J. Watt has never played a full season without having Cam Heyward. I’m not saying that T.J. Watt can’t do it by himself, but if you look at Myles Garrett, second-best player who has the second-most sacks on his team, he’s not on the team anymore. He’s with the Lions, it’s Za’Darius Smith,” McCoy said.
McCoy made a comic book reference and said Batman was “doing it just fine by himself” but he got himself a Robin, and said Watt has a Robin with the help he has, which Garrett lacks.
Both are dynamic players, and it is true that Watt has a better-supporting cast. Yet, at least early in the season, he was getting chipped at a much higher rate than Garrett, according to PFF Chip Percentage, although they haven’t updated that stat since October 9. Still, even with the help he has on his defense, Watt is still someone that defenses key on and focus on and have to send multiple blockers at. Garrett is the same way, and a lot of his success against Pittsburgh was because they didn’t do a good enough job sending help over to block him, but the supporting cast argument is a little bit weak.
The Browns traded Za’Darius Smith away because they aren’t a contending team and he was on an expiring contract. But he was a double-digit sack threat before joining Cleveland, although he managed just 5.5 in his lone full season with the Browns last season. In a pure comparison between the two, you can’t put Watt down because the Steelers front office has done a better job building and retaining their defense around him than Cleveland has done with Garrett.
There’s no doubt that Pittsburgh has multiple key defensive pieces, and in the game today, that could wind up being the difference, and McCoy may be right that it helps Watt make more of an impact today. But if Watt does make an impact, it’s likely not going to come easy, as he’s sure to see chips, double teams and extra blockers despite seeing more help, just as Garrett should.
