Tom Brady went from standing in the pocket as T.J. Watt wrecked games to watching him do it from the booth. He much prefers the latter. So do the linemen once tasked with blocking him. During Sunday’s Steelers-Eagles game, Brady shared the story of one teammate who didn’t have a good time blocking him-or trying to.
“My first time playing T.J. Watt, we were at Steelers,” Brady said during his call of Week 15’s game. “And I had a great right tackle, Marcus Cannon. And it was about the middle of the third quarter of the game. And I said, ‘Marcus, what’s up? And he looks at me, he goes, ‘Tommy, I can’t block this guy.’ And I was like, ‘Oh God, I better throw the ball pretty quick.'”
If you heard the broadcast, Brady strained his voice to mimic Cannon’s exasperated and terrified nature as he tried to go out and block Watt time after time.
It seems Brady is talking about his second time playing Watt in 2018 (his first game in 2017 had Cannon on injured reserve). Watt had an impressive day, including sacking Brady midway through the third quarter, which likely led to Cannon’s comments.
Though Cannon was scared, the rest of the league hadn’t fully understood Watt’s ability and gave him more 1v1 matchups than he sees today. In his second season, Watt was just heating up and notched his 11.5 sack of the year that night as Pittsburgh got a rare win over Brady. Watt had a huge hand in why, ending the day with six pressures, two QB knockdowns, and that sack.
“He is a freak out there,” Brady said during Sunday’s game. “I can understand what Lane Johnson’s going through.”
That came in reference to Johnson being flagged for a false start after allowing a sack. On the next play, Watt beat a chip and Johnson around the edge to take Hurts down for the second time, a 12-yard-loss to get the Steelers’ defense off the field.
After calling a Steelers game for the first time Sunday, Brady is set to call Saturday’s Steelers-Ravens matchup, which will shape the division. Watt is expected to play despite nursing an ankle injury.
Despite new competition, Watt remains the front-runner for DPOY. If he had a ballot to cast, Watt would likely be Brady’s choice. Marcus Cannon’s, too.
