Entering his eighth season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, star outside linebacker T.J. Watt had his eyes on one thing and one thing only: winning a playoff game.
It’s something the talked about during the summer, and now that opportunity to do so has arrived as the Steelers prepare for Saturday night’s AFC Wild Card matchup against the Baltimore Ravens on the road.
For Watt, who has had a decorated career from an individual standpoint, putting together a Hall of Fame-caliber resume with a Defensive Player of the Year award to his name and multiple sack titles as well, there’s something missing.
It starts with just winning playoff game at this point.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Watt stated how important it is to him to check that box and win a playoff game. And while it’s a big deal to him, he knows it can only start with how the Steelers prepare this week. In that regard, Watt believes the Steelers have had a good week and now need to show it Saturday night.
“I mean, it is what it is. It’s my story since I’ve been here. I haven’t won a playoff game and been saying it this whole season. You guys know how important this is to me,” Watt said, according to video via the Tribune-Review’s Joe Rutter. “It starts with having a great day, day in and day out, this whole week. Today was a good day.
“This whole week was a good week. But if we’ve learned anything about these last four weeks, it doesn’t matter how well you prepare, how good you feel about your preparation, if you don’t execute on game day.”
It is Watt’s story, and it’s one that has driven him for quite a few years now. He’s an all-time franchise great, yet not having that playoff win infuriates him.
Time and time again, Watt and the Steelers have gotten to the playoffs in his tenure, but they haven’t been able to get over the hump. It’s been rather frustrating, too, as the Steelers have gotten blown out in recent playoff games. Getting there isn’t enough for Watt, and rightfully so.
For a player as great as he is, he needs that playoff win to get over the hump. And from there he needs to start finding ways for the Steelers to stack playoff wins and ultimately get to a Super Bowl and even win one.
You can’t win a Super Bowl this week though. Right now, the focus is on winning one game, carrying over the strong week of work into a hostile environment Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium.
As Watt stated, the Steelers have learned during their four-game losing streak that just having a strong week of work isn’t enough once the ball kicks off. They need to figure out how to carry over that good week of work into the 60 minutes of game action.
Doing that Saturday could lead to the Steelers getting over the hump in the playoffs and giving Watt that elusive first postseason victory.
