As a defense down the stretch, the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t find ways to get consistent stops against the run and the pass, leading to some ugly losses as part of their five-game losing streak to close the season, which included a blowout loss in the playoffs, going one-and-done.
Within that ugly stretch to finish the year, star outside linebacker and future Hall of Famer T.J. Watt was uncharacteristically quiet, posting back-to-back games of zero stats, the first time he’s ever done that in his career. That had many questioning how the Steelers are using Watt from an alignment standpoint, and it had some wondering if the team should trade him this offseason to better situate themselves to find a franchise quarterback.
For former Steelers’ outside linebacker and outside linebackers coach Joey Porter Sr., who appeared on the Bill Michaels Show from Radio Row at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Watt wasn’t the problem late in the season.
Joey Porter, who coached Watt in 2017 and 2018, stated that Watt plays the game right way and the only thing to figure out with the star linebacker this offseason is what his contract will be in the Steel City.
“Well, T.J. is a special talent. You know what I mean? T.J. plays the game in the way you want it to be played. Like, he’s not hard to find when you turn on the tape,” Porter said of the Steelers’ outside linebacker, according to video via Michaels’ livestream from Radio Row. “I just think what we’re doing overall, like what hurts is the fashion of how we lost that game. You know what I mean?
“But T.J., personally, ain’t nothing wrong. It’s like, the only thing you do with T.J. is figure out how much we’re going to pay him, get his contract done, and start looking to fix up the rest of the roster.”
There is no denying Watt is a special talent. That much is known. He pairs his incredible work ethic with his talents, which has produced a dominant player. This season was the first time he’s really had some struggles, and that was due to how offenses were scheming up to take him away, throwing chips and sliding protections his way.
Watt still had 11.5 sacks on the season and led the NFL with six forced fumbles. He remains an elite-level run defender while still dealing with some of the challenges thrown his way as a pass rusher.
However, it was frustrating to see Watt a no-show on the stats sheet the way he did in the final two weeks of the season, the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Wild Card Round loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
At times during the season, the Steelers showed the willingness to move Watt around to hunt better matchups, keeping him from being a stationary target for the chips and the slides. But then they got away from it and left him in his usual spot. To Watt’s credit, he stated after the season that he needs to be more open and willing to move around, which will only help him.
But trading him for draft picks for a better shot at a franchise quarterback just isn’t the answer. He wasn’t the problem last season defensively, and you don’t just willingly trade a future Hall of Famer who is one of the franchise’s all-time greats, especially at a premium position like pass rusher.
As Joey Porter said, you just figure out what his next contract extension is this summer, get it done, and focus on fixing up the rest of the roster, period.
