Stop me if you’ve heard this before — defenses are paying a whole lot of attention to T.J. Watt. Watt, the Steelers’ star EDGE rusher who’s coming off a two-sack game against the New England Patriots, is getting chipped at the third-highest percentage in football and double-teamed at the fourth-highest rate. Watt’s only behind the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett and the Detroit Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson in chip rate, while he’s behind those two and the Green Bay Packers’ Micah Parsons in double-team rate, per PFF data.
Watt’s chip rate comes in at 29.76% of his 84 pass rushes this season, while he’s been double-teamed on half of those snaps. But Watt isn’t the only Steelers’ EDGE rusher that teams are paying lots of attention to this season. Nick Herbig, who’s starting opposite Watt with Alex Highsmith out with an ankle injury, is in the top 10 in chip rate, as he’s been chipped on 23.08% of his 65 pass rushes. He’s been double-teamed 32.31% of the time, and it’s not a surprise his double-team rate is lower with Watt across from him.
There’s been a lot of talk about Watt losing a step this season. He had the longest sackless streak of his career, going six straight games without a sack from the end of last year until Week 3. But opposing offenses are still keying on Watt as much as before. Even if the sacks haven’t piled up early in the season like they have in years past, Watt is still a weapon with offenses needing to focus a lot of attention on slowing him down.
Herbig’s chip rate also shows that he’s a player that teams are afraid of. Even though he’s been Pittsburgh’s third outside linebacker for the majority of his career, he’s been impactful whenever he’s on the field. In just 718 career defensive snaps, less than a full season’s worth if he was a full-time starter, Herbig has racked up 9.5 sacks and seven forced fumbles, including a strip sack in Week 3.
Herbig has blossomed into a legitimate weapon for the Steelers, and when Highsmith gets healthy, the team will have three of the best pass rushers in football they can mix and match. Herbig’s ascension has been huge for Pittsburgh’s defense, especially with Highsmith dealing with injuries each of the last two seasons.
Both Herbig and Watt will look to continue the momentum from their big Week 3 performances when the Steelers take on the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday.
