Steelers star T.J. Watt is in the middle of the longest sack drought of his career—and teams are avoiding him in the run game, too. So far, the team isn’t really acknowledging it, let alone addressing it, at least publicly. On Thursday, DC Teryl Austin didn’t have much to say, but Patrick Queen commented on it earlier in the week.
“I think it’s just situational,” he said of opponent tendencies to run away from Watt via the Steelers’ website. “You just see half the time the ball is on the left hash, and they get it to the right, and they start dropping balls off on the right hash running to the left. Whatever it may be. It’s always a mix and match, but definitely, it’s been a little more explosive runs going to the right, for whatever reason. I think we’ll get that solved pretty quick.”
And to be clear, when Queen says “to the right,” he means the defense’s right.
This season, the Steelers have the 28th-ranked run defense. Despite opposing teams’ efforts, T.J. Watt has done what he can against the run. At least according to Pro Football Focus, he has the highest run-defense grade in the NFL among edge rushers. They credit him with nine total tackles against the run, including five stops, and a 9.4-percent run-stop rate. His average depth of tackle is 1.4 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, but he has multiple tackles for loss.
Still, the charts show that the Steelers’ opponents are running away from Watt. It’s just that sometimes he manages to chase those plays down. When teams run in Watt’s direction, he does his part to defend those plays.
With Alex Highsmith set to miss time, Steelers opponents are probably even more likely to try to run the ball away from T.J. Watt. While teams respect Nick Herbig, they likely also view him as more of a pass rusher. Jack Sawyer has potential, but he is also a rookie. And I don’t think anybody will spend much time game-planning to counter DeMarvin Leal—no offense.
Steelers DC Teryl Austin has defended their run defense to some degree. It’s more about inexcusable mistakes rather than consistent fundamental problems. Greg Cosell, for example, pointed out the impact of the explosive run against their numbers. The problem is, when the defense leaks, it leaks too much, but in between, they hold their own.
What exactly are the Steelers doing to address the matter of teams running away from Watt? They know teams are producing bigger plays when they take that approach. Patrick Queen expressed confidence that they will “get that solved pretty quick”. But it’s hard to inspire confidence when you can’t even get your best player more involved in the game.
