Watt pursues sack history
PITTSBURGH - Something incredible almost happened during Ben Roethlisberger’s bon voyage Monday night at Heinz Field.
T.J. Watt nearly set the NFL’s single-season sack record.
What would the Steelers have done? A double ceremony? T.J. joins Ben for the victory lap? T.J. joins Ben’s kids for a photo op?
Watt came into the game with 17½ sacks. He left with 21½, one shy of Michael Strahan’s (bogus) record, set in 2001 when opposing quarterback Brett Favre took a dive to give his buddy Strahan the mark.
If Watt hadn’t worn himself out torturing James Hudson III — Cleveland’s rookie right tackle — he would have at least tied the record. That could have been him instead of backup Derrek Tuszka, for example, celebrating a sack with 9 minutes left (Watt would add his fourth and final sack a few minutes later).
The way things were going against the broken Kevin Stefanski offense, the late Derrick Thomas’s singlegame sack record of seven seemed in jeopardy.
Watt might have won himself the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award with his performance, and, if justice is served, maybe something more prestigious: a role in the next “At Home With Baker Mayfield” commercial. He certainly spent enough time in Mayfield’s kitchen.
The focus now shifts to Watt for the season finale in Baltimore. Roethlisberger remains a gigantic story, as well, going against his bitter rival in what could be his final game, and the Steelers’ playoff hopes are not yet dead (though depending on the Jacksonville Jaguars to win a football game sure feels like a lifeless proposition).
Watt needs one sack to tie the record, 1½ to set it, and this much we know: John Harbaugh and the Ravens absolutely will not pull a Favre.
Watt had his Favre-like moment when he was gifted a sack Monday as the nearest player to Mayfield when the quarterback gave himself up on a slide. He’s going to have to earn the record, and if you don’t believe Harbaugh keeps the Steelers in mind when it comes to records, consider what happened in Denver this year.
After a Ravens interception with three seconds left secured a double-digit win, Harbaugh ordered a running play for quarterback Lamar Jackson instead of kneeling on the ball. Turned out Baltimore needed three yards (Jackson got five) to keep its obscure 100-yard rushing streak intact at 43 games.
Who held that record? The 1974-77 Steelers. That’s who.
“One hundred percent my call,” Harbaugh said after the game. “That’s one of those things that’s meaningful.”
If that was meaningful — and let it be noted that Jackson said, “I didn’t even care about the record” — imagine how important it will be for Harbaugh to keep Watt from celebrating on Baltimore’s field Sunday.
Expect the challenge to be more like what Lawrence Taylor faced in 1986, when the Green Bay Packers shut him out in the final game to keep him at 20½ sacks, 1½ short of Mark Gastineau’s then-record.
Meanwhile, a major subplot Monday was Watt and Browns defensive end Myles Garrett needing big games in the race for DPOY.
No contest there. The closest Garrett got to Roethlisberger was congratulating him at midfield after the game.
Watt, meanwhile, tacked on three tackles for loss and two deflected passes. He leads the league in sacks, obviously, despite missing two games and significant parts of others, and is tied with Micah Parsons for the lead in tackles for loss (20).
Parsons, Aaron Donald, and Trevon Diggs (11 interceptions, three shy of tying the NFL record) likely represent Watt’s main competition for DPOY. It’s difficult to win the award if your team doesn’t make the playoffs. Watt’s brother, J.J., was the last to do it in 2014, joining Miami’s Jason Taylor and Strahan from 2001 as the only winners from non-playoff teams since 2000.
It takes a special year to overcome those odds. Watt is having one. He is on track to be the first since Reggie White in the late 1980s to lead the league in sacks in consecutive seasons, although there is a great pass rusher he hasn’t matched in another category.
J.J. noted as much in a tweet Monday night: “Welcome to the 20+ sack club @—TJWatt! (Only one person ever has done it twice. Imagine if it was your older brother and he bragged about it, that would suck.) Go break the record kid.”
In Baltimore. In Ben’s (possible) last game? That would be a good story.