The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the most dominant players in all of football in TJ Watt, who has been tormenting quarterbacks across the league since being drafted in 2017. Rarely does he get recognition from the NFL, as he has been obviously snubbed for the AP Defensive Player of the Year Award on two occasions. He is completely unique in how he plays, as he is a threat to do anything while up on the line of scrimmage. He has an unusual amount of interceptions for a player at his position, which makes him so dangerous for an offense.
Watt is particularly a threat to quarterbacks in the AFC North, who have to face him multiple times a year. The division has great talent at quarterback with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, but Watt always manages to make their jobs incredibly difficult. Burrow was on Monday's episode of Pardon My Take, where he was asked by super-fan Jersey Jerry how it feels to go against Watt.
"Yeah, TJ [Watt] is a unique player in this league. There's no other defensive lineman that I have to treat like a defensive back. Like I have to be conscious about where he is at, because he is just going to jump up and catch it. There's nobody else that can do that. You have to be very alert for him in the pass game, which is very unique I would say."
Burrow has had times where he has struggled against the Steelers in his career. He didn't have to play Pittsburgh at all in 2023, as he suffered a serious, season-ending wrist injury before both of the two divisional matchups. Burrow learned his lesson playing against Watt however, as Watt picked him off in each of their two matchups during the 2022 season.
The Steelers and Bengals matchups in 2024 will be interesting. Both games come late in the season, and both teams are expected to be vying for playoff spots -- and maybe even the division title. Burrow hasn't played since about the halfway point of the 2023 season, but due to the games being late in the year against the Steelers, he should be back to his Pro Bowl self by the time he clashes with Pittsburgh.
Watt has had tremendous success versus Burrow, which is obvious with the two interceptions off of the quarterback. Watt tracks the quarterback and jumps at the line of scrimmage, which is how a lot of his interceptions have come about. In 2023, he was even seen in coverage against the Los Angeles Rams where he picked off Matthew Stafford and nearly ran it back for a touchdown.
Pittsburgh's defense is responsible for one of the worst games of Burrow's career, which came during the opening week of the 2022 season. The Steelers had Mitch Trubisky starting at quarterback, but managed to get the victory in part due to the defense picking Burrow off four times.
Steelers' Watt Will Be Playing With A Chip On His Shoulder In 2024
Watt is coming off of a season where he was obviously snubbed for the AP Defensive Player of the Year Award. He had better numbers in every major statistical category, yet the NFL still gave Myles Garrett the hardware. Getting snubbed like that would motivate any player, but it might motivate Watt even more since it's happened to him more than once, this time to a divisional rival.
Watt led the league in sacks in 2023, becoming the first player in NFL history to do that in three separate seasons. He is already tied for the single-season sack record, but he might be coming for the crown in 2024.
