T.J. Watt feeling 'way more comfortable' at left OLB
by Bryan DeArdo
14 hours ago
It's safe to say that the Steelers' decision to move T.J. Watt from right to left outside linebacker was the right call. On Sunday, Watt, who finished third on the Steelers with 7.0 sacks as a rookie last season, recorded 4.0 sacks during Sunday's game against the Browns. According to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, only five Steelers in franchise history had ever recorded four sacks in a game since individual sacks became a league statistic in 1982. Making Sunday's performance even more impressive was the fact that Watt didn't play during the preseason and was hampered throughout training camp with a hamstring injury.
T.J. Watt is the first #Steelers linebacker since 2015 to have a three-sack game. pic.twitter.com/VXWUvymVMP
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 9, 2018
“I always feel like myself -- once I get on the field and I’m healthy, I always feel like myself," Watt told reporters after Sunday's game. "Like I said, the left side is where I feel way more comfortable, and I think that showed today. We just gotta get into the film room and improve for this upcoming week and forget about this game."
Unfortunately for Watt, Browns' pass rusher Myles Garrett, a fellow 2017 first round pick, also had a monster performance on Sunday. Garrett, who also recorded 7.0 sacks as a rookie, recorded two sacks and two forced fumbles that set up both of Cleveland's fourth quarter touchdowns. The scores helped the Browns overcome a 21-7 fourth quarter deficit to nearly defeat the Steelers for the first time since 2014.
“It was a thriller," Garrett said of Sunday's game. "It was fun. The whole game going back and forth, I know they had the momentum going into basically the second half and much of the third quarter. We fought back and tied it up. That is just a credit to the perseverance and the toughness on this team to not give up.”
Garrett thought he and his teammates were about to celebrate a victory before Watt blocked Cleveland's game-winning field goal attempt with just seconds remaining in overtime.
“I was for sure [Browns' kicker Zane Gonzalez] was going to make it so I was excited," Garrett said. "Then you see a block, and you are kind of like ‘Well, you know we got them again,’ so have to beat them next time.”
Despite both mens' efforts, neither team was able to come up with a victory, as both Pittsburgh and Cleveland find themselves looking up at Baltimore and Cincinnati in the AFC North standings after the NFL's opening weekend. While Sunday's tie is surely leaving a bad taste in their mouths, Watt likes a lot of what he saw from Pittsburgh's defense on Sunday and where he thinks the unit is heading moving forward.
"I think we’re gelling really well as a defense and that just shows all the hard work that we’ve been putting in to this point," he said. "We just have to keep working and keep getting better as a defense."
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