Will TJ Watt record his 100th Steelers sack against the Dallas Cowboys?
TJ Watt was vacated last week after recording one sack in three straight games. Once again, he enters the day with 99.5 sacks in his regular season career, one sack away from the century mark. Or half of one, but you get the idea.
If you’re rooting for TJ Watt to get sack number 100 today, going to the Dallas Cowboys isn’t a bad way to go. QB Dak Prescott has 10 sacks already this season, one on 6.29 percent of his dropbacks. This isn’t shockingly bad (not even in the top 10), but it still ranks as the 12th-most sacks.
And the Cowboys’ tackling this season has been especially bad in terms of pass protection. I don’t think the Steelers will move TJ Watt much (though it’s possible), but Terrence Steele and rookie Tyler Guyton are inadequate in this area.
Of course, he’s TJ Watt, so the match TJ Watt gets is a mismatch. But every team has a plan to protect him, and the Colts had one that worked better than most. At this point, it’s rare for Watt not to record a sack in a game. Which, of course, is why he’s on track to become the second fastest player in history to reach 100 in his career.
More generally, Watt is currently tied for 13th in the league in sacks (3) and tied for 100-way. He is far behind Aiden Hutchinson, who has a season mark of 6.5 and is the leader. Even the Ravens’ Kyle Van Noy already has six sacks at age 33. And everyone’s favorite, Myles Garrett, has four legs and bad feet.
With Highsmith out and Nick Herbig nursing an ankle injury, the Steelers will really need TJ Watt’s production in this game. Even if Jeremiah Moon steps in to help, he’s got to be a game-breaker today. And there’s nothing wrong with doing so in a historical way.
The Steelers’ 2024 season is currently underway after a disappointing year in which they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Buffalo Bills have had a long offseason since coming out of their misery in January. There are some silver linings, but things could go off the rails any minute now.
The biggest question plaguing the team is the quarterback issue. Will Russell Wilson get his job back once he’s healthy, or will Justin Fields take his job? How will the team deal with a depth chart that is surprisingly still in flux going forward?
After several weeks of training camp and preseason games, the regular season has arrived. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings, trades, and releases. More than usual, they seemed confident in creating holes and confident in their ability to fill them. Some were buried, some not so much. But now that we have so many pieces to the puzzle, we just have to ask new questions.
