Not exactly breaking news here, but TJ Watt is pretty important.
While Watt sat with a pec injury for the first of at least four games, the Steelers did their best to throw a variety of players and blitzes at New England quarterback Mac Jones.
The result? No sacks for the Steelers for just the third time in 93 games. And, just like the other two, Watt didn’t play. And the Steelers lost the game.
“T.J. is a great player for us,” said safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who came away with the Steelers’ only turnover via interception. “He’s obviously one of the best rushing up the edge, and he’s a good player. But we have the next-man-up mentality, but obviously we miss him out there.”
Pittsburgh was coming off a seven-sack performance in Cincinnati a week prior. That wasn’t all Watt’s doing, of course. Alex Highsmith had three of them. But, without Watt, New England had one massive pass protection worry off its plate.
“We got some good plays out of a lot of guys,” said Highsmith, who delivered one of the Steelers’ three hits on Jones. “I just know we can be better as a defense as a whole… I know I've got to play better too. I'm far from what I wanted to do today.”
While the Steelers didn’t get to Jones at a high rate, they also weren’t able to stop the run well enough.
Damien Harris averaged 4.7 yards per carry and Rhamondre Stevenson was at 5.2 yards per. New England’s ability to stretch out the Steelers’ edge rushers and defensive linemen — another area of the game that Watt heavily impacts — was evident, particularly on the game's final drive when the Patriots ran out over six minutes to close the game.
“We didn’t put them in enough situations where they had to throw the ball,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “Attention to detail things. A couple times [Mac] Jones got out, but it came down to if we were ever going to get to the passer, get after their O-line, we had to stop the run first.”
Heyward, who looked dominant at times in Cincinnati, was far less of a factor Sunday. He made five tackles — none for loss — without a quarterback hit.
He was part of a group that attempted to rotate in a number of fresh bodies both on the line and at outside linebacker.
Malik Reed started in place of Watt. He had four tackles and delivered a heavy hit on Jones after a pass in the second quarter, but was otherwise contained.
“I think Malik had a really good game rushing-wise, and they were able to get a couple of hits on the quarterback and draw a holding call and stuff,” Highsmith said of Reed and others trying to fill in for Watt.
It’s not as if the defense wasn’t good. New England scored only 17 points — a more than respectable total in today’s NFL. And seven of the Patriots’ points came after Steelers punt returner Gunner Olszewski muffed a punt, allowing New England a short field.
Still, the splash that was on display a week ago was hard to find at Acrisure Stadium this week. Part of that, according to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, is due to New England’s scheme.
“I thought New England would do a good job of minimizing that component of our game by running the football, by rhythm throws, things of that nature,” he said. “So, I didn't necessarily go into this game thinking it was going to be a seven-sack type game. It just wasn't going to unfold that way. Their style of play wasn't going to allow that to happen.”
Watt isn’t coming back anytime soon. He’s got to sit at least three more weeks. This was a winnable game, and with a more capable offense, would likely have been won.
But that’s not the reality in Pittsburgh. The offense is struggling, and that puts far more emphasis on the defense than it might be able to handle on a weekly basis.
“I just think we've got to continue to improve from each game because we know the type of defense we can be,” Highsmith said. “I feel like we can be better than we were today.
“We all saw what we did Week 1, and we know that we can be better.”