This may come as a shock to our friends at Pro Football Focus, but Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September.
Watt has six sacks through three games, nine solo tackles (11 total) with five for a loss.
He also has two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries and one touchdown.
Watt set the Steelers all-time sack record against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2 getting to 81.5 sacks in 89 games.
It took former leader James Harrison 177 games to break the record.
"You know, this is a good environment and system for him," Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said after he broke the record. "It's a lot of things that produce performance.
Obviously, we're really excited about having him and appreciate what he does, but it's a lot of variables to that discussion. But he is a key component of any component of that discussion."
"He's best in the league at what he does and he shows it every week," said linebacker Alex Highsmith. "Him coming out week-after-week and doing what he does. It's not secret, he works his butt off. Just being able to go to war with a guy like that is a blessing. He makes me better in all that I do. Thankful to be able to go to war with him."
During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Tomlin commented on how good Watt is at studying tape, adding he's always been good at it, but he's now at another level.
Even with his accomplishments, PFF still have Browns defensive end Myles Garrett rated higher.
Watt has a 92.2 rating, Garrett has a 93.8 rating.
