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There aren’t many Pittsburgh Steelers legends that didn’t win a championship. But edge rusher T.J. Watt is in very rare company. Not only does he not have a Super Bowl ring, he has yet to be part of a Steelers team that won a playoff game.
Watt addressed the lack of a playoff win on his resume days before facing the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC wild card round.
“All summer long, I’ve been preaching it when I first got here [in training camp], and it’s been something we’ve talked about since,” Watt said, via The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac. “I haven’t won a playoff game since I’ve been here. So it’s very important to me.”
The Steelers are 0-3 with Watt in the playoffs. They also lost last January to the Buffalo Bills with the edge rusher sidelined because of an injury.
Watt made it clear the this playoff run isn’t “win or bust” for him. But that doesn’t make it any less important.
“I’ve got plenty of time left,” he added. “But there is an urgency to win, there is
“Nobody likes to lose.”
Steelers’ T.J. Watt Looking for First Playoff Win
Watt has put together one of the best resumes for any Steelers player in history through eight seasons. He’s won the Defensive Player of the Year award and led the league in sacks three times. Watt has also earned first-team All-Pro nominations on four occasions and could very well do that again at the end of this campaign.
But the postseason victories have been hard to come by. In his first two playoff appearances, the Steelers suffered upset losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 and Cleveland Browns during 2021.
Watt scored the first touchdown of the Steelers matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022. But that was the only score the Steelers had in the first half, as the Chiefs coasted to a 42-21 victory.
Slow starts and poor defensive play have plagued the Steelers throughout Watt’s postseason career. Opponents have outscored the Steelers 56-0 in the first quarter of their four playoff games with Watt on the roster.
Furthermore, the opposition surpassed 40 points in all three of Watt’s playoff games.
In those three contests, Watt had 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss and 3 pass defenses to go with his touchdown, which was a fumble return. Watt may need to make a major impact versus the Ravens on January 11 for the Steelers, who are 8.5-point underdogs, to win.
Watt turned 30 in October. He could play several more years, but as he seems to realize, one cannot take the NFL for granted. It’s also not clear how much longer Watt will be in his prime.
Watt Snubbed on Players’ All-Pro Team
The Steelers top edge rusher registered his sixth double-digit sack season in 2024. He also had 19 tackles for loss, 27 quarterback hits and led the NFL with 6 forced fumbles.
However, he didn’t make the NFLPA All-Pro team.
For the third straight season, players around the league voted for who they consider the best player at their same position and the positions they line up against. Browns’ Myles Garrett and Cincinnati Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson were named first-team All-Pro at edge rusher.
Interestingly, Watt didn’t earn All-Pro recognition from his peers last season either. The media voted him second behind Garrett for the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year award, but he did make the AP first-team All-Pro.
None of that is likely to matter to Watt, though, after this weekend. He appears to have his focus on winning in the postseason.
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