T.J. Watt didn’t bat an eye when asked about the Steelers clinching their 21st consecutive non-losing season following Pittsburgh’s Week 13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
At that point, the Steelers were 9-3 and were enjoying a sizable lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North division standings. The Steelers were in a great spot, but you wouldn’t have known that after listening to Watt during his postgame press conference.
“Feels good, but there’s a lot more work to be done,” Watt said before walking off the podium.
Watt was certainly right. The Steelers are just 1-4 since that game and have lost four straight games entering Saturday night’s wild-card round showdown with the Ravens, who snatched the AFC North division title away from Pittsburgh after ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak. The Ravens now stand between Watt and a playoff win, something that has eluded him to this point during his future Hall of Fame career.
“It’s my story since I’ve been here; I haven’t won a playoff game,” Watt told reporters this week. “I’ve been saying it this whole season. You guys know how important this is to me. It starts with having a great day, day in and day out. This whole week. Today was a good day. This whole week was a good week. But if we’ve learned anything about these last four weeks, it doesn’t matter how well you prepare, how good you feel about your preparation if you don’t execute on game day.”
A 2017-first round pick, Watt has carved out a career that stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the best in franchise history, which is saying something for a franchise that has six Super Bowls wins and 32 Hall of Famers. Watt is the franchise career leader in sacks and in 2021 became the seventh player in franchise history to win Defensive Player of the Year.
Watt is surely proud of his career, one that will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, one day. But…
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