T.J. Watt made a significant impact on Monday night’s game – and achieved some milestones in the process for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Watt had his third career three-sack game in the win against the Chicago Bears, giving him 61 career sacks in 69 games. His two first-half takedowns of Justin Fields moved him past Keith Willis and into seventh on the Steelers’ career sack list (since the sack became official in 1982). Willis played 126 games for the Steelers.
The only players in NFL history to reach 60 sacks in fewer games were Reggie White (50 games), J.J. Watt (66 games) and Derrick Thomas (67 games). J.J., of course, is T.J.’s older brother.
Monday’s Watt sacks also were his 38th, 39th and 40th at Heinz Field — the second-most for any player through 36 career home games in NFL history. The late Thomas had 43½ through 36 career games at Arrowhead Stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1989-1993.
“I don’t have time to worry about individual accomplishments right now,” Watt said after the game. “I’m trying to win football games.”
Watt has had at least one sack in six of the seven games he’s played this season and multiple sacks in four of the seven. Monday’s second sack gave Watt 5½ sacks over his past six quarters of play — he had two during overtime of the Oct. 17 win against the Seattle Seahawks and 1½ during last week’s win at Cleveland.
James co-captain
Former Steelers tight end Jesse James was designated as a captain for the Bears. A former South Allegheny High School and Penn State player, James came out for the coin toss and shared an embrace with for teammates and Steelers co-captains Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward.
James played for the Steelers from 2015-18, accumulating 120 catches and nine touchdowns after being a fifth-round pick in 2015. He’s in his first season with Chicago after playing 2019-20 for the Detroit Lions.
Harris highs
Najee Harris’ first-quarter touchdown was his fourth rushing score of the season, tied for the most for a Steelers rookie through his first eight games. Counting two receiving scores, it was Harris’ sixth touchdown of 2021 — second-most of all NFL rookies. Ja’Marr Chase — who has played nine full games — was the only rookie to have more.
The 10-yard run also marked the third time over the Steelers’ past five games that they scored on their opening offensive possession of a game.
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