Steelers’ T.J. Watt emerging as one of NFL’s best at forcing fumbles
T.J. Watt considers the art of pass rushing to be an in-game “chess match.” But when it comes to forcing fumbles, he’s barely playing checkers.
But even if Watt stresses simplicity and points out defenses have precious little time to practice stripping the ball, the Pittsburgh Steelers star outside linebacker has perfected the craft.
Watt had two more forced fumbles Monday night during a 27-14 Steelers victory against the Miami Dolphins. That gives Watt three for the season and nine over his past 19 games. No player in the NFL has more during that span.
“T.J., the way he gets his fumbles, he is just there early — and if you beat a guy quick, you always get a chance for a forced fumble,” said the outside linebacker who lines up opposite of Watt, Bud Dupree. “And he’s on the side where the ball’s at (rushing from the quarterback’s right), so any time you beat them with a clean rush, (Watt) is looking dead at the ball. So he’s attacking the ball right away, instead of just going for the sack. And that’s a great job for him, being a guy going for the ball. It has created extra possessions.”
Watt has been especially prone to force fumbles at Heinz Field — he has six over his past 10 home games. To put that figure into perspective, only three other players in the NFL had as many as six forced fumbles during the entire 2018 season.
Both of Watt’s forced fumbles Monday came during sacks of Miami quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“The coaches stress to us trying to get at the ball, and T.J. does great job of just being ball aware,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “Whether it’s run or pass, I love the way he competes, and he’s very opportunistic in those situations.”
Make that 7 forced fumbles over the past 10 home games for TJ Watt
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9 forced fumbles in his past 19 games overall https://t.co/P1XhiUvrEB— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) October 29, 2019
Watt became a Pro Bowl honoree last season, his second in the NFL when he had 13 sacks. A 2017 first-round pick, he has 20 sacks over his past 24 regular-season games.
Watt’s two-sack effort Monday was despite nursing an abdominal injury that caused him to sit out the latter portions of the Steelers’ most recent game. He said after Monday’s game that he felt better than he thought he would after playing with the injury but that he expected to be sore Tuesday.
One of Watt’s two forced fumbles Monday was recovered by the Steelers (Watt recovered it himself); the Steelers forced one other fumble in addition to Minkah Fitzpatrick’s two interceptions.
“I think every defense wants more turnovers,” Watt said. “No matter how many you have, any way we can affect the game and affect the offense and special teams, you do that — go for the sack, get the ball.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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