T.J. Watt ties Steelers career sacks record with 3 in opener vs. 49ers
When the day began, T.J. Watt sat in third place among the Pittsburgh Steelers’ career sacks leaders. He ended it tied for first.
The sixth three-sack game of Watt’s career lifted him into a tie with James Harrison for the most sacks in franchise history with 80½. Watt brought down San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy three times, but that it came in a 30-7 loss to the 49ers muted his enthusiasm for the achievement.
“I mean, really, I don’t want to diminish what it is, but just super upset about the result of today,” Watt said afterward. “Not happy with it, not acceptable on many levels. There were so many more plays to be made out there, myself included.”
Watt also had two forced fumbles, recovering one of them, in addition to a batted-down ball and a tackle for loss in the running game among his five overall tackles.
TJ WATT IS UNSTOPPABLE. This strip is his third sack of the day!
????: #SFvsPIT on FOX
????: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/sM8HqzA9Ap— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023
“That’s what he does, there’s a reason why he’s one of the best in the game,” fellow outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “We just have to have that from everybody. That’s why he does what he does, because he brings energy. We all just have to match his energy and bring the juice.”
Watt entered the season — his seventh — with one fewer career sack than teammate Cameron Heyward. Heyward did not play in the second half Sunday because of a groin injury.
Harrison had 80½ sacks in 177 games for the Steelers over 14 seasons. Watt reached 80½ sacks during his 88th game for the Steelers. Watt tied the NFL record for sacks in a season with 21½ in 2021, a season during which he had games with four, 3½ and three sacks. Twice before that he had posted a three-sack game.
Watt tying the team sacks record at home was especially fitting because he now has 55 sacks and 17 forced fumbles in 46 games at what is now called Acrisure Stadium.
Sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982. Pro-football-reference.com compiled sacks before that via historical records and box scores, and it credits Joe Greene with 77½ sacks and L.C. Greenwood with 78 for the Steelers.
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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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