T.J. Watt Gives Props to Young Teammates for Stepping Up in the Rivalry Win Against the Ravens.Going into Week 5, it would have been simple for the Steelers to get off balance. They had lost by a score of 30–6 in Houston, their second lopsided defeat of the year. The public was questioning the team’s direction, benching Kenny Pickett, and sacking offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Mike Tomlin, meanwhile, was airing vintage clips of the Steelers vs. Ravens game.
Naturally, after a generation on his side of the rivalry, the 17-year Steelers coach is as immersed in it as anybody has ever been and is not new to Baltimore week. Therefore, he was aware that his players didn’t need any browbeating to prepare for the rivalry game, even if he openly declared the Texans game to be undesirable. He reasoned that it would be more beneficial for them to comprehend the future than of dwelling on the past.
After arriving home on Sunday night, linebacker and captain T.J. Watt noted over his mobile phone, “Coach Tomlin is very even-keeled in the victories and the losses.” “He just had a great message the whole week, explaining to all the new men in the locker room the significance of this rivalry and the actual magnitude of the game. It was showcasing archival footage of the rich history, all the major plays, and how these games always seemed to be close games—13–10, 16–13, etc.Thus, you could also refer to Tomlin as a prophet for foreseeing how the week would conclude if you were to label him a master psychologist for his handling of the week’s first half.
Ravens 10 – Steelers 17 is the final score.
It was also a game that, like a lot of others over the last 25 years, found beauty in its ugly aspects. After one quarter, the score was 7–0, 10–3 at the half, and 10–3 heading into the last quarter. The players could see Tomlin’s admonition to his team that they would need to slog through a game like this come to pass.
In the first half, Pittsburgh managed only 88 yards of total offense and six first downs. The Steelers were outgained by around a three-to-one margin throughout that period, and their defense was basically the only thing keeping them from losing after three quarters. Near the conclusion of the first half, a Larry Ogunjobi forced fumble that set up a Chris Boswell field goal that was kicked 43 yards.
Despite facing significant challenges, the defense maintained composure, while the offense persevered by believing that the breakthrough would finally materialize.
“We’re just trying to do our job at the end of the day,” Watt adds. “We know that if we stop them on fourth-and-shorts, as we were able to do today, or if we turn the ball over and give our offense good field position, then we’re just doing our job,” the statement reads. Nothing else is within our control. We discuss controlling the controllables all the time. Even while it seems cliche, it is really the case.
That strategy would eventually burst the dam, and it began when Miles Killebrew stopped a punt and produced a safety to reduce the lead to 10.5 points. “Guys just ante up on things like that,” Watt remarks. “I see Miles Killebrew attempting to stop a punt all day long. He has helped us out here on many occasions.
After that, a few players—all younger than Watt—came up to establish a spirited competition, as Tomlin had promised they would have the opportunity to do.
• With the Ravens behind 10–8, Steelers returner Gunner Olszewski mishandled a punt return, setting up a first-and-goal situation at the Pittsburgh 7. This led Watt back to training camp, where the Steelers practice a goal-line drill in which the offense plays first defense then offense and has seven opportunities to score from the two position.
Watt claims, “We do that in training camp every single day.” “You have seven live shots with the ball on the 2-yard line, offensive against defense. We get ready for such things once a week throughout the season and on every single day of training camp. It’s like this is seven-shot football at that point. Here, we are aware of the calls that we like. We’ve performed hundreds or even thousands of runs on them. You just need to do your job, and everything will work out.
Additionally, there is where a rivalry legacy would emerge. Defying predraft doubts about his ball skills for the position, rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the son of a Steelers hero, acquired position on Odell Beckham Jr. on a fade and picked off Lamar Jackson on third-and-goal from the 5.
Watt responds, “That’s just another one of those things.” “He didn’t have a lot of interceptions during his time in college, but since camp, he has had a ton of picks in practice. One of our squad ball guys, Lou, has a person who works with him every day before and after practice to improve his hand-eye coordination and ball-catching skills. Such things do pay off. Work ethic is rewarded.
• With 4:06 remaining, the Steelers established themselves at the Ravens’ 20. At that moment, Pickett was only 14-of-26 for 146 yards, and he hadn’t given anybody much hope that he might improve in a game. The Steelers players, though, had other ideas.
As our captain, Kenny is undoubtedly a leader on the offensive, according to Watt. He’s done a fantastic job of maintaining his composure and working, in my opinion. Guys will respect you as long as they see you working, regardless of your level of accomplishment. I like Kenny for the way he works around the building on a daily basis. He arrives early. He leaves the building somewhat late. You can’t really ask for much more from a man like him. He is going to keep getting better.
And on Sunday, just when the Steelers needed it most, he improved. He completed four of his last five passes for 78 yards, none of which were longer than his final two.Before the two-minute warning, Pickett connected George Pickens on a long back-shoulder comeback off the far hash for 21 yards on a third-and-4 play. The next play featured a second-year receiver named Pickens finding a second gear to get past Ravens All-Pro Marlon Humphrey for a 41-yard touchdown dime down the right sideline. This sequence demonstrated both the poise of a young quarterback and, perhaps more importantly, the potential of a young receiver.
Regarding Pickens, Watt said, “It’s not surprising.” “The guy simply exudes calm confidence in himself.” He is now aware of his abilities. He does, in fact. All that has to be done is hand him the ball and let him go to work. When the ball is in the air, he can always be counted on. It’s not a coin toss. Call them 60-40 or 70-30 balls, whatever you want to name them. He can also make amazing yards after a catch if you give him room. It doesn’t surprise me.
• The onus then shifted to the defense to win the game, and, to be honest, Watt seemed a bit taken aback by the praise he received for the dagger his team produced with just over a minute remaining and the Ravens in first-and-10 at their own 44. Sure enough, he recovered the fumble. However, he intended to give entire credit for its creation to Alex Highsmith, his bookend at a position as legendary in Pittsburgh as shortstop is at Yankee Stadium.
“In the end, I’m just in the right place at the right time, and I always get pretty uncomfortable—everyone’s always cheering for the guy that picks up the fumble,” Watt adds. That was a tremendous play by Alex Highsmith, who always shows up on the back end to strip the quarterback when things are at their worst and we need a play. .. Alex had a terrific play. I was just the one who had the good fortune to catch the blunder at the ideal moment and recover it. All of that was spoken by Alex Highsmith.
Shortly after, Watt would make a huge play of his own, sacking Jackson with 15 seconds remaining, putting an end to the game by using what he’d seen about the Ravens’ chipping Jackson to beat the offense to the spot. Afterward, he celebrated by going to WWE, taking off his helmet and making a banner for his misfortune.
Yes, I didn’t give a damn. Far too much feeling,” he chuckles. “I was a little concerned that Baltimore would recover the ball,” the person said. I was holding my breath for nothing else except that.
Naturally, that isn’t how the rules operate, and it’s likely that Tomlin would overlook that particular punishment.
Watt is aware of how simple it would be to suggest that all these young players making enormous plays in what is perhaps the toughest rivalry in the NFL would declare them to be real Steelers and set the 2023 squad on their path.
And that’s how things may turn out.
But Watt put the brakes on and went, well, Tomlin mode on me when I said to him that this may be the beginning of something great with all that rising young talent.
He responds, “You’d like to think so.” “I’m not the kind of man who likes to put himself first. I’m attempting to take things one week at a time, recover from this bye week, and keep trying to build on the momentum. In this league, stacking victories is very difficult. It’s all about stacking victories, and it’s something we discuss after every victory. That results from consistently projecting confidence each week. This kind of game really boosts the group’s confidence.
“All I’m hoping for is that we can keep playing like we did today.”
No, it wasn’t flawless.
However, to the Steelers who spent the whole week listening to Tomlin, it was, in a sense, precisely as their coach had envisioned it.
