3S. WATT OUT. WATT’S CELEBRATION IN! Cam Heyward’s tribute to the injured T.J. Watt instantly became the moment of the 28-15 win over the Dolphins. The defense is physically missing Watt, but his presence was felt everywhere. Loyalty is the new pressure.
It was a scary past week for Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt, who was hospitalized and had surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung suffered last Wednesday.
Watt missed the team’s 28-15 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, but DL Cam Heyward broke out Watt’s traditional sack celebration after bringing down QB Tua Tagovailoa. After the Steelers’ 28-15 win, Heyward said it’s something that was planned ahead of time.
“Me, Nick and Alex talked about it. I don’t think I got my leg up high enough, but we all wanted to shoutout T.J.,” Heyward said during his postgame press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
While the Steelers had previously been just 1-11 without Watt in the lineup, they took care of business Monday night, jumping out to a 28-3 lead before surrendering two late touchdowns.
The defense put together one of its most complete performances of the season, and Heyward’s sack late in the fourth quarter was one of four sacks on the night by the team.
Watt may not have physically been there, but Heyward made sure he was there in spirit. His (joking) self-critique was right – he didn’t get his leg nearly as high as Watt does – but if a 36-year-old Heyward pulled it off the same way Watt does, it would be deserving of a SportsCenter Top 10 play highlight.
It was a fun moment in what was largely a fun game for the Steelers. There’s no doubt that the team misses Watt, and despite the four sacks, the pass rush didn’t get home as quick as it should’ve at times tonight, but the coverage was as good as it’s been all year, and the Steelers held the Dolphins to just 63 yards on the ground.
Miami had been the league’s best rushing team over its four-game winning streak, while the Steelers had struggled to stop the run, but they answered the bell tonight.
It was the type of performance that the Steelers needed. Coming off a big win over the Baltimore Ravens to take over the AFC North lead, they couldn’t afford a letdown, and they went out and dominated for most of tonight’s win.
While it was only 7-3 at the half, the offense caught fire in the second half, and the defense played at a high level all night.
If the defense can keep things up and Watt, and not just his sack celebration, gets back in the fold, then the Steelers could get hot at the right time.
