TJ Watts I didn't bat an eye when asked about it Steelers Following Pittsburgh's Week 13 win over the Championships, it is their 21st straight undefeated season Cincinnati Bengals.
At that point, the Steelers were 9-3 and had a sizable lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North division standings. The Steelers were in a great spot, but you wouldn't have known that after listening to Watt during his postgame press conference.
“Feels good, but there is still a lot to do” said Watts before leaving the podium.
Watt was certainly right. The Steelers are just 1-4 since that game and have lost four straight games heading into Saturday night's wild-card round encounter against the Ravens, who snatched the AFC North division title from Pittsburgh after winning the regular season had finished with a four-game winning streak. The Ravens now stand between Watt and a playoff victory, something that has eluded him so far in his future Hall of Fame career.
“This has been my story since I’ve been here; I didn’t win a playoff game,” Watt told reporters this week. “I've been saying that all season. You know how important this is to me. It starts with having a great day, day after day. This whole week. Today was a good day. This whole week has been a…” Good week. But if we've learned anything over the last four weeks, it doesn't matter how well you prepare, how good you feel about your preparation, if you don't perform on game day.
A first-round pick in 2017, Watt has built a career that stands alongside some of the best in franchise history, which is saying something for a franchise with six Super Bowl victories and 32 Hall of Famers. Watt is the franchise career leader in sacks and became the seventh player in franchise history to be named Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
Watt is certainly proud of his career, which will one day be anchored in Canton, Ohio. But what he really wants is playoff success, which ultimately culminates in one Super Bowl Title. Watt also needs to win a playoff game; He is 0-4 in the postseason heading into Saturday's game in Baltimore.
“I always say there’s a big difference between the guys that come back.” Super Bowl “Champions and guys who aren’t,” Watt said. “And that's not an insult to the guys who aren't. “I'm one of those guys at the moment, but a guy who's won definitely has an aura Super Bowl. And there's a sense of togetherness, a tight-knit group of guys that when they come back for alumni weekends, they hang out and bond and talk about their accomplishments on and off the field and stuff like that Super Bowl run.
“And that’s what we want. Everyone in here wants this. Don't confuse this lack of success with a lack of effort. Everyone tries it. We do everything we can to be great. That’s what we want.” Great. That doesn't mean we haven't done that, but we just have to do everything together and play complementary football. That's why everyone plays the National Football League game.
As Watt indicated, the Steelers routinely welcome back former players during their in-season alumni weekends. The Steelers also have their annual induction into the Hall of Honor, an honor Watt will continue to receive even after his playing career ends.
Pittsburgh also saw reunions with its Super Bowl championship teams. That's what the franchise did this year, bringing back members of the 1974 Steelers to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first Super Bowl victory.
While many of Pittsburgh's legendary players won Super Bowls with the Steelers, many did not. This group includes Hall of Famers Rod Woodson (who won one later in his career with Baltimore), Kevin GreeneDermontti Dawson, Ernie Stautner (the first Steelers to have his jersey retired), John Henry Johnson, three-time All-Pro linebacker Greg Lloyd, longtime teammate at the Pro Bowl Center Maurkice Pouncey and current Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward.
While that's not a bad group of players, Watt hopes to join the list of Steelers greats who won it all instead. He also wants one of his teams to host their own championship alumni weekends someday.
Despite the losing streak, Watt still believes his current team is still capable of achieving this.
“I mean, we've had a heck of a year up until the last few weeks,” he said. “We know we have the talent, we have the coaching staff, we have the plan, we have everything a good football team needs to get to the playoffs. It's just about playing good football together and we don't have that.” But that doesn't mean we can't get it back, and it's a lot easier to get something back than to try to rebuild it or from the start “But I feel like I’ve said that a lot this year, it’s all about execution.”
