![]() This has been a breakthrough season for a guy who was already an All-Pro to begin with. He’s also aided by the fact his offense has been mostly putrid, putting the credit for a +.500 record on a defense that hasn’t been great aside from its pass rush. Watt’s record would be slightly tinged by the 17th game added in 2021, but it’s notable that he’s at 21.5 sacks despite playing through injury and making only 14 starts this season. He’s also tied for fourth in the league with four forced fumbles. Roughly three times per game, the Pittsburgh linebacker is responsible for the kind of single-handed wizardry that derails possible scoring drives. Factor in his tackles for loss and you’ve got 41.5 plays that resulted in likely “and-long” situations. Watt has had 21.5 passing plays that ended in negative yardage. Sacks are an easy counting stat to confirm a player’s value to his defense. We’ve only seen the record broken once since Mark Gastineau had 22 sacks in 1984, but that was enough to get Michael Strahan the award in 2001 in a season where Ronde Barber had 10 interceptions and Brian Urlacher was a barely contained tornado. Watt can boost his resume with a league-record 23rd sack next week against the Baltimore Ravens. Since 2000, two-thirds of the players to hit that mark have won the award (Justin Houston, who had 22 sacks in 2014, wound up getting beaten by JJ Watt, who had 20.5 that winter). Half those guys went on to win DPOY honors. All odds via Tipico.ġ2 other players have finished a single season with at least 20 sacks in NFL history. Let’s take a look at who could siphon Watt’s votes for an award he’s probably gonna win anyway. He doesn’t have his votes cinched up just yet. ![]() 2022 looks very much like the former Wisconsin’s star’s year to join his brother JJ among the league’s immortal list of pass-rushing, run-stuffing, drive-erasing royalty. The Los Angeles Rams’ defensive tackle has won DPOY in three of the last four years, beating out Watt by only seven votes last winter. ![]() Watt’s nightmare-inducing performance has him set to break Aaron Donald’s iron grip on the award. His betting odds to win the honor, per Tipico Sportsbook, slingshotted from +175 to -450 after demolishing Cleveland and salting the earth behind him. This has made him a clear frontrunner to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He also leads the league in quarterback hits (36) and tackles for loss (20, tied with Micah Parsons). That gives the Steeler edge rusher a league-best 21.5 sacks in 14 games this season - only one other player, Robert Quinn, has more than 15 in 2021. He sacked Mayfield four times and recorded five more quarterback hits to thoroughly ruin the Browns’ night. Watt made sure Roethlisberger left the North Shore a winner in his hometown finale. It wasn’t for a lack of trying from TJ Watt. Mayfield completed some garbage time passes - a few to his guys, one to Pittsburgh - and eventually secured the “had more completions than sacks” crown. The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t pull off the rally, despite the 26-14 victory that kept their playoff hopes alive. That’s where, with two minutes left in Ben Roethlisberger’s likely Heinz Field finale, the box score gave us this neck-and-neck race. It was a tight battle in the fourth quarter of the final Monday Night Football game of the 2021 NFL season.
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