Fun with Sack #'s

[Mojouw]

I am shamelessly stealing this from here: https://theathletic.com/4838847/2023...ward-steelers/

But...68% of Cam Heyward's sacks have come since Watt arrived (53/78.5). Heyward went from a handful of sacks per year to almost consistent double digits.

I know we all have gotten on Highsmith for not being any great shakes without Watt running on the other side. Same with Dupree before that.

But...one way to look at the numbers is that Watt is going to put Heyward in the HOF!

This is not meant to bash Heyward, dude is a monster, but leaping monkeys, Watt has such an outsized impact on the entire defense.

[T&B fan]

yup all you have to do is look at the #s . wins with him , wins ( or lack of ) with out him .

[Justin Otstott]

Watt improves everyone around him, so I am most excited about this 2023 Steelers defense! We added new faces that will benefit from Watt being there.


With the pressure from the defensive line and the linebackers, we should see an uptick in turnovers.

[pczach]

I am shamelessly stealing this from here: https://theathletic.com/4838847/2023...ward-steelers/

But...68% of Cam Heyward's sacks have come since Watt arrived (53/78.5). Heyward went from a handful of sacks per year to almost consistent double digits.

I know we all have gotten on Highsmith for not being any great shakes without Watt running on the other side. Same with Dupree before that.

But...one way to look at the numbers is that Watt is going to put Heyward in the HOF!

This is not meant to bash Heyward, dude is a monster, but leaping monkeys, Watt has such an outsized impact on the entire defense.

TJ Watt is a unicorn.

He is literally one of the greatest defenders in the history of football. The dude simply has an effect on the entire game and impacts the amount of blocking every other player on the defensive front 7 faces. He also impacts the defensive secondary because every single player in coverage doesn't need to cover as long because of the pressure he generates on the quarterback, or the pressure generated on the quarterback by other players because of all the bodies required to block him. If he is double teamed by two offensive linemen, it leaves every defensive lineman with one-on-one matchups that are much easier to defeat, plus it is more difficult for OL to help other OL during the pass rush.

When he is double teamed, it leaves an opportunity for blitzers to come clean at the quarterback when rushing the quarterback. If he is double teamed on a running play, it creates one-on-ones for the DL, plus it helps to leave clean openings for LBs to get to ball carriers to make tackles because the OL isn't getting to the second level to block them because they are blocking him.

He somehow still manages to defend passes in coverage and also by deflecting passes at the LOS. He also manages to intercept passes at the LOS every year in a way that is even hard to describe because the ball is coming out of the QBs hand at such speed that a human should not be able to catch it. He generates turnovers because he causes fumbles with ridiculous regularity and we can never quantify how many interceptions he causes with his pressures on the QB or the pressures generated by other players because he is being double and triple teamed and they have an easier path to the QB.

When he is chipped by a RB or a TE at the LOS to help offenses try to slow him down, it takes longer for them to get into their patterns and throws off the normal timing of where they will be with the QB and may force a QB to hold the ball longer which gives everybody more time to get to the QB or forces an incompletion. If they keep RBs and TEs in to help block him, it forces offenses to keep RBs or TEs from even being in the pass pattern which limits the options of quarterbacks and opens up other defenders to help in coverage, or to come after the quarterback because that defender's responsibilities on that particular play are blocking Watt instead of being in a pass pattern. Or, if the RBs and TEs do slip into the pattern, it is much later so the quarterback has to hold the ball longer in many cases and that creates more sack opportunities for everyone.

His quickness and penetration helps him produce a ton of tackles for loss, which then puts the offense behind the down-and-distance comfort zones, many times takes away the probability of an offense running the ball so they become one dimensional, and it creates more opportunities to rush the passer with longer down-and-distance scenarios which forces QBs to hold the ball longer which gives the defense more opportunities for sacks or to create turnovers.

A healthy TJ Watt is almost literally the perfect weapon on a football field.

I'm not sure that anyone else that has ever played does as many things as well as he does....and I'm not kidding. He is a football toolbox full of athletic traits and abilities to destroy offenses in a huge number of ways. He's just one of those rare players that is a game wrecker.

[Mach1]

TJ Watt is a unicorn.

He is literally one of the greatest defenders in the history of football. The dude simply has an effect on the entire game and impacts the amount of blocking every other player on the defensive front 7 faces. He also impacts the defensive secondary because every single player in coverage doesn't need to cover as long because of the pressure he generates on the quarterback, or the pressure generated on the quarterback by other players because of all the bodies required to block him. If he is double teamed by two offensive linemen, it leaves every defensive lineman with one-on-one matchups that are much easier to defeat, plus it is more difficult for OL to help other OL during the pass rush.

When he is double teamed, it leaves an opportunity for blitzers to come clean at the quarterback when rushing the quarterback. If he is double teamed on a running play, it creates one-on-ones for the DL, plus it helps to leave clean openings for LBs to get to ball carriers to make tackles because the OL isn't getting to the second level to block them because they are blocking him.

He somehow still manages to defend passes in coverage and also by deflecting passes at the LOS. He also manages to intercept passes at the LOS every year in a way that is even hard to describe because the ball is coming out of the QBs hand at such speed that a human should not be able to catch it. He generates turnovers because he causes fumbles with ridiculous regularity and we can never quantify how many interceptions he causes with his pressures on the QB or the pressures generated by other players because he is being double and triple teamed and they have an easier path to the QB.

When he is chipped by a RB or a TE at the LOS to help offenses try to slow him down, it takes longer for them to get into their patterns and throws off the normal timing of where they will be with the QB and may force a QB to hold the ball longer which gives everybody more time to get to the QB or forces an incompletion. If they keep RBs and TEs in to help block him, it forces offenses to keep RBs or TEs from even being in the pass pattern which limits the options of quarterbacks and opens up other defenders to help in coverage, or to come after the quarterback because that defender's responsibilities on that particular play are blocking Watt instead of being in a pass pattern. Or, if the RBs and TEs do slip into the pattern, it is much later so the quarterback has to hold the ball longer in many cases and that creates more sack opportunities for everyone.

His quickness and penetration helps him produce a ton of tackles for loss, which then puts the offense behind the down-and-distance comfort zones, many times takes away the probability of an offense running the ball so they become one dimensional, and it creates more opportunities to rush the passer with longer down-and-distance scenarios which forces QBs to hold the ball longer which gives the defense more opportunities for sacks or to create turnovers.

A healthy TJ Watt is almost literally the perfect weapon on a football field.

I'm not sure that anyone else that has ever played does as many things as well as he does....and I'm not kidding. He is a football toolbox full of athletic traits and abilities to destroy offenses in a huge number of ways. He's just one of those rare players that is a game wrecker.

Well, there was this guy.

[pczach]

Well, there was this guy.

He was amazing. My favorite safety of all-time. The best safety of all-time IMO.

For a player in the secondary, I've never seen anyone else impact the game the way he did all over the entire field. But that is a different animal all together. When Troy made plays, he made the plays. He didn't create something for somebody else because of the position he plays. He couldn't cover two receivers or draw offensive players from somebody else. It is a limitation because he had to play in space. That's not a knock on Troy, because nobody ever did it like him.

Watt's impact can literally be felt on every snap because of the attention that is required to limit him at the line of scrimmage. That's all.

[DuckHodges]

if you get a sack because of Watt taking away attention from you, does that make it a dong sack?

you know, cause any sack that doesn't happen against a top 10 LT or double team doesn't count

[HollywoodSteel]

Watt is now tied with Harrison for the most sacks in Steelers history. And he’s on pace to break the single season sack record with 51 sacks.

3 a game seems totally a doable

[DuckHodges]

Watt is now tied with Harrison for the most sacks in Steelers history. And he’s on pace to break the single season sack record with 51 sacks.

3 a game seems totally a doable

maybe we can nickname him The Watterboy