The Pittsburgh Steelers defense looked like a completely different group on Sunday en route to a 20-10 win over the New Orleans Saints. This was even minus free safety MInkah Fitzpatrick.
The reason for the huge performance? T.J. Watt. The dominant outside linebacker was back on the field after missing seven games with a partially torn pectoral from all the way back in Week 1. But could one guy really mean that much to the defense? Steelers reporter Josh Rowntree summed it up perfectly in this tweet:
In two games Watt has played this season, the Steelers are 2-0 and have allowed 15 points per game. In the seven games Watt missed, the Steelers were 1-6 and allowed 25.3 points per game. The Steelers also had nine sacks in those two wins as opposed to just seven in the other seven games. The Steelers also forced two more turnovers, seven to nine in those games.
There is no player on this team more important than Watt, and there probably isn’t a non-quarterback on any team in the NFL more valuable.
