Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt channels his inner “Waterboy,” Bobby Boucher, while starring alongside brothers J.J. and Derek in a new TV spot for Old El Paso.
Watt’s ability to break character remains to be seen. As with the Adam Sandler icon of yesteryear, the youngest Watt brother rightly can mutter, “Stop making fun of me,” before bullrushing would-be bullies.
Watt enters Saturday’s AFC wild card game at Baltimore winless in four career postseason appearances and helps prove misery loves company. The Steelers haven’t won in the playoffs since advancing to the conference championship game after the 2016 season. Watt joined the fold the following year and seemingly speaks for the locker room when venting his frustration about Pittsburgh’s playoff pratfalls.
“It’s been no secret from the start,” Watt said.
Counterpart Lindsey Willhite wrote this week that the Detroit Lions face the most pressure among the NFL’s 14 playoff teams. The Steelers surely follow their Rust Belt brethren somewhere near the front of the line.
Sparked by a resurgent Russell Wilson at quarterback and a reinvigorated defense, Pittsburgh distanced itself from a 3-2 start with a 7-1 run that vaulted the Steelers to the top of the AFC North standings. An 18-16 home win against the Ravens in Week 11 put Pittsburgh ahead by two games in the loss column.
While a gauntlet to close the regular season loomed, securing the No. 2 seed in the AFC appeared plausible. All the preseason chatter about simply solving inconsistency at QB and letting the rushing attack and a veteran ‘D’ do its thing was coming to pass.
Then the Steelers mimicked the fictitious, pre-Boucher SCLSU Mud Dogs, losing by a combined 50 points against Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Kansas City. The score against Cincinnati in Week 18 was narrower—19-17—but the result remained the same: a defeat.
After averaging 28 points and 372 yards a game in Wilson’s first seven starts after relieving an up-and-down Justin Fields, the offense slumped to averages of 14 points and 259 yards over the final four games.
Pittsburgh’s defense regressed, too, allowing 381 yards per game and forcing just five turnovers in the final four contests.
It all added up to the Steelers’ first four-game losing streak to close a regular season since 1998, the year “The Waterboy” was released.
“Everybody in this room got to want it,” Pittsburgh linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “That’s the only way we’re going to move on and get better.”
Saturday offers a chance to reverse a painful pattern versus a familiar foe. Before the Ravens defeated the Steelers 34-17 in Week 16, taking control of the division behind three Lamar Jackson touchdown passes, Pittsburgh had won seven of eight against Baltimore. Each meeting was decided by seven points or less.
Baltimore limited Watt to one sack, two quarterback hits and two tackles for loss during the regular season. Watt has just one career playoff sack to his name.
“I’ve got plenty of time left,” Watt said. “But there is an urgency to win, there is. Nobody likes to lose.”
Kicker Chris Boswell and defensive tackle Cam Heyward are the lone Steelers to win a playoff game with the team.
Sure as Watt’s latest commercial will loop into postseason perpetuity, Pittsburgh must pick up production to flip the script.
