Watch: T.J. Watt earns 100th career sack

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It didn’t too take long in the Sunday Night Football game for the Pittsburgh Steelers defense to earn the first takeaway of the night against the Dallas Cowboys. With eight seconds left in the first quarter, team captain T.J. Watt got home to earn his 100th career sack.

The Cowboys and Steelers were tied, 3-3, as Dallas’ offense lined up for 1st & 10 at their own 24 with 4:41 left in the opening quarter. Dak Prescott led the offense down the field on eight plays to get within striking distance of the end zone.

On 3rd & 6 at the Pittsburgh 11-yard line, Prescott took the snap from shotgun and both Watt and rookie outside linebacker Nick Herbig converged. Watt was able to outmaneuver his blocker and close on Prescott who’d turned towards Herbig in order to avoid the pressure coming from his left. It’s unlikely Prescott realized Watt had closed the distance.

Watt wrapped Prescott up, the football popped loose, and Herbig smartly fell on the fumble for the recovery.

https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1843116666877546575

The two former Wisconsin Badgers, Watt and Herbig, split the sack with 0.5 apiece. The sack, however, put Watt at 100 total sacks in his career, making his ascent to that mark the second-quickest in the NFL behind just Reggie White. White reached the mark in 96 games to Watt’s 109 games.

The congratulations began rolling in across X (formerly Twitter) from Watt’s brother J.J. Watt, the league, the Steelers and other notable figures.

https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1843117352453370000

Later, in the same game, Watt recorded another sack to bring his career total to 101.

Congratulations, T.J.

https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/1843117159217541235