Watch: T.J. Watt saves the day with brilliant strip-sack of Seahawks’ Smith
Steel City Underground will pick an exceptional play of the game as a highlight each week of the Steelers 2021 regular season. Stay tuned as we hand-select the very best from the Black and Gold!
During primetime before a national NFL crowd, the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Seattle Seahawks in what turned out to be a very physical game on Sunday Night Football. Although the Steelers took an early lead, holding Seattle scoreless in the first half of the game, they were forced to adjust when Pete Carroll brought the Seahawks onto the field for the second half and altered the offensive game plan. With the switch to a run-heavy offense, the Steelers defense struggled, initially. Ultimately, however, in a game that went into overtime due to high strangeness, it was T.J. Watt‘s brilliant strip-sack of Geno Smith that put the ball back into Pittsburgh’s possession for the win.
After Chris Boswell kicked the ball off to the Seahawks to open the overtime period, Seattle aired out a deep pass over the middle to Tyler Lockett for a 21-yard gain, hoping to keep momentum in their favor. Cameron Heyward had a big stop on the following first-and-ten, which led to a short pass before Watt sacked Smith for a loss of 13 yards. That sack forced Seattle to punt the ball to Pittsburgh.
The Steelers’ offense fell short in their scoring attempt after a four-yard run by Najee Harris, a short catch by tight end Pat Freiermuth from Ben Roethlisberger, and a catch short of the first-down marker by Ray-Ray McCloud. Pressley Harvin punted the ball a booming 56 yards to pin Seattle at their own 15-yard line and set up the big play by Watt.
On first-and-ten, Smith watched the heavy pressure wash around him and opted to attempt to run the ball himself. Watt, who was being jammed by two offensive linemen, was able to break off the pass rush and recover. Reaching out, he simultaneously brought Smith to the turf from behind with one arm as he also dislodged the ball. Devin Bush was able to scoop up the loose ball as Heinz Field erupted.
Wasting no time, Roethlisberger ran two plays simply to put the ball closer to the center of the field. The Steelers trotted out Boswell, who successfully converted the 37-yard field goal, celebrating with his teammates on the field, as the Steelers moved to 3-3 on the season ahead of their bye week.
Watt has been worth every penny he was paid to extend his contract with Pittsburgh and become the highest-paid player at his position in the NFL this season. On the night he had seven tackles (six solo), 2.0 sacks, one forced fumble, and three pass knockdowns.
