Overreactions from Steelers Nation: T.J. Watt snubbed for DPOY and the media affection for Cleveland
Welcome to my weekly edition of “Overreactions from Steelers Nation” a weekly column where I poke fun at fans, reporters, and so-called experts while trying to figure out if some of these hot takes are real – or just for attention.
Typically, the beginning of my “overreaction” columns poke fun at yinzers. However, this week I find myself asking for a pitchfork and a torch, taking up the cause for T.J. Watt coming in second place for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award at last week’s NFL Honors.
It’s not even so much that Watt didn’t win the award, it’s who he lost it to: Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett, who was not the league’s best defensive player, not even by a longshot. Mind you, Garrett is a great player, but his season was far from elite. Several other players made a compelling case versus Watt (including the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby).
Garrett was not one of them.
Before I get into the comparisons of both players, let’s examine how Watt was screwed. These awards are voted on by people in sports media. Those same people who are supposed to have no bias, generally have bias for a multitude of reasons. Perhaps they grew up with a favorite team or have ties to a specific organization that they cover. Or someone shorted them on an interview.
The media holds grudges, but they also have to prove to the world they’re never wrong with their hot takes.
In the case of the analytics nerds and prediction model folks, they have to prop up their takes so they aren’t proven wrong or made it to look foolish.
Yet, voting for Garrett over Watt does exactly that.
We all know how much the media has been swooning over the prospect of the Cleveland Browns finally turning their franchise from a loser into a winner. The talking heads on TV have done nothing but praise everyone from Garrett to QB Deshaun Watson to naming the Browns preseason Super Bowl contenders for each of the last several years.
For transparency, I want to be clear that while I have no love lost for the Browns, my bias isn’t in the way as much as you may think with these opinions.
Garrett wasn’t the only award the Browns questionably won at the NFL Honors. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was given the Coach of the Year award. He won it over Houston Texans coach Demeco Ryans and Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. How can you give that award to Stefansiki when the Browns did not win their division?
Yet, the Texans and Lions both did. In the case of Detroit, it was the first time they placed first-in their division since 1993. They also won 12 games to Cleveland’s 11.
They also awarded the Assistant Coach of the Year award to Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. That one is harder to argue, as the Browns were a top unit, but they weren’t an all-time best either with other coordinators proving to be better candidates.
Let’s compare the Baltimore Ravens, who were first in points allowed and sixth in yards. The Browns were 13th in points but first in yards. Yet, Baltimore forced more turnovers and was first and second in rushing and passing scoring. (Whereas the Browns ranked in the middle of the league at 17th in both categories; far from elite.)
Last but not least, Joe Flacco won the Comeback Player of the Year award over Buffalo’s Damar Hamlin and Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield. Mayfield was left for dead as a top NFL quarterback after joining his fourth career team but threw for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions with the Bucs. Hamlin, as we all know (and a terrible segue I may add) was dead and revived on the field, overcoming that adversity to play a full season.
Flacco was a nice story but only had a single game with over a 100 QB rating in his five starts. (Yes, Flacco won the award for playing in only five games!)
Calculated for a 17-game season, Flacco was projected to throw 27 interceptions. Only two players have thrown more in the last two decades: (Brett Favre, 29 in 2005, and Jameis Winston, 30 in 2019).
Yet the rah-rah slobbering over the Browns greatness couldn’t end there. For weeks we heard about how Myles Garrett had a greater “pass rush win rate” than T.J. Watt, despite having a single sack in his final six regular season games. That sack came against New York Jets QB Trevor Siemian when the team was already down by three scores.
So, how can Garrett have such a high “win rate” when he wasn’t sacking quarterbacks left and right? The last time I checked, when a pass rusher “wins” it’s by sacking the QB – something T.J. Watt led the league in. Watt also became the first player in NFL history to lead the league in sacks three different times.
Once you account for other stats, it’s very clear that Watt was robbed of this honor.
… https://t.co/QJkKKaJLfS pic.twitter.com/FrjZxHmjUe
— Michael Bertsch (@SteelersPRMike) January 24, 2024
But that’s not all. For the media members who believe Garrett is better than Watt (and there’s a number of them out there) they haven’t run the numbers. While Garrett disappears late in the season, the “advanced metrics” group comes up with stats that spin him into a player he’s not. Oftentimes excuses, such as he’s double-teamed more often, enter the debate.
Do we believe for one moment that opposing offenses do not account for where Watt is on every single play? And while we’re at it, we know they both play different positions but does Watt – who drops into coverage while Garrett does not – receive more chances to go directly after the quarterback?
Those are rhetorical questions, folks. Thanks for joining my TED Talk and stay tuned because I’m going to bust open the comparisons between Garrett and Watt even further to show how much of a farce this award truly was this season.
