Steelers star T.J. Watt hit another all-time milestone despite injuries in 2022

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a legendary player on their hands. Here’s the latest milestone that T.J. Watt just reached against the Panthers in Week 15. 

At this point, nothing that T.J. Watt does seems to surprise us. While the reigning Defensive Player of the Year has been on IR for most of the season so far, he’s still managing to crack some pretty impressive all-time milestones.

Against the Carolina Panthers this past Sunday, Watt got the best of right tackle, Taylor Moton, on more than one occasion. As a result, he finished the contest with 1.5 sacks — knocking QB Sam Darnold to the turf twice, per ESPN stats.

While this seems like a pretty typical game for Watt, it held a certain level of significance that mostly went noticed. On December 18th, Watt became the third-fastest player in NFL history to reach 75 sacks, according to Stathead.com. The only two names ahead of him on the list are legendary pass rusher Reggie White and his big brother J.J. Watt.

Steelers star climbs into remarkable company

This is far from the first notable accolade that T.J. Watt has earned. In addition to being the DPOY in 2021, Watt was also named the Steelers Team MVP for three straight seasons from 2019-2021.

This year, Watt isn’t going to be in line for many awards thanks to his unfortunate injuries. After missing roughly half of the 2022 season with a pectoral injury and arthroscopic knee surgery, Watt would go on to deal with a rib injury following his return after the bye week. His time missed will mean that a new DPOY will be crowned after the new year, and the team MVP award will likely go to a player who has been much healthier (like fellow All-Pro, Minkah Fitzpatrick).

Even with the ailments Watt dealt with, it’s hard to keep a great player down. Now he joins some of the greatest company in the history of the game with this new milestone. This comes less than one year after tying Michael Strahan for the all-time single-season sack record.

Watt appears to still be nursing his way back to full health and injuries have plagued him for much of the past two seasons. Even in his DPOY year in 2021, Watt missed two games and was forced to play through hip, knee, and groin injuries.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers star can get back to full health during the 2023 offseason, I would not be surprised to see another DPOY-type season from him next year. If he stays healthy, the sky is the limit to the personal achievements he could earn.