The Pittsburgh Steelers are still licking their wounds after a 28-14 loss against the Baltimore Ravens in the postseason. Their defense was ripped apart to such a degree that the final scoreline was in no way indicative of how poorly Mike Tomlin's team as a whole performed.
Baltimore, who led 21-0 at halftime, ran for almost 300 yards, with Derrick Henry himself amassing 186 yards and two touchdowns. Lamar Jackson, who ran for 84 yards, was unaffected by Pittsburgh's pass rush. As a result, star TJ Watt found himself under the microscope yet again.
Watt was ripped for his first-half performance, as the Amazon crew put together a compilation of him getting fooled on read-option plays and tackling the running back when Jackson kept the ball. Watt's numbers against the Ravens in the last two games have been alarming.
Watt has not recorded a sack or tackle in his last 127 snaps, which constituted both of his games against the Ravens. The Steelers can't win these big games if they have a star like Watt no-showing against a Baltimore team that can be beaten.
TJ Watt's no-show in playoffs should be concerning for Steelers
Part of the reason Watt has struggled is a vanilla defensive scheme. When Tomlin and Teryl Austin have an offense figured out beforehand, like they did early in Jackson's career, their defense can be crushing. When they don't, games like this happen in primetime.
Watt himself deserves some blame for this stinker as well. Baltimore's tackles are the declining Ronnie Stanley and a second-round rookie in Roger Rosengarten, and they were both able to completely take Watt out of the game. A player of his caliber shouldn't have games like this.
Watt, who will turn 31 in the middle of next season, recorded 11.5 sacks this season and was named second-team All-Pro. While that is quality production, it is a bit of a step down when compared to a four-year period in which he had more sacks than any other player in the league.
Is there a possible decline coming? Probably not, but the Steelers do need to be concerned if a player like Watt has been completely shut out of the two biggest games of the season back-to-back. Tomlin isn't escaping responsibility either.