Earlier than the Laborious Knocks cameras can air it, Pittsburgh Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt shared the message popping out of the group assembly room Thursday, 48 hours earlier than a crucial recreation in opposition to the Baltimore Ravens. In video games which can be virtually at all times shut and all the way down to the wire, deciding the AFC North will come all the way down to the ultimate jiffy. That’s the place the Steelers should shine.
“I look ahead to each recreation.,” Watt informed reporters Thursday through the group web site. “Clearly, this can be a enormous recreation. It’s an necessary one. Taking part in in Baltimore is at all times robust. Taking part in in opposition to this opponent is at all times robust. It at all times comes all the way down to large performs within the fourth quarter. That was the massive message immediately, and I don’t see this recreation being any completely different.”
Although Pittsburgh has dominated as victor in recent times, the outcomes have at all times been shut. All eight of the Steelers’ most up-to-date wins have been by one possession, 4 of which have been determined by not more than three factors. Extremely, the Steelers have solely led after the third quarter in three of these 9 video games in comparison with the Ravens’ 5. The 2 groups have been tied within the different.
The Steelers know the artwork of a comeback and learn how to shut out a recreation. It’s why Pittsburgh has sustained its success, robust in one-possession video games and within the fourth quarter. Each stats have held true this season, although the Steelers wilted of their Week 15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Guys like Watt embody these clutch moments. Since being drafted in 2017, he’s third leaguewide in fourth-quarter sacks with 28 solely trailing retired DT Aaron Donald (31) and Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson (29). Different performs he’s made aren’t fairly as seen on the stat sheet just like the stress he bought on a failed game-winning two-point conversion try by the Ravens in 2020.
With accidents mounting and the difficulties of a brief week, the Steelers could have their fingers full Saturday. But it surely appears regardless of the circumstances or arc of both group, these video games are performed the identical approach. Powerful, bodily, intense. This one will finish the identical approach, too.
