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T.J. Watt is going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, and probably five years after his final NFL game. That’s not an argument anymore.
No defensive player in the NFL means more to his team. When the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in a difficult spot Monday night against the New York Giants, nearing the end of an ugly performance, Watt made the play to get them a win. It’s hard to depend on an edge rusher to make a game-winning play time and time again, but Watt has done it his whole career.
Watt had a strip sack of Daniel Jones with 2:59 left and the Giants deep in Steelers territory, needing a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie the game. That was the big play of the night, and an interception with 34 seconds left and the Giants in Steelers territory sealed it. The Steelers won 26-18, escaping a game against a bad Giants team in which the offense wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard. Pittsburgh is a surprising 6-2 this season, while the Giants are a predictable 2-6.
Most division leaders are atop the standings with a star quarterback leading the way, whether it’s the Buffalo Bills with Josh Allen, the Washington Commanders with Jayden Daniels or the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes. The Steelers don’t have that type of quarterback, but they keep winning. A big reason is they have Watt to make plays like he did Monday night.
An ugly 1st half
For an indication of how the first half went, the biggest talking point was the touchdowns that didn’t count.
The Steelers had a George Pickens touchdown called back due to a face mask penalty on tackle Broderick Jones. Then the Giants seemed to have a touchdown to tight end Chris Manhertz, but there was an illegal shift on Malik Nabers. ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk explained that it was technically the correct call, but it seemed like the type of infraction that is rarely flagged.
In the second quarter, Pickens caught what looked like another touchdown. The NFL looked at the replay and saw that…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/live/tj-watt-steelers-hold-off-giants-to-win-a-monday-night-slog-225131632.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-28 22:51:31
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