By Dale Lolley/Steelers.com
With just a few exceptions, T.J. Watt has lined up over the opponent’s right tackle play after play.
But in last Monday night’s 26-18 win over the Giants, Watt and fellow outside linebacker Alexx Highsmith swapped sides on several third downs, with Watt lining up against the left tackle and Highsmith moving across the line.
It finally led to some confusion for New York late in the game, when quarterback Daniel Jones failed to recognize where Watt was aligned and did not move a tight end over to help chip Watt, who was aligned over the right tackle on a crucial third down with the Giants threatening to score and possibly tie the game.
Instead, tight end Theo Johnson stayed on Highsmith’s side and Watt whipped right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor at the snap and sacked Jones, stripping the ball free and recovering it to end the New York threat.
“It’s about what we’re seeing on tape,” said Steelers linebackers coach Denzel Martin of the decision to flip Watt and Highsmith at times against the Giants. “If they’re chipping heavy on one side, and you can just go over to the other side, that’s cool with us. It’s week-to-week.”
The turnovers have been, as well. Watt is tied for the league-lead with four forced fumbles.
The Steelers try to foster a turnover culture. In fact, Martin tracks turnovers forced and puts together a tape each week to show to the team. And if you get a takeaway, you get a T-shirt.
“We’ve been doing that since I’ve been here,” said Martin. “They allowed me to take it over three years ago to where I do my little takeaway tape. It’s just fun to do little things to see what these guys do for takeaways.
“We’ve got a shirt deal. We’re giving shirts away. T.J. says, ‘Well, I punched the ball away. Can I get my shirt?’ We’re just like that. That’s what we like. We like that college-type feel to where we’re doing it for something. It makes guys go, and it’s fun. If you get a gray shirt, then you’ve got two. And then if you’re a black belt, you’ve got three or more.”
That part of the process came from the mind of defensive backs coach Grady Brown.
“Grady Brown was the one who brought that up before the year,” Martin said. “He went out and got it all executed and got it done and brought it to me. And then we have the other culture board we do with helmet stickers. (Defensive line coach) Carl Dunbar came up with that.”
Much like swapping sides with the outside linebackers, whatever it takes to get the job done.
The Steelers have forced 15 turnovers thus far this season, which has them tied for second in the NFL. But that’s nothing new. They were top-10 in takeaways in each of the previous two seasons, as well.
“We practice it as much as we can,” said Martin. “Every day, you’ll see takeaway circuits on the field that we work with everything we do with a punch-ball search in some sort of fashion.”
Stopping the run: After allowing a season-high 157 rushing yards in last Sunday’s 26-18 win over the New York Giants, there weren’t a lot of smiles in the Steelers’ locker room from defensive players, particularly the defensive linemen.
They knew what would await them when they had to watch the tape with defensive line coach Karl Dunbar.
“They should be annoyed,” Dunbar said. “When daddy’s not happy, they shouldn’t be happy.”
Rookie Tyrone Tracy had a career-high 145 rushing yards on 20 carries, including a 45-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that forced the Steelers to hold the Giants off at the end with a Beanie Bishop sealing the win in the final two minutes.
For a team that had allowed 57 and 54 rushing yards in its previous two games, allowing 157 was a smack in the face going into the team’s bye week.
“There are things we can correct and get better at each and every week. We’re going on the bye and we can’t just go on vacation,” said linebacker T.J. Watt. “We need to find a way to get better and sharpen our edge this week and get better.”
That’s the proper attitude to have regarding correcting the mistakes that were made en route to allowing the Giants to have a big rushing day.
“We pride ourselves in stopping the run because I think you have to earn the right to rush the passer,” said Dunbar. “And when you can’t get people one-dimensional, when they run the ball between the tackles, that eats at me. So I’m going to let my pet peeves be known to them. So, it should eat at all of them.”
Keeping expectations high: The Steelers’ special teams units have been among the best in the NFL this season. They’ve blocked three kicks. Punt returned Calvin Austin III had a 73-yard return for a touchdown against the Giants last week. Placekicker Chris Boswell has made 23 of his 24 field goal attempts, with his lone miss coming from 62 yards. And the punt coverage units are allowing just 4.8 yards per return, which tops the league.
It comes from having high expectations.
“We have a standard that was set before I got here,” said longtime special teams coordinator Danny Smith. “Now, there’s an expectation. I have a responsibility with the preparation. The players have a responsibility, and I just went over that with them in our meeting.”
Smith prepares his units as well as anyone in the NFL, putting together what he calls a “Saturday Tape,” that he delivers to the players every Tuesday, showing them key plays and pointers for the upcoming opponent. The players are expected to watch and re-watch the teaching tape, and then they go over it in their final meetings Saturday.
That’s one big reason why, when the Steelers’ special teams units make a big play, the players involve Smith in the celebration. They know his preparation was a big part of what made that play happen.
Smith, 70, just wishes they weren’t quite so boisterous with the celebrations.
“We’re in this together, I promise you. And that’s another thing I stress,” said Smith. “It isn’t just about them. It isn’t just about me. We are definitely in this together. But I told them to stay the heck away from me. I’ve got 300 pounders shaking me. Dan Moore shakes me after that one game and he said, ‘I didn’t realize you were that light.’ It’s been fun for me, but they beat the heck out of me. I’m sore and I didn’t even play.”