Opening day at Acrisure Stadium delivered plenty of odd twists, but T.J. Watt cut through all of them.
Against an Atlanta Falcons offense leaning on a third-string quarterback, the Steelers needed to squeeze every bit of life out of a limited opponent. Watt made sure that happened. He was in Cooper Rush’s face all afternoon, and his performance helped Mike McCarthy pick up his first win as the Steelers’ head coach.
More than that, it was a reminder of what Watt still means to this defense.
Pittsburgh drafted him 30th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft with the expectation that he’d become an X-factor. He has done far more than that.
Watt’s leadership and his knack for changing games have helped keep the Steelers attached to a defensive identity that had started to fade. Some of the years under Teryl Austin were more frustrating than encouraging, and the defense had real trouble keeping teams off the scoreboard.
Watt’s own production dipped too. In 2025, he finished with seven sacks and 55 total tackles, his lowest output since 2022. Pittsburgh also ranked 29th in opponent passes per game, a rough stretch for a unit that was getting picked apart while its top pass rusher struggled to produce like he had in the past.
Sunday looked very different.
Watt delivered four total tackles, two sacks and a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown. That scoring play put him in rare company, joining Julius Peppers as the only players with 100 sacks and 10 interceptions since sacks became official in 1982.
It was the kind of outing that changes the feel of a game. The pressure kept building in the backfield, and Rush had to work harder and harder just to keep Atlanta moving.
The Steelers finished with four sacks and two interceptions before the final whistle, a strong defensive showing even if there’s still plenty to clean up.
Pittsburgh’s day was not without its own complications. Contract extension talks with Joey Porter Jr. had become a sticking point before the opener, and the cornerback missed the game with a back injury.
The front office also does not plan to keep discussing an extension. Even so, that absence did not change the final outcome.
The Steelers held Atlanta to 118 total passing yards. Rush completed 54% of his passes and averaged 6.5 yards per attempt, numbers that earned a gold star for Patrick Graham’s defense. Atlanta did have stretches where it looked like it might find something, but Watt kept showing up at the right time and shutting the door.
For Pittsburgh, that was the story. On a day when the Steelers needed their defensive centerpiece to take over, Watt did exactly that. He turned in the kind of performance that reminded everyone why he remains so valuable, and why Pittsburgh will need that version of him all season long.
He turns 32 in a month, but Sunday made one thing clear: Watt still has plenty left.
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T.J. Watt opened the season the way the Steelers needed him to, flashing the kind of disruptive play that can change a game in a hurry. Against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, he piled up two sacks, two quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and even took an interception back for a pick-six, giving Pittsburgh exactly the sort of defensive spark that has long been central to its identity.
For a defense built around pressure up front, Watts early showing mattered as much for reassurance as it did for the win itself. There had been questions after last season about whether he could still be the same dominant force, but this was a reminder that he remains the player opponents have to account for every snap, and that the Steelers ceiling on defense still runs through him. [Read more 🡒]
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T.J. Watt was the headline act with two sacks and a touchdown interception, and Payton Wilson added a busy day with 13 tackles and two tackles for loss. The concern is harder to ignore on the other side of the ball, where the ground game never really found traction, and the Steelers may already be facing questions about whether that balance will hold up once the games get tighter. [Read more 🡒]