Pittsburgh Steelers Hope To Get Boost From T.J. Watt Return

It is getting late early for the Pittsburgh Steelers when it comes to their playoff chances.

The Steelers are 2-6 coming out of their bye week as they prepare to host the New Orleans Saints at Acrisure Stadium.

Last season, the Steelers gained the seventh and playoff spot in the AFC with a 9-7-1 record. They would need to go 7-1-1 the rest of the way to replicate that mark in 2022.

While it is difficult to envision the Steelers making that dramatic of a turnaround, they should get a lift Sunday with the likely return of outside linebacker T.J. Watt.

Watt sustained a pectoral injury in the season-opening win over the Cincinnati Bengals. His absence has had a particularly large effect on the Steelers’ pass rush.

The Steelers sacked Joe Burrow seven times in Week 1. They have taken down the quarterback a total of eight times in the ensuing seven games.

Watt tied the NFL record with 22 ½ sacks last season and was voted the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Safety Damonte Kazee, signed as a free agent in the offseason, is also expected to make his Steelers’ debut. Kazee injured his arm and wrist in the preseason.

“Both guys have been participants and we’ll continue to monitor those guys,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. “We’ve been optimistic about their inclusion this week. But again, we got some work ahead of us and got some reaction to that work, how they feel coming off the work. We’ll just continue to monitor those guys and make appropriate decisions regarding them as we get closer to game time.”

The Steelers are 29^th among the 32 NFL teams in total defense, allowing 395.1 yards a game and 23^rd in scoring defense (24.6). Watt’s return might not singlehandedly fix the defense, but it should help.

“T.J. is who he is,” Tomlin said. “It’s not mystical the things that he’s able to do. I don’t know that any of us are surprised at what he’s capable of getting done. We eagerly await his return.”

The Steelers’ defense has been hit hard by injuries. Having Kazee back would give defensive coordinator Teryl Austin the option of playing three safeties at once. Kazee could be teamed with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds.

Kazee is in his sixth NFL season. He played for the Atlanta Falcons from 2017-20 then spent last season with the Dallas Cowboys.

In 2018, Kazee led the league with seven interceptions.

“I just think in this era of specialization, particularly defensive specialization, to match offensive personnel groupings is a big component,” Tomlin said. “In three safety defense or big nickel, as a lot of people refer to it, is one of the things that’s in vogue to combat two tight end personnel groups, and particularly when one of those tight ends is a vertical, up field type and a guy that’s wide receiver like. We explored that some and it was an asset to us and it’s reasonable to expect us to continue in that vein.”