Everyone knows that T.J. Watt is the best sack artist in the NFL. He's got an NFL-record three sack titles and holds a piece of the single-season sack record to show that.
But that's not the only thing that sets him apart from other defensive players.
Just ask Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
"Yeah, I can definitely feel (him)," said Burrow on the Pardon My Take podcast. "T.J. is a unique player in this league. There's no other defensive lineman that I have to treat like a DB. I have to be conscious about where he's at because he's just going to jump up and catch it. And there's nobody else who can do that.
"You have to be alert for him in the pass game, which is very unique, I would say."
Burrow should know. He's thrown two of Watt's seven career interceptions.
And, quite frankly, that's why Watt should have won his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award last season.
Watt not only led the NFL with 19 sacks, he also intercepted a pass, forced four fumbles and recovered three others, returning one for a touchdown.
His 96.5 career sacks in seven seasons is second-most in NFL history behind only Reggie White and DeMarcus Ware.
Myles Garrett, who won the DPOY award, had 14 sacks, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and no interceptions.
And, oh by the way, Garrett had 42 combined tackles. Watt had 48 solo tackles and 68 combined tackles.
It's well documented that Watt should have won his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. He was a far more consistent and productive player than Garrett in 2023.
Garrett had 12 tackles and one sack in the final seven weeks of the 2023 season. In that same span, Watt had 32 tackles and 7.5 sacks.
The DPOY voting should have been a no-brainer. Then again, maybe it was, because apparently some voters didn't use their brains when voting.
Then again, just this week, ESPN polled NFL coaches and executives and Watt came in second to Garrett in the voting among edge rushers. One voter ranked Watt as low as fifth in the NFL among edge rushers – seriously.
It makes you wonder what some people are watching.
Watt has been the best and most complete defensive player in the NFL year-in and year-out since the 2019 season.
• How important have turnovers been for the Steelers the past few seasons?
Since 2020, the Steelers lead the NFL with 49 forced turnovers. They've also scored an NFL-best 110 points off of those takeaways.
That was very important in 2023, as their six fourth-quarter takeaways led the NFL, while their 19 points scored off those turnovers in the fourth quarter was the second most in the league.
That's a tough thing to count on week after week. But an improved offense should help that greatly.
The Steelers scored just 12.7 points per game over the first three quarters of games last season, which ranked 27th in the NFL.
But those turnovers helped the Steelers win four games in which they trailed entering the fourth quarter, which led the NFL.
• With training camp opening in less than two weeks, we'll begin to get more of an idea of what the Steelers offense might look like under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
But realize these splits:
The Steelers were in 11 personnel (three wideouts on the field) 71 percent of the time in 2023, which ranked seventh-most in the NFL. The NFL average was 62 percent 11 personnel. The Atlanta Falcons, Smith's team last season, were in 11 personnel just 17 percent of the time, which ranked 32nd in the NFL.
The Steelers used a two-tight end package 27 percent of the time last season, which was 17th in the NFL and exactly the league average. The Falcons used a two-tight end set 61 percent of the time, which led the NFL.
Finally, the Steelers ran 4 percent of their plays with two running backs on the field, which ranked 17th in the league. The league average was 10 percent. Atlanta employed two running backs on the field at the same time 32 percent of the time, which was fourth-most in the NFL.
Certainly, available personnel had something to do with those numbers on both sides of the ledger. But the Falcons targeted tight ends at the second-highest rate in the NFL in Smith's three seasons in Atlanta.
• Any time the Steelers have a game in which they're highly penalized, critics immediately jump on it and talk about how "undisciplined" head coach Mike Tomlin's teams are.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
Last season, the Steelers had the 27th fewest penalties in the NFL. In terms of pre-snap penalties, only two teams had fewer.
That's nothing new. For example, they had the 20th fewest penalties called against them in 2022.
The Steelers have been very good in that regard overall.
It's a big reason why they've been able to win so many close games.
• Four weeks from today the Steelers will host the Houston Texans in their first preseason game at Acrisure Stadium.
It will be interesting to see how Tomlin divvies up his quarterback reps in the preseason.
Russell Wilson is obviously a veteran quarterback who doesn't need a ton of reps to get up to speed. But he'll also be working in a new offense.
Backup Justin Fields doesn't have Wilson's overall experience and also is learning a new offense.
And then there is the question of how the offensive line will be handled.
For example, guards Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels are veteran players who don't need a lot of preseason reps. But offensive tackles Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu and center Zach Frazier are young players who could use more reps in the preseason.
But there also are only three preseason games to be had.
It will be an interesting dynamic to the preseason.
