For the final week of the regular season — and, perhaps, the final game of any kind for his season as an individual — T.J. Watt went out on top among the corps of AFC players on defense.
Watt was named the AFC defensive player of the week for the Week 18 games played this past Saturday and Sunday. Watt had eight tackles, including three for loss and two sacks, during the Steelers’ 17-10 victory at the Baltimore Ravens. The win helped the Steelers qualify for the playoffs, which they open Sunday at the Buffalo Bills.
Watt will not play in that game because of a knee injury suffered during the second half in Baltimore. But before he went down Saturday, Watt registered his 18th and 19th sacks of the season. That left him as the NFL’s leader for a third time, the first player in league history (since sacks became an official statistic in 1982) to do that.
An NFL defensive player of the year candidate — he won the honor in 2021 — Watt’s weekly honor was his first of this season and seventh of his career. Only Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu has as many while playing for the Steelers.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.