LAS VEGAS — With three players at his position missing because of injuries, T.J. Watt decided to take matters into his own hands Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers defense.
Although he was held without a sack for just the second time this season, the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year had two forced fumbles that were pivotal to the Steelers’ 32-13 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
Watt’s forced fumble in the second quarter led to a touchdown that gave the Steelers a 12-7 halftime lead. In the second half, he forced another fumble on a hit at the goal line that the Steelers recovered to deny the Raiders a touchdown.
It came on a day when the Steelers took the field minus outside linebackers Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and DeMarvin Leal, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday. Jeremiah Moon, in his second game with the Steelers, started at the other outside linebacker spot. Ade Ogundeji, signed from the practice squad a day earlier, was the top backup.
And yet Watt, despite facing extra attention from the Raiders, still found a way to impact the game.
“I don’t know what other way to state it other than I’m not surprised by it,” coach Mike Tomlin said, “but it doesn’t make it any less amazing.”
Watt knew he wouldn’t get many chances to disrupt Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell in his first start of the season. The Steelers sacked O’Connell just once and hit him two other times.
“I can feel the slides and chips and things of that nature,” Watt said. “I understand at a certain point if they truly want to eliminate you from getting to the quarterback — by getting the ball out quick and with slides and chips — they can pretty much do that if they want to.
“I have to find ways to continue to affect the game as much as possible.”
Moon landing
Moon finished with one unassisted tackle in his first start for the Steelers, but he swung momentum in the Steelers’ favor on the first drive of the second half when he blocked AJ Cole’s punt. The ball bounced back to the Raiders 9, and the Steelers turned the big play into a Chris Boswell field goal that provided a 15-7 lead.
Moon used his 6-foot-5 frame to his advantage, breaking free up the middle to swat away the punt as it left Cole’s foot.
“I’m blessed to be here and to be in this situation,” said Moon, whose lone prior NFL start came last season with Baltimore. “You try to take advantage of every rep you get. At the end of the day, NFL is Not For Long. I’m just trying to come in and do what I can.”
Moon hadn’t seen a replay of the block, but he suspected the Raiders were focused on preventing Miles Killebrew from blocking the punt.
“He’s an All-Pro for a reason,” Moon said. “Why wouldn’t you game plan around that guy? I just happened to come free.”
Moon said he had never blocked a punt before. He said he blocked a field goal in college at Florida.
“That doesn’t count because it was in college,” he said.
Injury report
Rookie center Zach Frazier became the latest offensive lineman to exit with an injury when he left in the third quarter after hurting his ankle. Frazier had to be assisted from the field, and, although he put his helmet back on and snapped on the sideline, he did not get back in the game.
Ryan McCollum replaced Frazier.
The Steelers already have lost rookie tackle Troy Fautanu and veteran guard James Daniels to season-ending injuries. Guard Isaac Seumalo also missed the first four weeks because of injury.
“Hopefully, I’m expecting it to be nothing serious,” left tackle Dan Moore said. “We have a deep group. Ryan came in and was more than capable. We didn’t miss a beat.”
Free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick left briefly in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.