Two storied rivals will clash Thursday night as the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns.
Adding another layer of intrigue to the matchup is the personal rivalry between elite pass rushers T.J. Watt of the Steelers and Myles Garrett of the Browns.
Watt, the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), appeared less than pleased when the award went to Garrett this past season.
Asked on Tuesday if Watt had reached out to congratulate him since joining the exclusive club of DPOY winners, Garrett had a playful response.
“No, he didn’t say nothing to me,” Garrett said. “He’s going to have to apologize when I see him.”
Watt skipped last year’s NFL Honors show and posted a cryptic message on social media shortly after Garrett was named DPOY.
The snub was surprising to some, given Watt’s league-leading 19 sacks, along with four forced fumbles and three recoveries. Garrett’s award-winning campaign included 14 sacks, four forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
Garrett downplayed any lingering tension, adding perspective to the situation.
“I’ve never complained about the trophy being at my house, and vice versa,” Garrett said.
“He shouldn’t be feeling two ways about it going to me. We’re just going to play the game. I don’t play against T.J., he don’t play against me.
We’ll plan to go out and do what we’re supposed to: win the game and dominate on defense. It’s up for grabs this year. We’ll see the best man win.”
Watt, for his part, took a diplomatic stance when asked about Garrett and his reaction to last year’s award.
“I have respect for everybody in this league,” Watt said. “Obviously, he’s a guy who’s been a top pass rusher in this league for a long time.
But I don’t compete directly against him. It’s our team versus their team, and I just want the Pittsburgh Steelers to come out with a win.”
Despite his remarkable achievements, some argue Watt is still underrated. Last year, critics seemed to focus more on advanced metrics such as win rates and pressure rates rather than traditional stats like sacks, tackles for loss (TFL), and forced fumbles, which heavily favored Watt.
T.J.’s older brother, J.J. Watt—a three-time DPOY winner—has expressed skepticism about the growing reliance on analytics in player evaluations. Speaking to CBS Sports earlier this year, J.J. shared his mixed feelings.
“It’s a very fascinating time,” J.J. said. “I think that there are a lot of businesses out there who can make a lot of money by trying to come up with things that seem extremely smart and try and give people information that they think is providing value that may or may not be.”
While he acknowledged the benefits of some analytics, J.J. was critical of using algorithms to assign grades to players.
“The problems that I have are when we get into grading players based off of analysis that a person came up with in an algorithm … then we’re putting a number or a grade off it. It starts to be a slippery slope when you judge off of those things.”
Instead, J.J. favors traditional statistics, which he believes tell a clearer story.
“As it comes to percentage win rates and things like that versus traditional numbers … are we going to start giving wins based on who should have won the most percentage of plays in that game? A sack is a sack, a win that didn’t result in a sack is not a sack.
You could be leading the game 99% of the game and lose on the last play. You lost, you’re 0-1 in the column. In my opinion, I’m just a believer in sacks, TFLs, touchdowns. Those are the things we can quantify and justify.”
For T.J. Watt, this season has brought more DPOY-caliber performances. Despite increased attention from opposing offenses, Watt has recorded 7.5 sacks and leads the league with four forced fumbles. His efforts have helped propel the Steelers to an 8-2 record.
Meanwhile, Garrett’s Browns sit on the brink of their 22nd losing season since rejoining the NFL in 1999, adding pressure to Thursday’s showdown.
