Steelers' TJ Watt Sees Opposing Team's Proven Strategy Of Throwing 5 Yard Passes: "We Have To Stop It"

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense possesses two fearsome pass rushers in TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith, so the Cleveland Browns, with rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson starting his second career game, tried their best to minimize the duo's effect. The Browns seemed intent on having their first-year signal caller make his throws quickly so that Highsmith and Watt didn't have enough time to get pressure and were largely successful. Watt had Pittsburgh's only sack in the game as they fell 13-10 on Sunday afternoon.  

Pittsburgh star outside linebacker, TJ Watt addressed the Browns' strategy to try and slow down the Pittsburgh pass rush during his postgame press conference. He said it wasn't a unique plan from their AFC North rival. 

"Teams have been doing that this season," he said in response to a question about the quick passes by the Cleveland offense. "If he's able to complete five-yard throws all day, that is an issue as well, so we have to stop it. It's a matter of stopping it so that they're not able to continue to do it, and that's the issue right now."   

Thompson-Robinson finished the game with a statline of 43 attempts for 24 completions with 165 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. He only averaged 3.2 yards. The longest throw of the day allowed by the Steelers' defense was an 18-yard catch and run by tight end, David Njoku, that went for a first down on their second offensive possession of the game.

The Browns came out of the gate trying to establish their run game. Running back, Jerome Ford was handed the ball on the first two plays before Thompson-Robinson scrambled around the edge on a designed quarterback run to pick up a first down. Pittsburgh allowed a pair of quick passes to Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore which allowed the Browns to move down the field before the drive stalled. A short pass to Ford that was swallowed up short of a first down by linebacker, Elandon Roberts. 

The Steelers forced Cleveland to trot out punter, Corey Bojorquez eight times in the contest after similarly forcing three-and-outs to that first drive, with Thompson-Robinson completing short passes to receivers that were swallowed before reaching the line to gain. Roberts was a big part of that. He registered 15 tackles in the contest, as he was forced into a bigger role with injuries to Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb. 

Steelers' Watt Says Defense Needed To Start Faster 

Watt said that the defense didn't start well enough, despite forcing a three-and-out on the first offensive series of the game for the Browns. It was the second drive of the game, where the Browns cashed in on a good starting field position to punch in the game's first score. 

With starters (Alexander and Holcomb) out for the season and two starting safeties, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Keanu Neal out, Pittsburgh had a ton of new faces playing on Sunday. Watt said that contributed immensely to the slow start.

"It took too long for us to settle down today," he said "I think it was continuing to hone in the communication. When you have that many new guys it's a matter of calming down and getting into the rhythm of the game. It took us too long to get into the rhythm but once we did, we were able to play relatively effective football. Obviously, not enough."

Pittsburgh forced five of the eight punts in the second half, holding the Browns to drives of five plays or less four times. They also got the lone turnover of the contest with an interception by cornerback Chandon Sullivan off a tipped pass in the third quarter. 

The defense was able to hold an opposing offense to under 100 yards on the ground for the first time since Week 3 when they held the Las Vegas Raiders to 69 yards. Watt said that was a goal for the defense but it was clear, that Watt isn't taking that as a moral victory.

How does Pittsburgh deal with teams throwing quick passes on them in the future? Do you think the defense did enough in this game? Comment below!

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