The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has looked atrocious all season, only being able to find the end zone a total of 16 times. Most of this has to do with poor coaching and mediocracy at the quarterback position. It looks like nothing will change either until the offseason when fans can only hope that the front office will make the changes needed to get this offense up and running. Although the offense has looked rough, one thing about the Steelers remains true, and that is the fact that they have an elite defense.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers quarterbacks, Mitchell Trubisky (#10) and Kenny Pickett (#8) warm up on the field at Acrisure Stadium prior to a 2022 regular season game in Pittsburgh, PA.
One Of The Biggest Consistencies With The Steelers Defense
One of the biggest consistencies with the Steelers' defense is with outside linebacker, TJ Watt. Going into Week 14, he currently has 14 sacks, 47 tackles, three forced fumbles, and interception, and has put himself in a place to be considered for this year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award. With this type of talent, it is no surprise that he gets held on almost every single play. Recently, he would even speak out against this as it seems that the refs never seem to do anything about this issue.
“The NFL has something against me, so I don’t want to talk any more negatively against them.
— 93.7 The Fan (@937theFan) December 3, 2023
I don’t know what I did, but I’ll leave it at that.”
TJ Watt, asked about being held on the play where he appeared to be injured, but no call being made.pic.twitter.com/v5PMGNy2g2
Although this seems to occur on every single pass rush that Watt is in on, the no-calls appear constant. This is because the NFL is focused on being an offensive league, wanting to have more points on the scoreboard to boost ratings. Also, you may not see it, but on almost every play, someone is being held. If the NFL were to call out every single one, the pace of the game would move slower than normal which is another thing that the NFL does not want for ratings purposes.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Pittsburgh Steelers dominant edge rushers, TJ Watt (#90) and Alex Highsmith (#56) embrace each other after a big play against the Tennessee Titans at then-Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA.
It is not just the Steelers and their fans who have realized how wrong the league is treating Watt. Recently, Dallas Cowboys superstar, Micah Parsons, who is in competition with Watt for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, spoke up about the issue of not getting holding calls.
"It's comical. You know TJ is good. It's something that obviously is not something that we have to call out anymore (holding calls) because we see what is going on."
Parsons would then reiterate what was mentioned earlier that this is an offensive league, and they like to see scoring, rather than sacks. He follows this by noting that there is almost nothing that the defensive players can do but tough it out and break through the holding.
"They want teams to score points at the end of the day. They want the fans to get excited, that's what fans like. They like offense, they like touchdowns." Parsons then would say, "That is the clickbait, quarterbacks sell and that is what they want to protect."
Having players like Parsons and Watt both come out and talk about this issue should be a realization to the league that there is a problem, and it needs to be fixed. Although that will probably never happen, this is a bad look for the league to have multiple players comment on this issue with relatively nothing being done about it.
Mitchell Leff / Getty Images
Micah Parsons (11) of the Dallas Cowboys hits New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium on September 10, 2023, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
So, what do you think, Steeler Nation? Will the league ever change their ways and give Watt a couple more holding calls? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
#SteelerNation
