Eric Edholm of NFL.com recently predicted each team’s MVP for the 2024 season, and in regards to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Edholm thinks outside linebacker T.J. Watt will win team MVP for a fifth time in his career.
A fifth team MVP award for Watt would be a franchise record, surpassing Antonio Brown’s four.
“The quarterback play should be better in Pittsburgh, one way or another, but I can’t put enough of my weight behind either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields to go with either here. Watt is the easier selection as the centerpiece of a very good defense that will remain the superior side on this team,” Edholm wrote. “Last season was another brilliant one from Watt, whose next big milestone could be passing the 100-sack mark before he turns 30 years old in October. Short of a major injury, I can’t see how he doesn’t dominate again in 2024, surrounded by a strong supporting cast and working with an offense that’s better but still the lesser of the two major units on this team.”
Not having a playoff win is something that irks the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He doesn’t want his legacy to be tarnished and remembered for just individual accolades.
“For me, it is all about no playoff wins,” Watt told Mark Kaboly of the Athletic. “I am trying to do anything I can do. We have so much turnover year to year and so many new guys that it is trying to learn as much as possible coming from guys from other organizations that have done it and won championships since being in the league.
“I am going to do whatever is possible to win. It is about not taking any day for granted, and when it comes down to executing and working, putting everything aside and getting it done.”
Watt is 0-3 in playoff games. He was out with a knee injury in this past season’s wild-card loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Steelers have lost five straight playoff games, dating back to the 2016 AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. They’ve allowed 202 points in those five losses, an average of 40.1 points per game.
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