Four Steelers Receive Pro Bowl Honors
Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt, defensive tackle Cam Heyward, free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and kicker Chris Boswell have been voted to participate in the 2025 Pro Bowl Games in Orlando next month, the team announced on Thursday. All four were nominated as starters.
Steelers kicker Chris Boswell broke his own team record and has 40 made field goals on the season, four off the all-time NFL mark. He has missed just three, and only one from inside 55 yards. The Steelers’ 93.0% field goal percentage is second-best in the NFL, and their 43 field goal attempts are the tied for the most in the league.
The Steelers have also been operating without their top punter and holder, as Cameron Johnston was lost for the season to a major knee injury in Week 1, and Corliss Waitman has had to replace him. It marks the second time in Boswell’s career that he’s received Pro Bowl honors.
Boswell was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice this season (Week 1 and Week 11). He was also named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month in September and October. He should be a lock to be first-team All-Pro.
“I love Boz, and I’m tired of him getting player of the week,” joked Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin after Boswell went 6 of 6 in the Steelers’ 18-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11. “He’ll probably get player of the week again this week. He is deserving of it, but it reminds us of our warts. It reminds us of the work that we need to do. But no doubt I’m thankful that he’s on our team.”
Steelers All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt was voted by his teammates as the 2024 Steelers Most Valuable Player, the team announced on Wednesday. It marks the fifth time in six years that Watt has won Team MVP. He is the first player in team history to win the award five times (2019-21, 23-24). This is Watt’s seventh time being named to a Pro Bowl.
“It’s awesome. It’s a great honor that I don’t take lightly,” Watt said about being named Team MVP. “It matters most to the guys that see what I do each and every day. To have it come from them, it means a lot to me.”
Watt is still the favorite to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year with -115 odds, but Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain III is gaining ground (+150), according to the latest odds posted by sportsbettingdime.com.
In addition to his league-best six forced fumbles, Watt enters Week 18 with 61 tackles (40 solos), 11.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, 27 quarterback hits and two fumble recoveries. Out of Watt’s five forced fumbles, three were strip sacks.
If Watt wins another DPOY award, he’ll join Steelers legend Joe Greene as the only players in franchise history to win the prestigious award twice.
Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward has been on a tear this season. Along with leading all DTs with 70 tackles, Heyward has eight sacks, 12 tackles for loss and eight pass defended. The last player who recorded 8+ sacks, 10+ TFL and 8+ pass defenses through their first 13 games of a season was J.J. Watt in 2014.
Watt was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2014, which is why it’s pretty head-scratching that Heyward is not being considered for DPOY.
Heyward is 35, but he’s playing like he’s 25. The 14-year veteran looks like he has plenty of left in the tank.
“He is such a treat,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said on the Pat McAfee Show in early December. “He is playing lights out. His play has been top tier. He is playing as good as he has ever played. He’s an ageless wonder. But I also just really appreciate that he is Pittsburgh born and raised.
“We drafted this guy in 2011, and just to watch him grow as a player and a human, it’s been cool to be a part of that. And it really just makes my day easy, to be quite honest with you. That dude understands what we’re doing here, our approach to business, our culture, our values. He embodies all of those things.”
Heyward is a three-time first-team All-Pro and now a seven-time Pro Bowler. He’s recorded 88.5 career sacks, which is second on the franchise’s all-time list. Having that many sacks as a defensive tackle speaks volumes. Only T.J. Watt has more sacks than him in Steelers history. Heyward also was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2023.
Steelers All-Pro free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has received a lot of flack this year from the fanbase for a lack of splash plays, but former Carolina Panthers All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly thinks Fitzpatrick is still playing at an elite level.
“I think Minkah Fitzpatrick is a stud. I really like him,” Kuechly said on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams. “I don’t think he gets enough credit. I think you talk about a guy that’s smart, and intelligent, and gets football.”
Fitzpatrick was selected to the Pro Bowl for the fifth time in his career.
He has started all 16 games this season, recording 93 tackles (60 solo), four passes defended, an interception and a forced fumble.
Fitzpatrick, who was the NFL’s co-leader in interceptions with six in 2022, recorded his first interception in nearly two years in the Week 16 game against Baltimore.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has defended Fitzpatrick all season, pointing out that Fitzpatrick is key component in limiting offenses.
“I know we want splash, but he really does make us all better back there,” he said.
Fitzpatrick is considered to be a perfectionist by his peers.
“A lot of us want to be really good at what we do,” Austin said. “Minkah, he is a perfectionist. He is always searching for perfection, and it doesn’t matter what it is. It doesn’t matter if you were playing him in checkers, he is going to try and be perfect and beat you every time. If you are playing golf, and he never golfed, he will try and beat you. That is just how he is wired. That makes him a little different.”
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