Steelers All-Pro T.J. Watt Is Embarrassed by No Playoff Wins
Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt made it clear at the 101 Awards ceremony in Kansas City last week that he’s not pleased with having no playoff wins in his career.
In fact, he finds it flat-out embarrassing.
“Obviously, didn’t go the way we wanted in the end,” Watt said about the 2023 season in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio last Friday at the 101 Awards, via Steelers Depot. “This is my seventh year, this past season, and to not win a playoff game is embarrassing and not how we do things in Pittsburgh.”
The Steelers’ seven-year playoff drought is the longest for the franchise since pre-1972. They only have two players on the current roster who’ve experienced a playoff win with the Steelers — Cam Heyward and Chris Boswell.
Watt doesn’t want to be known for just his long list of individual accomplishments.
“I don’t want my legacy to say that ‘T.J. Watt (accomplished) all these individual things but what happened in the big moments?'” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to get better (at), and I’m willing to do everything I possibly can and hopefully everybody in the locker room is on the same page.”
In a separate interview with FOX4 Kansas City, Watt also mentioned that he’s hoping the Steelers new quarterback additions Russell Wilson and Justin Fields can lead to playoff wins.
“I haven’t won a playoff game my whole career, so I’m open to any type of information, where we can continue to get better. Hopefully, those guys can help us do that,” Watt said.
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.
Watt’s displeasure with the Steelers’ lack of postseason success certainly resonates with the front office and fanbase. Back in January during a season-ending press conference, Steelers president Art Rooney II expressed that he’s seen enough of the Steelers losing in the playoffs.
“We’ve had enough of this,” Rooney said. “It’s time to get some wins; it’s time to take these next steps.”
General manager Omar Khan echoed Rooney’s statement during his media availability at the NFL owner’s meetings in Orlando on Monday.
“We all share that frustration that he has,” Khan said. “We’re sitting at home during the Super Bowl and that’s not where we want to be. And I think we all share that frustration and we all know we have to be better organizationally in every department.”
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