Steely McBeam
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- Mar 20, 2019
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The Steelers have gotten a lot of help from their defense as they’ve climbed back into the playoff race after a rough start to the season and one member of that unit got recognized as the AFC’s defensive player of the month on Thursday.
Linebacker T.J. Watt snagged the award. Watt has recorded at least a half-sack in each of Pittsburgh’s last nine games and the team has gone 7-2 over that span. He posted 6.5 sacks over the last five weeks to help his case for the monthly honors.
Watt also forced a pair of fumbles, made five tackles for loss and 16 overall tackles over that span.
Watt has 12.5 sacks on the year, which leaves him 3.5 sacks behind James Harrison for the Steelers’ single-season record. It’s also made him a candidate for defensive player of the year and he’d join his brother J.J. as recipients of that prize if he winds up winning the award this year.