T.J. Watt didn't bat an eye when asked about the Steelers clinching their 21st consecutive non-losing season following Pittsburgh's Week 13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
At that point, the Steelers were 9-3 and were enjoying a sizable lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North division standings. The Steelers were in a great spot, but you wouldn't have known that after listening to Watt during his postgame press conference.
"Feels good, but there's a lot more work to be done," Watt said before walking off the podium.
Watt was certainly right. The Steelers are just 1-4 since that game and have lost four straight games entering Saturday night's wild-card round showdown with the Ravens, who snatched the AFC North division title away from Pittsburgh after ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak. The Ravens now stand between Watt and a playoff win, something that has eluded him to this point during his future Hall of Fame career.
"It's my story since I've been here; I haven't won a playoff game," Watt told reporters this week. "I've been saying it this whole season. You guys know how important this is to me. It starts with having a great day, day in and day out. This whole week. Today was a good day. This whole week was a good week. But if we've learned anything about these last four weeks, it doesn't matter how well you prepare, how good you feel about your preparation if you don't execute on game day."
A 2017-first round pick, Watt has carved out a career that stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the best in franchise history, which is saying something for a franchise that has six Super Bowls wins and 32 Hall of Famers. Watt is the franchise career leader in sacks and in 2021 became the seventh player in franchise history to win Defensive Player of the Year.
Watt is surely proud of his career, one that will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, one day. But what he really wants is playoff success that ultimately culminates with a Super Bowl title. Watt also needs to win a playoff game; he's 0-4 in the postseason entering Saturday's game in Baltimore.
"I say all the time, there's a big difference between guys that come back that are Super Bowl champions and guys that aren't," Watt said. "And that's not a slight at the guys that aren't. I'm one of those guys right now, but there's definitely an aura to a guy that has won a Super Bowl. And there's a togetherness, a close-knit group of guys that when they come back for those alumni weekends, they hang out and they bond, and they talk about their successes on and off the field and that Super Bowl run.
"And we want that. Every guy in here wants that. Don't confuse any of this lack of success for lack of effort. Everybody's trying. We're turning over every stone that we possibly can to be great. We want to be great. We just need to do it together. And that's not saying that we haven't, but we just need to do everything collectively and play complementary football when the time matters most. And there's definitely a sense of urgency because it's playoffs in the National Football League. This is what everybody plays the game for."
As Watt alluded to, the Steelers routinely welcome back past players during their in-season alumni weekends. The Steelers also have their annual Hall of Honor induction, an honor Watt will also receive when his playing career is over.
Pittsburgh has also had reunions for its Super Bowl championship teams. The franchise did so this year, bringing back members of the 1974 Steelers for a 50th anniversary celebration of its first Super Bowl win.
While many of Pittsburgh's iconic players won Super Bowls with the Steelers, many did not. Included in that group are Hall of Famers Rod Woodson (who won one with Baltimore later in his career), Kevin Greene, Dermontti Dawson, Ernie Stautner (the first Steelers to have his jersey retired), John Henry Johnson, three-time All-Pro linebacker Greg Lloyd, perennial Pro Bowl center teammate Maurkice Pouncey and current Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward.
While that isn't a bad group of players to be associated with, Watt is hoping to instead join the list of Steelers greats who have won it all. He also wants one of his teams to have their own championship alumni weekends one day.
Despite their losing streak, Watt still believes that his current team is still capable of making that happen.
"I mean, we've, we've had a hell of a good year until these last couple weeks," he said. "We know that we have the talent, we have the coaching staff, we have the scheme, we have everything that a good football team requires to make a playoff push. It's just a matter of playing good football collectively, and we haven't been doing that lately. But that doesn't mean that we can't get it back, and it's much easier to get something back than it is to try to rebuild it or build it from the start. We've had a great week, but I feel like I've said that a lot this year, it's all about executing."
