Steelers' TJ Watt Exposes Patriots Quarterback Drake Maye For Massive Inability

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally got what they wanted out of their star pass rusher TJ Watt in the Week 3 victory over the New England Patriots. After going five consecutive regular season games without a sack, he registered two of them in the contest on Sunday. He also had five tackles, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, and a fumble recovery. His teammates also chimed in with three sacks of their own, including the first career sack for first-round rookie Derrick Harmon. That's what happens when your generational talent feasts: everyone else does too.

During a recent interview the day after the game, Watt explained how the pass rush was able to get home throughout the contest.

"We just knew early in the game that [Drake Maye] had trouble diagnosing coverages," Watt said. "We just threw a different mix of things at him that made him hold the ball and made us get home. Obviously, the guys in the back did a great job, and the guys up front were just really [good]. [Derrick Harmon] had a great game with the reps that he had. Cam Heyward was a force."

Quarterback Drake Maye is only in his second season, so he is still in the process of learning what the opposition is trying to do to him. The Steelers took advantage of that inexperience and sacked him five times, while getting pressure on a lot more snaps. That also allowed Watt to draw more favorable matchups and not get triple-teamed like he seemingly has been throughout the first two games of the season.

There were still a lot of miscommunications and defensive breakdowns throughout the game, which Maye did take advantage of. However, when everyone was on the same page and things were moving smoothly, they had the quarterback confused, resulting in a lot of hits on him. They need to get on the same page more often, because they won't face many passers as inexperienced as Maye currently is. 

How Did The Steelers Mix Things Up?

For starters, the Steelers did what Steeler Nation has been begging them to do for a while now: move Watt around the defense more often. He had only been moved around four times in the first two weeks combined, but the unpredictability of where he played made it easier for him to draw more one-on-one matchups and less chips, which resulted in him finally making his presence known to everyone. 

That movement also helped set up other players as well. Nick Herbig continued to be an absolute menace on the right side, as he made the life of fourth-overall pick Will Campbell hard in this game. Holes opened up for the interior defensive line as well, as Maye was constantly being harassed from all over the line. He couldn't call the right audibles or protection changes to properly protect himself. 

As Watt also mentioned, the Steelers threw different looks at Maye, and that threw him off at times, which gave the pass rushers more time to get to him. However, those different looks confused the Steelers as well, and it resulted in them getting gashed through the air. It was a very high-risk high-reward strategy that both saved them and also almost made them lose.

Steelers Need To Learn To Get Home Without Trying To Trick The Quarterback

Most of the quarterbacks that the Steelers will face will not be as indecisive and inexperienced as Maye. Carson Wentz may be a backup, but he has been around the league enough to see how defenses like to try and deceive him. If the Steelers continue to have these lapses, he can and will torch them in Week 4. He most likely won't hold the ball as long as Maye did, which means the Steelers need more straight-up wins in the trenches.

What do you think about Watt's analysis of how the pass rush wreaked havoc like it did in Week 3? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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