Steelers' TJ Watt Explains How Pittsburgh Nearly Blew Big Lead Against Vikings In Week 4 Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers won a very close game against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4 by a score of 24-21, but it was not that tight for a majority of the contest. At one point in time, Pittsburgh held a 24-6 lead, but some questionable decisions mixed with more miscommunications led to 15 unanswered points and a chance at one last drive to at least tie the game up. Luckily, the defense held firm and made a pair of big plays to seal victory and enter the bye week with a 3-1 record and the division lead. 

During his postgame press conference, defensive captain TJ Watt explained what went wrong exactly to lead to the game almost being blown entirely.

"We were obviously tired towards the end of the game," Watt said. "We were trying to bow up as much as possible. Like I said, some guys were going down in the back end, so we had to switch some things up, and we weren't able to play as aggressively as we wanted to. We had to switch up some zone coverages and things like that. Like I just said, [the Vikings] were max protecting a lot too, so it allowed [Carson Wentz] to have a little bit more time and allowed him to be decisive."

The Steelers definitely dealt with their share of injuries, as three different cornerbacks had some sort of issue going on, whether it was a muscle issue or just Darius Slay getting cleated during the game. They say, "next man up," but it's hard to keep saying that when your last-string cornerback is the only one that's healthy, especially on a critical drive that could potentially decide the game for either team. 

Of course, arriving to Ireland as late as they did did not help matters at all. That likely contributed to the muscle issues going on around the team, and it most certainly caused the players to get tired quicker than they normally would. However, one player that obviously had a lot of energy was Payton Wilson, who set a new record for fastest recorded sprint by a linebacker since Next Gen Stats became a thing, as he saved a touchdown and helped burn a lot of time off the clock in the fourth quarter. 

The Steelers were getting to quarterback Carson Wentz all game long, and he was clearly uncomfortable in the pocket. That's what happens when you get six sacks in a game for an average of eight yards lost. When it came down to crunch time, the Vikings knew they had to do everything they could to keep Wentz upright, even if it meant only having three receivers to throw to on a given play. 

With all those factored in, the Steelers played a lot of soft zone coverage, and the max protection gave Wentz the opportunity to dice up that basic defensive scheme. On Wilson's big play, there was a brutal miscommunication that left Jordan Addison wide open on a go route down the sideline. If that was properly communicated, Wilson would not have had to make that stop.

Steelers Should Have Most Of These Problems Worked Out After The Bye Week

For starters, most of the injured players should be fully healthy by the time they kick off for their next game in Week 6. That's also more than enough time to sleep off the jet lag, so they shouldn't have to worry about being tired at the end of games soon -- or at least as tired as they were in Ireland. Of course, if the front seven keeps playing like they have the previous two weeks, they may have to go against more max protection schemes throughout the season.

What do you think about Watt's reasoning for why the game got uncomfortably close at the end? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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