After starting the 2024-25 season 10-3, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost five straight games to end the year. The final nail in their coffin was an ugly 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round of the AFC playoffs.
Steelers defensive end T.J. Watt's production fell off to end the year, with the 30-year-old failing to log a sack over their final three games. J.J Watt—a former NFL star himself—was asked about both his brother's and Pittsburgh's struggles down the stretch this year on Monday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show:
"I don't think there's any denying what happened at the end of the season," the elder Watt explained. "I mean you lose five in a row while your direct division opponent goes on and wins five in a row and is headed—looking like an absolute wagon—headed into the next round of the playoffs.
"Very, very tough scene the other night," he continued. "Obviously, I mean, defense giving up that many yards, offense not really being able to move the ball. It's a tough situation, man. I mean it's like everybody said, I mean everybody's kind of talked through it all already. [They're] in the 'good enough, but not good enough' scenario which puts you in a very difficult place—and that's just kind of where they are right now and it's finding a way to break through that, finding a way to take that next step. Figuring out why it's some of those end-of-the-season, first-round of the playoff failures and what has created that. Is it something with the system? Is it something with the way they do things? With the end of the year? What is it? I think that's the answers everybody inside and outside of that building is trying to find at the moment."
.@JJWatt chimed in on the Steelers' disappointing end to the season on the @PatMcAfeeShow 📉 pic.twitter.com/Qta1OfQ75W
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 15, 2025
To T.J.'s credit, he shouldered the blame immediately following Saturday's loss, saying that he's "very frustrated with how things ended."
"That's not just with the last game," Watt continued. "That's with the last month of football. It's a collection of things and it starts with myself. I need to play better. We need to play better. There's not one thing that needs to be fixed here. There's a lot of things. But it starts internally with myself. Need to play better in bigger moments. It'll be a long offseason to have to sit with that."
With questions about the futures of both Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Russell Wilson's now at the forefront, it'll be a long offseason for Pittsburgh indeed.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as J.J. Watt Has Harsh Message About His Brother T.J.’s Steelers After Ugly Playoff Exit.
