A win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5 has Pittsburgh Steelers fans flying high into the bye week. Here's the latest on what to know with a week of no stakes ahead.
T.J. Watt could flirt with sack record
T.J. Watt tied Michael Strahan's single-season sack record of 22.5 in 2021. The record stood for exactly two decades, with Watt tying it two years ago. Last season, Watt missed time with a pectoral injury, which slowed any chances he might have had at breaking the record that year.
With a hot start in 2022, though, Watt has an awesome opportunity at finally getting his name etched in the record books alone, putting Strahan firmly in that No. 2 spot.
After zero sacks logged in Week 4 against the Houston Texans on rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, Watt put Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on the ground twice in Week 5. Watt now has 15 quarterback hits, eight of those registering as sacks which leads the NFL.
That puts Watt on pace for a whopping 27 sacks this season. He only needs to average 1.25 per game the rest of the year to break the record he tied in 2021 which for him is an achievable rate, assuming health sticks. Of course, 2021 was the first year of the 17-game era, so Watt did and still does have an extra game than Strahan to get it done.
To match Strahan's pace of his record-setting season and become the indisputable best pass rusher (purely looking at season sacks) in a single season, he would need to register 24 sacks. It's possible!
Kenny Pickett's bye week plans?
The Steelers have an early bye week with no Week 6 game. Coming off an upset victory over the Baltimore Ravens, you might prefer to play and ride out that momentum, but the Steelers don't have much of a choice. They have to take the opportunity to rest up before they have 12 straight games on the back-half of the year.
So, what will players do this bye week? One former Steelers player thinks the team should send Kenny Pickett to the Bahamas for a vacation.
Chris Hoke said, "I would send him to the Bahamas for a week. Let him clear his mind a little bit (H/T Steelers Depot)."
Hoke went on to insert that, while Pickett could spend the time looking at film and the playbook, would that do much good at this stage in the season? He went through training camp, he's played several games at this point. Letting his mind and body rest and rejuvenate could truly be the best thing for him.
If you see Pickett getting on a plane to an island somewhere, do let us know...
Byron Leftwitch wants to be the Steelers offensive coordinator, but is being ignored
Byron Leftwitch is a confounding figure in NFL circles. Looking purely at his body of work at the playing and coaching ranks, he appears to be worthy of a shot, and is clearly interested in joining a coaching staff.
Yet, Leftwitch was canned in Tampa Bay after a bad final year for Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense, but some of that appeared to be more a changing of eras than Leftwitch being an actual failure at the job.
Yet, it seems as though the stench of that season does not wash off very easily, because Leftwitch, who secured several interviews in 2021 with no offers to become a head coach, remains unemployed. The Jaguars, Saints, and Bears interviewed him after the 2021 season. It's unclear why none of those opportunities materialized.
He smells blood in the water with the Steelers and Matt Canada, and is already throwing his name in the ring as a replacement idea. Leftwitch spent 2010 and 2012 as a backup quarterback to Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers, apparently, though, have ghosted him, ignoring his requests to join the team.
Leftwitch interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens for the job Todd Monken now occupies before this season began. Could be an opportunity to stick it to a division rival if the Steelers were to hire him and he performed well...
Ultimately, Leftwitch is probably no overnight solution to offensive woes. None exists for Pittsburgh at this juncture, all the quality replacements are already employed.
