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In 2020, T.J. Watt was having a season that checked every box, both tangible and intangible, that should have resulted in him becoming the 7th Pittsburgh Steelers winner of the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. But voters with the well known anti-Steelers bias had a different idea, selecting Aaron Donald for his 3rd DPOY despite Watt leading the league in sacks (15), TFL (23) and QB hits (41).
Despite Donald entering the season as the favorite to win the award for a 4th time, Watt clearly broke away from the pack to establish himself as the best defensive player in the league. His 2021 campaign has bordered on historic, despite battling through groin and hip injuries that have caused him to miss two full games and play in only half of three others. Despite playing in only 12 games, he remains on pace to challenge Michael Strahan and his record of 22.5 sacks set in 2001.
To many voters, Watt’s injuries equated to a lack of availability and thus for the majority of the year Myles Garrett has been the favorite according to sportsbettingdime.com, which has taken averages from multiple betting sites and averaged them. But with the onset of December, the games and race have heated up. Watt’s standout performances have extended his lead in sacks to 17.5, resulting in Watt taking and in some cases, extending, the lead over Garrett with the latest odds (updated December 20th) listing Watt at +250 and Garrett at +300.
The race is sure to be tight and a lot will be riding on the outcomes of games along with performances. It can be argued that the Steelers season is tied to the performance of Watt, so it would not be stretch to say if Watt does win DPOY, the Steelers a likely in the playoffs.
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Despite Donald entering the season as the favorite to win the award for a 4th time, Watt clearly broke away from the pack to establish himself as the best defensive player in the league. His 2021 campaign has bordered on historic, despite battling through groin and hip injuries that have caused him to miss two full games and play in only half of three others. Despite playing in only 12 games, he remains on pace to challenge Michael Strahan and his record of 22.5 sacks set in 2001.
To many voters, Watt’s injuries equated to a lack of availability and thus for the majority of the year Myles Garrett has been the favorite according to sportsbettingdime.com, which has taken averages from multiple betting sites and averaged them. But with the onset of December, the games and race have heated up. Watt’s standout performances have extended his lead in sacks to 17.5, resulting in Watt taking and in some cases, extending, the lead over Garrett with the latest odds (updated December 20th) listing Watt at +250 and Garrett at +300.
The race is sure to be tight and a lot will be riding on the outcomes of games along with performances. It can be argued that the Steelers season is tied to the performance of Watt, so it would not be stretch to say if Watt does win DPOY, the Steelers a likely in the playoffs.
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
