Week 12 Showdown: T.J. Watt vs. Myles Garrett

TJ Watt or Myles Garrett? It's a great question being asked often, and the Steelers-Browns Week 12 matchup gave us a great springboard to a nuanced conversation around the two elite defenders.

Comparing T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett should be a fun, good, nuanced conversation. Both are unbelievable football players, future Hall of Famers and incredibly impactful players in a league where that can only be said for a handful of defensive players.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh media (and probably Cleveland media, though I pay less attention to them) and fans (definitely Cleveland fans too) have turned what should be an awesome and enjoyable football conversation into everything that absolutely sucks about sports discourse. From attacking the legitimacy of Garrett in winning the 2023 DPOY award, an honor he was absolutely deserving of (so was Watt, that happens sometimes!), to turning the attacks personal based on Garrett’s recent, completely benign comments about being EDGE1, the whole thing has gotten ugly and ridiculous.

Although I have less interactions with them, I have seen enough from Cleveland media and fans to know that they are probably as much to blame. It’s a cesspool of bad discourse and unintelligent conversation, led by those with microphones and (unfortunately) loads of followers, and it takes away from what should be an incredibly fun football rivalry between two players fully recognized by both fan bases as elite at what they do.

*end rant*

So let’s do it. Let’s have a good, nuanced conversation about both football players.

I watched all the pass rush reps for both players in Week 12, and these were my charting results. Keep in mind, there is plenty of context still missing which I’ll address shortly.

Garrett

32 pass rushes

-5 single blocked by an OT
-1 single blocked by an OG (Garrett was a standup 3-tech)
-9 inside twists/slants/loops, eventually usually blocked by a single if the ball wasn’t out by time he made contact. Garrett was chipped on 3 of these.
-16 chips on outside rushes against an OT
-1 true double team (on the Hail Mary)
-Per PFF: 8 pressures, 3 sacks, 0 wins that didn’t result in pressures

Watt

31 pass rushes

-18 single blocked by an OT
-3 inside slants/twists/loops, chipped on one
-8 chips on outside rushes against an OT
-2 true double teams
-Per PFF: 2 pressures, 0 sacks, 2 wins that didn’t result in a pressure

Almost all of Watt’s single blocked reps came in the second half, which makes sense considering he only had 10 pass rush opportunities in the first half. Although he was single blocked a lot more than Garrett, there is some critical context involved too. On plays were Watt was single blocked, the ball came out almost immediately with only a couple exceptions. At least three were play-action boots away from him, so obviously he would be single-blocked if blocked at all in those situations.

Watching the tape, it wasn’t a bad game from Watt, but it certainly wasn’t as impactful as we’re used to seeing from him. Watt has barely been single blocked this season, and when he has he’s typically made those opportunities count. In this game, Cleveland decided to counter that approach and not utilize extra blockers against him in the second half. Their plan was to get the ball out quickly and hope that Jack Conklin could hold up against Watt.

Now, Conklin is obviously a much better player than Dan Moore and Broderick Jones. He’s been injured over the past two seasons, but when healthy, Conklin is a very good right tackle. Watt beat him a couple times, but Conklin also had some strong wins. And when Watt did win, Jameis Winston did a great job escaping the pocket.

As for Garrett, he was outstanding. His ability to deftly dodge around blockers like Darren Sproles, but at 6-5, 280 pounds, is insane. I have said before that he is the best edge pass rusher in the NFL, and this game proved why. He does an unbelievable job reducing his surface area to make it harder to chip him, and can turn the corner better than any edge in the NFL. 

Granted, the Steelers plan and execution on chips was poor - they essentially wanted to deliver glancing blows to Garrett while releasing into routes instead of really hitting him and slowing him up. They also missed him completely with chips at least four times in the first half. But Garrett still did a wonderful job of navigating and anticipating the extra contact. And blocking him one-on-one remained a brutal task, made even more difficult by his creative coaching staff, a group willing to move him around and even let him freelance his way to the pocket.

That brings us to one of the biggest differences between the two players - alignment and flexibility. In this game, Garrett rushed from outside the right tackle on seven reps, outside the left tackle on 24 reps and over the right guard on one rep. He slanted or twisted nine times, several times just doing so on his own, hunting for an opening or a matchup he liked. His third sack came over Zach Frazier, who was stunned when Garrett suddenly flashed into his gap. By moving Garrett around before the snap, the Browns made it challenging for Pittsburgh, as the Steelers had to adjust protections and move players to account for his new alignment.

On the season, Garrett has lined up on the left side 80 times, and on the right side 418. He’s lined up on the interior 15 times too. By contrast, Watt has six snaps on the right side and four snaps on the interior, compared to 604 on the left side. 

It’s simply so much easier for opposing teams to scheme up ways to stop Watt going into the game than it is for teams to stop Garrett. Steelers opponents can know with virtually absolute certainty where Watt will be on every snap, and simply build a game plan around that information. 

With Cleveland that becomes much more difficult. In a given game, Garrett will move sides and alignments, and he’s much more likely to matchup hunt and test an entire offensive line at some point in the game. In Week 2, Garrett played 25 snaps on the left side and only 15 on the right, totally altering his normal tendency. That would be unheard of for Watt.

I’ve long ranted about this, but Watt’s production despite this fact is completely ridiculous. It should not be possible for him to continue to produce at the rate that he has throughout his career when he is schemed for as much as any edge defender in the NFL. This is especially true when you also consider that he wins primarily on one path, the outside shoulder/hip of the right tackle.

With Garrett, that just isn’t the case. He has the green light to deploy any move, and the skill set to do it with excellence. If he doesn’t like the post-snap look to attack the edge, he can loop around inside and find an uncovered gap or interior offensive lineman to attack. The entire offensive line is his playground, and he has a ton of freedom and skill to go wherever he believes is the best path to the quarterback.

Against offensive tackles, Garrett is most likely to win on the outside too, but certainly offers more variety than Watt. He loves to counter with a spin or a euro-step, and he can drop his pads and bull rush when he needs to as well. Per PFF, Garrett has 10 pressures with a bull rush, 11 pressures with an inside move and 23 with an outside move this season. By comparison, Watt has 22 pressures with an outside move, seven pressures with an inside move and zero pressures with a bull rush.

The purpose of this article isn’t necessarily to decide who is better - although that can be a fun discussion. But this game did a good job of showing how much harder it is to stop Garrett from a game plan and matchup perspective - partially due to his skill set, partially due to his much more creative defensive scheme - than it is to stop Watt, at least on paper. 

It’s never wise to draw conclusions about how to rank players based on one game. We’ve got years of production and tape from both Garrett and Watt, and comparing them based on that is a great exercise. My conclusion, for those who haven’t heard it, is that I think Watt is arguably the most impactful all-around defensive player of the last decade from a wins/losses perspective and a points added perspective, and that Garrett is the better pure pass rusher.

But in Week 12, Garrett was definitely the more impactful player. His skill set was on full display, as he ghost moved around Dan Moore, inside spin countered to pick up a pressure and looped in to attack the interior on several occasions. He was a complete monster, even in the second half when the Steelers were much better at executing their chips. Within that Jim Schwartz scheme, especially given the versatility of Garrett’s skill set, the Browns will find ways for him to win regardless of the situation.

The same can’t be said for Watt. He had his fair share of wins, and has played well all season. But the Steelers lack of creativity is keeping him from greater success and making it so much easier for opponents to take him out of games. I think that’s a massive problem, but it’s also fair to wonder if Watt has the skill set to rush inside more often, or switch sides and have the same degree of success. Early in his career he did, but it’s been a long time since he was asked to do so. 

If Watt can’t find more ways to win 1v1, and his coaching staff can’t find more ways to get him better matchups and make it harder for teams to find him before each snap, I think his numbers will fall off compared to Garrett over the next couple years. Watt will still be an elite defensive player - this article hasn’t focused as much on how ridiculous his all-around skill set is - but I don’t think it’s a complete coincidence that his pressure numbers have fallen off this season.

The Steelers need to adapt. The NFL is better equipped to handle great pass rushers every year, from a game plan, quarterback and offensive line perspective. If the Steelers don’t counter by making it harder on opponents, life for their superstar isn’t going to get easier. And even if they do, it will be up to Watt to buy in and prove them right with his level of play. Garrett has proven that he can do it, and it’s a big reason why he won this matchup on Thursday night.