Watt thrives when the stakes are highest. Experience the intensity as he embraces a must-win playoff battle, fueled by electric home-field advantage.
It’s the time of the year when the season is on the line, and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt loves it.
The Steelers (10-7) host the Houston Texans (12-5) on Monday night in the AFC Wild Card playoff game at Acrisure Stadium. That comes eight days after the Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens in a winner-take-all regular-season finale for the AFC North title in the same venue.
Watt is one of the Steelers’ leaders after nine seasons and four All-Pro selections. However, he won’t be giving any pre-game pep talks.
"I don't think any message needs to be said," Watt said. "I mean, it's win or go home, and if you can't understand that, then you're kind of crazy. We all want to keep playing. I don't think there needs to be any extra incentive at all for this football game."
The Steelers have lost six straight playoff games, with their last win coming after the 2016 season. This will be their first home postseason home game since 2020, when they lost to the Cleveland Browns in a Wild Card game.
Only family and friends of both teams were allowed to attend the game due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Steelers’ last home playoff game without fan restrictions was 2017, a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional round.
Watt returned to action last week against the Ravens after missing three games while recovering from surgery to repair a collapsed lung and was impressed by the home crowd’s intensity. He is hoping for an even greater response this week.
"I think the buildup is even more than ever just because of how exciting the last game was and how incredible the fan base was, how loud the atmosphere was,” Watt said. “It's hard to believe that they'll be up a notch. It's a challenge for them, but I'm sure looking forward to it.
"I'm just excited to play. Not being able to play the last month sucks. To play last week in front of that atmosphere, to be able to get a win in front of Steelers Nation was incredible. I feel like we've got a lot of good things going and just want to keep building on the momentum that we have."