TJ Watt’s frustration was clear on the Pittsburgh Steelers sideline as he snatched a coach’s headset and shouted at his defensive coordinator in an explosive moment.
The Steelers endured a nightmare first half against the Cleveland Browns in their AFC North clash, conceding 21 points in a nightmare second quarter to trail 21-10 at the break.
They came back strong in the second half but ultimately came up short in a 27-24 loss, which leaves the team 2-2 after four weeks of the new NFL season.
And frustrations appeared to be mounting. Aaron Rodgers snapped at his own head coach, Mike McCarthy, in a foul-mouthed first half outburst caught on camera.
Then Watt was seen grabbing a headset from a coach to speak to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham directly as they struggled to stop the Deshaun Watson-led offense.
The 31-year-old pass rusher was seen in animated discussions with defensive backs and other teammates as they tried to solve their problems on the fly.
An angry TJ Watt took a headset to speak directly to his defensive coordinator on the sideline
Watt was seen having animated discussions with defensive backs on the Steelers bench
‘It’s frustration,’ former Seahawks star Richard Sherman said on Amazon Prime Video. ‘Any time, you can see the defensive linemen talking to a DB, that’s not a good conversation.’
Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez added: ‘Any time you have their superstars on both sides of the ball yelling at their coordinators, that is not a good thing.
‘That tells me there is some heavy frustration on there, maybe some overestimation. Maybe they thought it was going to come out here and be a cake walk.’
Watt took out his frustrations on the Browns offensive line, especially in the second half, ending the game with a sack and fumble recovery.
But he expressed his frustration after the game as the Browns marched down the field again late on to kick a game-winning field goal.
‘I mean, even at the end of the game there, it’s just way too easy getting down the field there, getting them in range,’ Watt explained, via Steeler Nation. ‘Just got to look at everything and move forward.
‘I mean, credit to them, they had a good game plan. Clearly it worked for them. Obviously, there’s going to be situations where we feel like we would want back or we could have done better.
‘That’s what we’ll get in the lab about and watch the film. Have to get better and get better quick. You just can’t have them move the ball that easily. You just can’t.’
Watt’s Steelers struggled to stop the Deshaun Watson-led Browns offense in the first half
A much-improved second half from Watt and the defense ultimately still ended in a loss
Watt was not the only Steelers veteran to lose his cool, with Cameron Heyward also shown shouting expletives on the sideline.
‘Execution was not high today. The last two weeks have been not good on defense, and I’m not gonna make excuses for that.’
After giving up 27 points for the second straight game, the Steelers will aim to put things right on a long week before hosting the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday.
