clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

T.J. Watt wins AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for Week 5

The Steelers outside linebacker won his second Defensive Player of the Week award in 2018 for his 3 sack effort against the Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons v Pittsburgh Steelers Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Steelers may not be having their greatest start to the year in terms of wins and losses, but they led the AFC in individual player honors through the first five weeks of the season after T.J. Watt picked up his second AFC Defensive Player of the Week award of 2018 on Wednesday.

Watt recorded 3 sacks, a forced fumble and 8 tackles against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5, with his strip sack of Matt Ryan resulting in a touchdown when L.J. Fort fell on the ball in the endzone. Even when he wasn't sacking the quarterback, he was continually harassing him, registering an additional 3 hits and 3 hurries on Ryan in the contest.

After a few quiet weeks following an impressive season opener, Watt silenced his critics on Sunday with another dominating performance and remains very much on pace to break LaMarr Woodley’s record for sacks in the first two years of his career.

Currently tied for the league lead in sacks with his brother J.J. and Geno Atkins of the Cincinnati Bengals, the young outside linebacker continues to improve almost week-by-week having still only played 20 regular season games in his short career so far.

As good as he has been at times rushing the passer, Watt is increasingly looking more comfortable in coverage and his value as a run stopper continues to grow.

While J.J. might be the more famous brother in the NFL for now, his youngest brother is nipping at his heels this season, with both players putting up strangely similar numbers so far in 2018.