The Pittsburgh Steelers defense was dominant in Week 1 when they faced the Atlanta Falcons in Georgia. The 18-10 final score wasn’t even truly indicative of just how dominant the defense was vs. the new-look Falcons offense.

The Steelers defense held the Falcons offense to under 70 yards total as a team, and pitched a shut out. They held Kirk Cousins to 19 yards and a 6.3 Passer Rating in the second half.

But what if I told you the performance could have been even worse?

It was in the waning minutes of the second quarter T.J. Watt looked to time the snap count perfectly and had a strip-sack of Cousins, which he also recovered. It was a game-changing moment, but a flag thrown suggested Watt had jumped offsides.

But did he?

Take a look for yourself:

RT the hell out of this so @NFLOfficiatingknows how bad they missed the call. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/0OnB3v8FIR

— Jeff Hartman (@JHartman_PIT) September 9, 2024

Steelers fans were clearly angry about the call, and the anger reached a new level when the very next play Kyle Pitts was lost in the Steelers coverage scheme and was found wide open in the corner of the end-zone for the game’s only touchdown.

Such are the highs and lows in the game of football, but Watt came off the field and he was incensed, putting it mildly, when talking with Mike Tomlin. But he didn’t stop there, he was giving the side judge and earful as well as he knew he wasn’t offsides, but timed the snap perfectly.

In his post-game press conference Watt spoke about how his film study had him find a “golden nugget” of information which was going to give him and edge. Take a look at how he described what he found from his film study of the Falcons and their offensive system:

T.J. Watt speaks to the media following our win over the Falcons. pic.twitter.com/yL8r9ekM3G

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 8, 2024

If that wasn’t bad enough, it was reported Sunday evening how an official told Watt at halftime they got the call wrong. Watt knew he wasn’t offsides, and while you can say at least the officials owned it, it had to feel like salt being rubbed in the wound.

This from Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk prior to Sunday Night Football last night:

Fun stuff from T.J. Watt after Sunday’s win at Atlanta. Which was overrun by Steelers fans. pic.twitter.com/Niyhi0C32A

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 9, 2024

T.J. Watt ended the evening with one sack, a game-ending sack of Cousins, but had two others negated by penalty. Watt is nearing the 100 sack plateau, and could have reached it in Week 1. Maybe he’ll have to wait until Week 2 at the Denver Broncos with rookie QB Bo Nix to set the career mark, unless the officials inject themselves yet again.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the Broncos on the road in Week 2.