The Monday night after the Steelers’ heartbreaking loss to the Cowboys, my buddy and I were having a few beers and dissecting each unfortunate play that may have led to the 20-17 letdown.

One such play was a complete whiff on an attempted football punchout by cornerback Joey Porter Jr. You know what I mean, right? Instead of securing the tackle and then trying to strip the ball carrier of the football, Porter took a swipe at the football without so much as even touching the Cowboys player, and said player continued down the sideline for a few more yards.

Porter kinda looked like Mr. T. trying to hit Rocky in the fight after Apollo trained him in Rocky III.

“That’s unsound football!” I insisted. “He’ll learn. Maybe someone like T.J. Watt can sit him down and teach him the Steeler Way.”

That last sentence was likely never uttered by yours truly, but it would have been funny if it was. Why? Because Watt, the future Hall of Famer with 101 quarterback sacks through seven-plus seasons, used two punches by his right hand to alter the trajectory of last Sunday’s 32-13 victory over the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Watt didn’t use his right hand to blow past a Raiders right tackle and blow up quarterback Aiden O’Connell with one of his patented game-changing sacks. In fact, Watt didn’t even have a sack in Sunday’s game. But like most truly great players, Watt found a way to make a difference even when he was prevented from doing the thing he is most known for.

That brings me to late in the first half of Sunday’s game.

The Raiders had the ball and a 7-6 lead. Running back Dylan Laube took a handoff on second and seven from the Las Vegas 30. You could tell right away that the play was going nowhere, but just as Laube was about to run into some Steelers defenders, Watt punched at the football and knocked it right out of the running back’s grasp. Keeanu Benton recovered the fumble at the 30, leading to the first touchdown of the day for the Steelers and their struggling offense.

Fast-forward to the beginning of the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game.

Pittsburgh had taken a commanding 22-7 lead after a spectacular 36-yard touchdown run by Najee Harris with 4:21 left in the third period. However, the Raiders quickly went on the offensive on their next possession and drove 68 yards in eight plays. The eighth play initially appeared to be an 11-yard touchdown run by Ameer Abdullah, but he was called down at the one. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce decided not to challenge the call; instead, the offense raced up to the line of scrimmage and quickly snapped the football before O’Connell handed it off to Abdullah. But instead of finishing off the drive, Watt finished off the Raiders by punching the football from Abdullah’s grasp before he could reach paydirt. DeShon Elliott recovered the fumble and all but ended the competitive phase of Sunday’s game.

Why did Watt succeed where Peezy Jr. failed? Like most truly great players, Watt’s instincts for improvisation paid off handsomely–twice.

Remember when Elandon Roberts used his instincts to fly over the line of scrimmage and separate the Cowboys running back from the football late in that heartbreaking loss seven days earlier? It was unfortunate that Pittsburgh didn’t fall on the loose football, because that would have been one of the all-time great end-of-game defensive plays in Steelers history.

This isn’t to suggest that Roberts is an all-time great–far from it. However, Troy Polamalu was a Hall of Fame safety, and he just had the knack for exploding into the backfield right as the quarterback got the snap from center. He even dove over the line of scrimmage once or twice to create moments that will live on in the memories of Steelers fans everywhere. 

Polamalu also had great instincts for improvising in the defensive backfield and would often deviate from his assignment. I’m sure this backfired a time or two, but it worked more than it didn’t, and that was why he was such a force and a nightmare for opposing offensive coordinators to gameplan for.

So, I guess the bottom line for this article is this: Wrap up the ball carrier BEFORE trying to punch the football out…unless you’re T.J. Watt or someone of his ilk.