Steelers’ T.J. Watt aims to find ways avoid offsides flags for being ‘too good’ at timing snaps

The question raised to T.J. Watt on Friday was verbalized somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it was based off a concrete example from the previous game.

Is Watt timing opponents’ snaps too good?

And if so, what can he do about it?

“I am never going to really stop trying to gain advantage and trying to time things up if I can,” Watt said. “Just need to find a way.”

By “a way,” Watt was implying “a way to not get flagged.”

Watt was livid after getting called for offside during a second-quarter play in Atlanta last Sunday on which he sacked Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. Watt appeared to time the snap to perfection, and soon after the game ended he told the NFL Network that the official told Watt he had erred in throwing the flag.

That erred Watt offsides flag, in the end, despite costing the Steelers 7pts, didn't cost them a W

But it's not difficult to envision a scenario in the world w/ Myles Garrett a darling of PFF et al, losing a sack& forced fumble on the stat line could again cost Watt a DPOY award https://t.co/4bT4DeJfqw

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 13, 2024

In lieu of simply making himself slower in the get-off in rushing the passer, is discussing his quick first step with officials before the game begins a viable and wise alternative?

“There’s always things that you go into the game … that you always talk to (officials) about,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “It could be a number of things, not just the T.J. Watt thing, but there’s times we’ve gone into and said, ‘Hey guys, you’ve got to be careful. This guy’s always pushing off, or he grabs,’ and different things that go on. And it’s not a complaint, it’s just, ‘Hey, listen, this is some things that we see on film that happened that haven’t been called. And just, take a look at it, see what you think.’

“And so I think in that regard, yeah, you could probably say, ‘Hey guys, I don’t know about that snap count, because he just got off so fast.’ It was a thing of beauty. There’s other things that that you talk to him about, and it doesn’t mean that you’re begging for a call or they’re going to give you the call. You’re just trying to make them aware.”

Watt, for his part, doesn’t yet sound as if he’s necessarily comfortable enough in approaching officials before a game begins. But he does sound as if he’s open to trying something in an effort to avoid another erroneous offside flag.

“I haven’t found a way to do it yet,” he said, “but I don’t know if it’s talking to the officials or what the solution really is for that.”