The Giants' plan for TJ Watt fails because of Daniel Jones' mistake

PITTSBURGH – The Giants relished the chance to play TJ Watt before Monday night's 26-18 loss.

When Giants head coach Brian Daboll spoke to Giants head coach Brian Daboll about the Steelers' best player the week before the game, he raved about the Pittsburgh Steelers' game-winning edge rusher.

“We could stay here and talk about TJ Watt for a long time,” Daboll said before the game. “He's incredible. Look at his tape and all the turnovers he has and the style he plays with… I mean, he's one of the best players in the league. He is a dynamic football player. “He’s a problem.”

Watt was exactly that on Monday night. A big problem.

After neutralizing the Giants in the first half with a great plan by moving a tight end to the side where Watt lined up to support the tackle, Watt blew the game away with a monster strip sack on Giants quarterback Daniel Jones .

Watt recovered the fumble when the Giants trailed by eight points in Pittsburgh territory with 2:59 left in the game.

The culprit on the play was false tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, who Watt raced past to get to Jones.

It was Jones who called on tight end Theo Johnson to move to the right side to help Eluemunor, who was expecting chip help on the sideline.

And just like that, the Giants' comeback was thwarted.

“We had a shift with the tight end to go back to Watt and we didn’t get the shift,” Daboll said afterward. “We talked about it. DJ feels terrible. “He looked at the coverage and decided what he wanted to do, but we didn’t get the shift.”

Jones owned it after the game.

“I had to move,” he said. “Theo looked at the coverage and I didn’t change him and Jermaine expected me to make a chip and he didn’t understand that. This is my fault.”

Watt, who was quiet in the first half when he was getting picked on by tight ends, finished the game with two sacks, seven tackles and two quarterback hits.

“I saw the tight end with me and I saw (Watt) one-on-one with (Eluemunor) and I thought, 'He's about to make a play,' and he did,” Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “He got the ball. That's what he does. That’s why he’s the best in the world.”

Watt came into the game having gone the last two games without a sack, so as a player with more than 100 sacks in his career, he was certainly hungry.

“The thing with TJ is he can lull you to sleep and after a few good reps against him you're second guessing and then out of nowhere he can hit you with this crazy move that you weren't expecting and then does he “force a fumble or make an interception or hit a strip sack,” Eluemunor said before the game. “So as a tackle, your job is to prevent that and keep him out of the game.”

Jones wasn't sacked once in the first half, but was sacked four times in the second half for a loss of 27 yards.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of Watt’s monstrous second half. “That doesn’t mean it’s not appreciated. I just expect it because he has a unique talent. This usually leads to unique results.”