In a 2025 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, Cincy quarterback Joe Flacco dropped back to pass and was hit by edge rusher T.J. Watt, who drove Flacco to the ground. The play seemed dirty. Seattle Seahawks fans might remember another time Watt hurt a player by going overboard.
That was in 2021 when Seattle traveled to Pittsburgh for a Week 6 game. In a previous game, Russell Wilson had been hurt, and Geno Smith had taken over as QB1 temporarily for the Seahawks. The plan was to run the ball a lot, though. The rushing attack was led at the time by Alex Collins.
In the third quarter, Collins carried the ball but was stopped. Standing up, he was surrounded by teammates and Pittsburgh players; one of them was Watt. The play was dead, but Watt didn't stop and was literally punching Collins to try to force the running back to fumble.
Joe Flacco implies T.J. Watt is a dirty player and Seattle Seahawks fans can agree
No penalty was called on Watt as the NFL allows players to punch the ball out (he was rightfully later fined by the league), but let's be clear: Watt knew that when he was throwing punches, he wasn't always hitting the ball. He was also striking Collins in the stomach and chest. It was dirty, but he knew he would get away with it.
This relates to Flacco because on a recent episode (episode 6 of season 3) of Netflix's NFL serial, Quarterback, Flacco talks about facing the Steelers last season and being driven to the ground by Watt.
The quarterback, after the Week 11 game, said that what Watt did was "just football," but Flacco was just being PC. His truth was heard on the Netflix series.
Flacco said, "Man, he f—ked me up. He knew what he was doing, too. He was like, ‘I’ve got a chance to hit him here. I’m gonna take full advantage. It didn’t feel good. But that’s football. That’s the Steelers defense."
That is as close as calling the entire Steelers defense "dirty" as humanly possible, but Seahawks fans can attest that Watt tackling Flacco in a way that he knew might cause an injury isn't the first time that the edge rusher crossed the line. He likely did it before, and he likely has done the same kind of thing since.
Playing aggressively and tackling with force is the way football works. What isn't a good way, however, is a player doing something that could affect the livelihood of another player. T.J. Watt has done that, and it's a weak way of playing. Just play hard and win a game, and do so against another team's best players. Trying to hurt someone is just being a bully, but ultimately, it is a cowardly approach.
Add us as a preferred source on Google