JJ Watt possibly out for the season

[Russ Smith]

Possible to still play with it strapped up depending how bad it is. Possible Watt is deciding whether he wants to try play through it or call it on the season. Considering our record I'm guessing he doesn't want his season to end.

Jamal Adams played with a turn labrum most of last season and he's a full contact player down in the box.

The thing is he'd be playing 1 handed. Kittle is a TE he has to block but he uses his arm much less than a DL except when catching the ball. Part of what makes JJ so unique is he's so good at using his strength to jar someone back and then "get skinny" and get by them. Playing 1 handed would almost certainly impact that.

 

[Russ Smith]

He’s been IR four times in the last six years. Last year was the anomaly.

I've said for years he's one of the guys I always assumed was a PED guy and that's why he got hurt so much. But this injury appears to have nothing to do with that he just fell fully stretched out as that guy on Youtube said.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I think it goes too far to say we are “absolutely screwed” without watt. It takes maybe the biggest piece of the defensive puzzle away, and that surely has trickle down impact. But the truth is that this defense is still pretty talented. Simmons, budda and Murphy seem top shelf. Golden has been terrific. Alford, Thompson, Wilson, Hicks are playing well. Hopefully chandler has something left in the tank. Phillips looked good in his return. Hopefully the kids (Collins, fotu, lawrence, Allen) and stalwarts (Peters and Kennard) can be solid contributors consistently. They just won’t be the recipients of the trickle down impact of jj wreaking havoc. Probably means closer games as the defense allows more scoring, but we had some wiggle room.

Voice of reason.

 

[Finito]

This thread has gotten kind of laughable. JJ Watt wasn’t even having a good year when compared to him at his best but now Super Bowl odds have shifted and we need a Herculean effort to make up for his loss.

Hmmmm

 

[Cheesebeef]

Voice of reason.

Same. Here’s where I am. I looked at us as Super Bowl Favorites yesterday. Without Watt, I believe we are still Super Bowl contenders. And very much so. And that’s still pretty damn awesome and better than I ever dreamed for this season.

Time will tell just how bad the loss of Watt is, but this offense hasn’t even really reached their peak and that excites the hell out of me.

 

[JohnnyCakes]

Quarterbacks win you super bowls, and the Cardinals have a very good one.

 

[BritCard]

We will be fine. Watt has been playing great but we will still be very good without him.

I'm more disappointed about not getting to see Watt play anymore this season. It was fun to watch him destroying guys and making plays. Haven't had a guy like that on the DL since Calais.

 

[BritCard]

What a machine

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[ASUCHRIS]

I mean, obviously "most important player on D" is an opinion that's impossible to quantify. But Watt was playing just over 80% of the defensive snaps. Our defense went from 10th in DVOA last year to 2nd now, and there have been a lot of moving parts contributing to that change.

The defensive line this year is 19th in adjusted line yards and 5th in adjusted sack rate. Last year we were 18th and 9th.

If I had to guess, I'd wager that either Budda Baker or Simmons have been the most important player on the defense. They're out there almost all the time. Simmons is a matchup nightmare and has relieved the stress on a secondary that has been undermanned. Baker hasn't been coming downhill to make big plays, but he's absolutely locked down the middle of the field in a role that I didn't think he'd be comfortable in.

Unfortunately, we'll quickly see how important Watt is starting tonight.

 

[Shane]

What a machine

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Wow that’s a hell of an injury... and still played the second half... what an absolute beast

 

[Krangodnzr]

Same. Here’s where I am. I looked at us as Super Bowl Favorites yesterday. Without Watt, I believe we are still Super Bowl contenders. And very much so. And that’s still pretty damn awesome and better than I ever dreamed for this season.

Time will tell just how bad the loss of Watt is, but this offense hasn’t even really reached their peak and that excites the hell out of me.

I think so too, though obviously I predict the Cardinals will lose every game by a margin of 23 points.

Even without Watt, there is enough talent on the DL, at LB, and in the secondary that the Cardinals defense shouldn't be an easy out for any team. I actually more worried with the situation at center right now.

 

[TruColor]

Otherwise ok?

How about his moxie? Still intact?

 

[Stout]

This thread has gotten kind of laughable. JJ Watt wasn’t even having a good year when compared to him at his best but now Super Bowl odds have shifted and we need a Herculean effort to make up for his loss.

Hmmmm

If it were at another position, I'd be much more confident. Hudson went out and we stabilized, though that won't last forever. Unfortunately, DL is an extremely weak position on this team with depth rotational guys but no other impact players against the run. Some injuries are much more impactful than others. We are in a very bad spot now.

 

[Dr. Jones]

If only we had someone with the power, speed, and ability of Robert Nkemdiche to take his spot.

 

[wa52lz]

If only we had someone with the power, speed, and ability of Robert Nkemdiche to take his spot.

I don't know, Seattle might not want to trade him within the division!

 

[Shane]

Honestly we should've known this was bound to happen. The second we finally lost a coin toss I knew this season was too good to be true.

 

[jmt]

I think being 7-0 helps plus it’s JJ Watt - did anyone really believe he’d make it through the season?

 

[Proteus]

Ugh. I guess we'll have to rely on our offense a lot more to win games as the defense is likely to take somewhat of a step back. We really could use Hudson back now. Sigh.

 

[TheCardFan]

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[ASUCHRIS]

This is very silly.

Feeling less silly today?

 

[Crimson Warrior]

Feeling less silly today?

Yeah I'm pretty confident saying that, if we had a full strength JJ Watt playing last night, we win.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Yeah I'm pretty confident saying that, if we had a full strength JJ Watt playing last night, we win.

We were manhandled on both sides of the ball. Hopefully the team got a good taste of playoff football, because that's what's coming.

 

[Crimson Warrior]

We were manhandled on both sides of the ball. Hopefully the team got a good taste of playoff football, because that's what's coming.

It's a great point. GB played way more physical last night.

What makes it worse is that our most physically imposing player (besides Watt), J. Conner, only had five carries. 34 run plays for them, 20 for us (six by K1). 12 carries for Edmonds and Conner combined.

 

[kerouac9]

Feeling less silly today?

Not really. It's not like opponents weren't having success rushing the ball against us with J.J. Watt in the lineup. We allowed our median amount of rushing yards last night.

When your offense turns the ball over 3 times and you get 0 turnovers, it's fortunate you only lose by 3 points.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Not really. It's not like opponents weren't having success rushing the ball against us with J.J. Watt in the lineup. We allowed our median amount of rushing yards last night.

When your offense turns the ball over 3 times and you get 0 turnovers, it's fortunate you only lose by 3 points.

I don't really get what Vance was trying to do schematically yesterday.

The Packers were obviously trying to run the ball due to all of their unavailable WRs. So why play so much two deep? Why not bring Thompson or Baker into the box?