Few viewers will be more torn than J.J. Watt when watching the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Houston Texans in Monday night’s Wild Card Round matchup.
Watt spent the first decade of his legendary 12-year playing career with the Texans, but he must choose between his former team and family. The former three-time Defensive Player of the Year’s brother, T.J. Watt, leads Pittsburgh into the first-round playoff showdown at Acrisure Stadium.
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J.J. Watt, who spent the 2025 season calling NFL games for CBS Sports, discussed the personal matchup Monday afternoon on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“I have really no idea,” Watt said. “Obviously, I know both of these teams extremely well, not only because of my connections but also because we called them multiple times this year. So I’ve seen them both play. I know them intimately.”
Watt thinks Houston’s No. 1 defense, led by elite pass rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter, will pose a significant challenge for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.
“The Texans defense is a top, top, top-tier defense,” Watt declared. “Not only this year, I think they’ve done things that are just incredible … Scoring points has been an issue at times for Pittsburgh, and it’s certainly going to be a difficult task tonight.”
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However, Watt knows his younger brother leads a dangerous Steelers defense that forced 27 takeaways during the regular season.
“But then the same thing on the flip side,” Watt continued. “The Texans’ offense in the red zone has not been good at all this year. They had a lot of penalties, especially early in the year. They’ve kind of tightened up the pre-snap stuff as the year went on. They seemed to have started to find a rhythm with C.J. Stroud and (offensive coordinator) Nick Caley, so we’ll see. But that Steelers defense, at any moment, can make you pay.”
The five-time All-Pro stopped short of picking a winner for Monday’s game, which kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. Despite his split rooting interests, Watt is excited to watch what he believes will be a thrilling playoff contest.
“This is such a toss-up,” Watt said. “I love that it’s at night. I love that it’s outside. I love that it’s gonna be cold. I love that this should have all the makings of everything we wanted and seen this weekend. Hopefully this is the capper for it.”
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