Lately, the NFL’s best defensive player has spoken rather boldly about the possibility that he’ll retire at an earlier age than many Houston Texans fans would prefer. But what’s interesting is that as we ponder J.J. Watt’s legacy, we hardly ever consider the fact the four-time first-team All-Pro and three-time defensive player of the year has won just two playoff games.
I know, he’s not a quarterback. He has less control over the outcomes of games than quarterbacks usually do. But he still plays a huge role, and the fact that quarterbacks sport scarlet letters for never winning Super Bowls should at least mean that elite players at other key positions should be docked points for failing to win.
Watt has been absolutely dominant for all five of his NFL seasons, and yet he has helped Houston get to the playoffs just three times, winning two wild-card games. He has never reached a conference championship, let alone a Super Bowl.
Watt could retire tomorrow and would still be viewed as one of the greatest players of all times, but it’s not fair to heavily judge quarterbacks based on wins while neglecting to even consider that as criteria for top-end pass-rushers and pass-blockers.
Reggie White won a Super Bowl; Ray Lewis and Lawrence Taylor won two apiece; Bruce Smith won four AFC championships. Watt might one day deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as those guys, but that’ll be hard if he can’t experience some trademark moments in January and/or February.
We clearly have a double standard, because it doesn’t seem as though anybody else sees it that way. But as long as we’re going to judge quarterback legacies using team success, it’s only fair to take that into account when assessing the game’s best defensive players.
