Pittsburgh’s bye week is the calm before the storm. The second half of the NFL schedule is shaping up to be a frantic race to the finish for the AFC North crown against the Ravens. Russell Wilson will be a tool, maybe even more so than TJ Watt. The Steelers may not be what Mike Tomlin describes as a quarterback-centric team, but modern football revolves around the position.

Despite the diminishing importance of a strong rushing attack, having one makes it easier for Wilson. That’s why watching embattled starter Najee Harris ignite their impotent field game was so refreshing. In doing so, Harris separated himself from Jaylen Warren as the clear-cut No. 1 after they went 50-50 on snaps in Week 7.

Not much news to report from Pittsburgh lately, but no news is good news during a bye week. You can expect that to change around Tuesday’s trade deadline. Meanwhile, new trade rumors abound and the Defensive Player of the Year race behind Watt heats up.

Midway through the NFL season, TJ Watt is still the 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year favorite with +100 odds according to BET MGM. This is from him +300 odds two weeks ago after Watt emerged as the betting favorite in Week 4 following Aidan Hutchinson’s broken leg. On Wednesday, TJ Watt was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Over the past few weeks, Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr.’s performance has pushed him into +550 territory as the runner-up to Watt.

Watt won game after game for the Steelers with timely punches, made flashy plays in the run game, collapsed pockets and short-circuited offenses with his mere presence. On Monday Night Football, Watt recorded two sacks, seven tackles, a fumble and a fumble recovery.

Watt wasn’t the AFC Defensive Player of the Month, though. That’s likely a result of going two weeks without a sack, which appears to be weighted more heavily than the four fumbles Watt has forced this month. The October honor went to Will Anderson, who recorded 18 tackles, seven tackles for loss and a fumble recovery in the Texans’ first four October games. While Watt is rested for the Steelers, Anderson will have an opportunity to solidify his position in a primetime game against the Jets and Aaron Rodgers on Thursday night.

However, the difference between Watt and Anderson is in the details. Watt’s effectiveness is measured not only in terms of sacks and hurries, but also in terms of personnel used to contain his disruptive nature. A year ago, Watt was second in the Defensive Player of the Year race. So much of the awards voting is about production, but narrative also plays a major role in the voting. Much of this narrative is influenced by advanced analytics.

Garrett ended up being named Defensive Player of the Year, generating 14 sacks and 12 tackles for loss, finishing ahead of TJ Watt, who generated 19 sacks and nine TFLs. The thinking was that Garrett was the anchor of the NFL’s best defense and that his production was the result doubled team on 29 percent of his pass rushesmore than twice the Watt rate was double (14%). However, ESPN’s widely publicized double-team percentage stat had a flaw that Pro Football Focus tried to address.

This season, opposing offenses have made considerable efforts to prevent Watt from making their quarterbacks forget. Professional football Focus’ chip rate statistics features the number of chips used to slow his blitzkrieg in the backfield, and predictably, Watt remains the most targeted passer in the league by a considerable margin. Based on PFF data, Watt eats chip blocks for breakfast, getting chipped nearly twice as often as Myles Garrett or any other pass rusher.

The chip rate against Watt is down 13 percent from Week 4, but he still leads the league at more than twice the rate against Myles Garrett. PFF’s filing of chip rates against pass rushers was apparently in response to the uproar over how Watt perceived his lack of double teams as a repeat outside linebacker a year ago, and it may already be having an impact on the race.

Given how close we are to the trade deadline, the time for window shopping by the Steelers is coming to an end soon. It might appear that the Steelers have resigned themselves to acquiring wide receiver Mike Williams in the midst of the worst season of his professional career. Many of their previous trade targets are now comfortably located in new cities or firmly entrenched in the franchises that looked to trade them (Brandon Aiyuk and Cooper Kupp). However, the former and current Sports Illustrated analyst Sportskeeda NFL Insider Tony Pauline dropped further trade speculation at the Steelers trade deadline jambalaya on Thursday.

According to Pauline’s sources, New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton and the Denver Broncos were in Courtland Suttonin addition to Mike Williams are among the receivers Omar Khan is interested in. Slayton’s name has been on the fringes of trade talks for several weeks, but Pauline’s report is the first time he has been mentioned as a serious possibility.

Of course, Khan’s interest in Slayton is part of a pattern of receivers the Steelers will face or have recently faced being tossed around in trade conversations. Davante Adams faced the Steelers twice in two weeks before and after requesting a trade from the Jets. On Sunday, Slayton had his second 100-yard game of the season against the Steelers on Monday night and is playing on an expiring contract with a Giants team that failed to negotiate a contract extension during the offseason.

However, the NFL Network Mike Garafolo reports that the Giants should be stunned by an offer to trade Slayton, and the Steelers have shown an aversion to reaching positions of need through trades. The Broncos are also saying the same thing about Courtland Sutton, and various reports indicate their asking price is a second-round pick. Sutton was target no. 1 of Wilson in Denver and was chased multiple times by Pittsburgh, but ultimately Khan’s pursuit of Sutton and Slayton comes down to who gives up first.