PITTSBURGH -- Bragging rights belong to the youngest Watt brothers, at least for now.
All three Watts, J.J., Derek and T.J., took the field together for the first time Sunday afternoon in the de facto Watt Brothers Bowl, and Derek and T.J.'s Pittsburgh Steelers came from behind to beat J.J.'s Houston Texans 28-21. T.J. even made a crucial sack in the fourth quarter to slow Deshaun Watson.
"There was a lot of buildup that went into this week," T.J. said. "So much media. Being miked up for the first time, I think you'll find out I'm a very boring person to listen to on the field. I don't talk much. I just tried to soak it up as much as possible."
It was the second time since 1927 that three brothers have played in the same game, an occurrence that happened just last season at Heinz Field when the Edmunds brothers played in the Steelers-Buffalo Bills matchup.
T.J. and J.J. were the captains for their teams, greeting each other at midfield with a big hug before the coin toss. T.J. won the coin toss, getting the early edge over his older brother.
"For them both to be captains and to go out there to do the coin flip was awesome," wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. "To play in the NFL in a game like this, J.J. Watt was making plays, but T.J., the play he made toward the end of the quarter, it was huge for us."
Derek's afternoon ended early when he left in the second quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return. T.J. briefly came out, holding his arm to his ribs area. He got checked out just before halftime and returned to the game. As the minutes wound down in the fourth quarter, T.J. found himself watching his brother play while he was on the sideline.
"It wasn't a normal week," T.J. said. "I just tried to, especially toward the end of the game, take a moment to be able to see the guy I looked up to my whole life playing football, my brother, J.J., just to see him go to work on the football field with my own eyes, it's something I'll never forget. And I'm truly grateful that I was able to share the field with my brothers today."
While T.J. expressed a little nostalgia after the game, J.J. wasn't ready to wax poetic about the historic afternoon for his family with his team now in an 0-3 hole.
"Someday we'll look back on it and it will be pretty cool," he said. "But right now, sitting at 0-3, it doesn't feel that great. It's a special thing for our family, but right now it's about the Houston Texans and figuring out what we need to do to win a football game."