New season, same old recipe for the Steelers: very little offense and a whole lot of TJ Watt

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The quarterbacks have changed. The offensive coordinator too. The most direct route for the Pittsburgh Steelers to win games has not.

A little — sometimes very little — offense and a whole lot of T.J. Watt.

The superstar outside linebacker was at his frenetic best in Sunday's 18-10 season-opening victory over the Atlanta Falcons and cemented the win by dropping Kirk Cousins on game's final snap.

The perennial All-Pro celebrated by doing his signature leg kick then taking a bow, fitting for a performance that has become the norm for Watt, particularly in Week 1s.

Watt began his career by getting two sacks and picking off a pass in a 21-18 win over the rival Browns in the 2017 opener. Three years ago in Buffalo, Watt sacked Josh Allen twice and forced a fumble as the Steelers pulled out a stunner. Two years ago in Cincinnati, he picked off a pass and took down Joe Burrow before leaving with a pectoral tear that forced him to miss half the season.

The only player to lead the NFL in sacks three times since it became an official statistic in 1982 looks as good as ever a month before his 30th birthday.

And good thing, because the Steelers will likely have to rely on their defense until the offense — whether it's led by Justin Fields or Russell Wilson — finds its footing.

That is fine by Watt, whose 97 1/2 sacks are a franchise record and the most by any player since he entered the league.

“This is the best job in the world,” Watt said. "It’s not hard for me to have a good time and want to play the best football that I possibly can.”

It's a brand of football that remains timeless, particularly in Pittsburgh.

And while the Steelers spent the offseason overhauling an offense that been an anchor most of this decade, their identity remains closely tied to Watt's unmistakable brilliance.

“He’s always going to go out there and cause those kind of problems,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “You’ve got to give him credit just being who he is.”

And as long as Watt stays healthy, the Steelers have a chance to be competitive even as the offense endures unavoidable growing pains. Fields avoided mistakes and made a couple of big plays with his arm (two long passes to George Pickens) and his legs (converting some third downs on scrambles or designed runs).

Whether he did enough to unseat Wilson — who sat out with a calf injury — is uncertain. Coach Mike Tomlin will wait until Tuesday at the earliest to provide clarity.

It likely doesn't matter much anyway. Until the offense shows the kind of dynamic playmaking it has lacked since 2018, Pittsburgh will go as Watt goes. The Steelers are 70-33-1 when Watt is in the lineup and 1-10 when he's not. Few if any defensive players in the league have that kind of impact on their club's fortunes.

“TJ Watt always delivers when it gets thick,” Tomlin said.

Good thing, because it figures to be thick for a while.

Getting the ball to the other side of the 50 and letting Chris Boswell go to work. The veteran kicker tied a franchise record by drilling six field goals and became the first player in team history to make three kicks from 50 yards or more in the same game. Boswell has connected on 33 of 40 attempts (82%) from at least 50 yards in his career, the highest rate in NFL history.

Finding a way to have Boswell kick extra points. The offense reached the red zone twice in 10 drives and never threw a pass that reached the end zone. Fields goals might be good enough to beat Atlanta. It won't be against the teams the Steelers are trying to keep pace with in the AFC.

It did not take long for DeShon Elliott and Donte Jackson to make an impact in the secondary. Elliott made a diving pick of Cousins in the first quarter to end an Atlanta drive. Jackson stepped in front of a fluttering Cousins pass in the final minutes and returned it 49 yards to all but seal it.

The wide receivers behind George Pickens did little to prove they can be difference-makers in the opener. Van Jefferson had one catch for 1 yard. Calvin Austin III had one catch for 7 yards. Scotty Miller was not targeted, though he did serve as the holder for Boswell after punter Cameron Johnston left with a knee injury.

Punter Cameron Johnston's season is over after his right (plant) leg was rolled into in the fourth quarter. The Steelers signed Corliss Waitman on Monday to replace him. ... Veteran guard Isaac Seumalo (pectoral) may have a chance to return to practice this week after sitting out the opener. ... Rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu (knee) was healthy enough to dress against the Falcons but did not play.

10: The number of wins in one-score games (eight points or fewer) by Pittsburgh since the start of the 2023 season. No team in the NFL has more over that span.

Try to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2020 by beating Denver on the road Sunday, a place the Steelers haven't won in 15 years.

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Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) celebrates after recovering a fumble during the second half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) reacts after knocking the ball from Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins as he looked to pass during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt celebrates after sacking Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins at the end of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt celebrates after sacking Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins at the end of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt celebrates after sacking Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins at the end of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — In Indian-controlled Kashmir, many people boycotted elections for decades in protest against Indian rule. But in the run-up to the local election beginning Wednesday, many are willing to buck that trend and use their vote to deny Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party the power to form a local government in the disputed region.

The vote is the first in a decade, and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in 2019 scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s special status and downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory. The move — which largely resonated in India and among Modi supporters — was mostly opposed in the region as an assault on its identity and autonomy.

“Boycotts will not work in this election,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident in southern Kashmir’s Shangus village. “There is a desperate need to end the onslaught of changes coming from there (India).”

The election will allow residents to have their own truncated government and a local parliament called an assembly, instead of remaining under New Delhi’s direct rule. The region’s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time ruled the region in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party.

But the government collapsed in 2018 after BJP withdrew from the coalition. Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.

This time, New Delhi says the polls are ushering in democracy after more than three decades of strife. However, many locals see the vote as an opportunity not only to elect their own representatives but also to register their protest against the 2019 changes.

Polling will be held in three phases. The second and third phases are scheduled for Sept. 25 and Oct. 1. Votes will be counted on Oct. 8, with results expected that day.

Kashmir is divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Since 1947, the neighbors have fought two wars over its control, after British rule of the subcontinent ended with the creation of the two countries. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.

In 2019, the Indian-controlled part of the region was divided into two territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi. The region has been on edge since it lost its flag, criminal code, constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs.

Multiple pro-India Kashmiri parties, many of whose leaders were among thousands jailed in 2019, are contesting the election, promising to reverse those changes. Some lower-rung separatist leaders, who in the past dismissed polls as illegitimate exercises under military occupation, are also running for office as independent candidates.

India’s main opposition Congress party, which favors restoration of the region’s statehood, has formed an alliance with the National Conference, the region’s largest party. Modi’s BJP has a strong political base in Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu that largely favor the 2019 changes but is weak in the Kashmir Valley, the heartland of anti-India rebellion.

“Our main concern is governance through local representatives. It will be good for us if the BJP forms the government here as it’s already in power at the center,” said Chuni Lal, a shopkeeper in Jammu city.

The vote will see a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly, with a chief minister at the top heading a council of ministers. But Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory” — a region directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament remaining its main legislator.

The elected government will have partial control over areas like education, culture and taxation but not over the police. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states in India. However, it will not have the special powers it enjoyed before the 2019 changes.

Last year, India’s Supreme Court endorsed the government’s 2019 changes but ordered New Delhi to conduct local polls by the end of September and restore Kashmir’s statehood. Modi’s government has promised to restore statehood after the polls but has not specified a timeline.

Elections in Indian-held Kashmir have remained a sensitive issue. Many believe they have been rigged multiple times in favor of local politicians who subsequently became India’s regional enforcers, used to incrementally dilute laws that offered Kashmir a special status and legitimize New Delhi’s militaristic policies.

In the mid-1980s, the region’s dissident political groups emerged as a formidable force against Kashmir’s pro-India political elite but lost the 1987 election widely believed to have been rigged. A public backlash followed, with some young activists taking up arms and demanding a united Kashmir, either under Pakistani rule or independent of both.

India insists the insurgency is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a charge Islamabad denies. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, which most Kashmiri Muslims consider a legitimate freedom struggle.

Noor Ahmed Baba, a political scientist, said the outcome of the polls “is not going to change the dynamics of the Kashmir dispute” since it will end with a largely powerless legislature, but will be crucial for optics.

“If local parties win, it is going to put some pressure on the central government and perhaps delegitimize from a democratic perspective what has been done to Kashmir. But a BJP win can allow the party to consolidate and validate 2019 changes in the local legislature,” Baba said.

India’s ruling BJP is not officially aligned with any local party, but many politicians believe it is tacitly supporting some parties and independent candidates who privately agree with its stances.

The National Conference party says Modi’s BJP is trying to manipulate the election through independent candidates. “Their (BJP’s) concerted effort is to divide the vote in Kashmir,” said Tanvir Sadiq, a candidate from the National Conference.

The BJP’s national secretary, meanwhile, says his party’s former ally, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the National Conference are being supported by former militants. Ram Madhav said at a recent rally that they want to return the region to its “trouble-filled days.”

For residents whose civil liberties have been curbed, the election is also a chance to choose representatives they hope will address their main issues.

Many say that while the election won’t solve the dispute over Kashmir, it will give them a rare window to express their frustration with Indian control.

“We need some relief and end of bureaucratic rule here,” said Rafiq Ahmed, a taxi driver in the region’s main city of Srinagar.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party workers attend a rally, ahead of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in Jammu, India, Saturday Sep.7, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)

Former union minster and star campaigner of BJP Anurag Thakur and state in charge Ram Madhav wave to supporters during a campaign rally, after party candidates filed the nomination papers for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections at Nagrota outskirts of Jammu, India, Thursday, Sep.12, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)

Supporters of India's opposition Congress party, wave during an election rally at Dooru some 78 kilometers (49 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir,Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Supporters of Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, attend a public rally at Baramulla, some 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, speaks during a public rally at Baramulla, some 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Policemen stop supporters of National Conference Party from accompanying their candidate during the filing of nomination papers for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in Jammu, India, Sept.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)

Supporters listen as India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, unseen, speaks during an election rally at Dooru some 78 kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, FILE)

Supporters of India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, shout slogans during an election rally at Dooru, some 78 kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

People watch from a window during a road show of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Arif Laigroo, in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah, center, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti, second right, and other leaders sit during an all parties meeting on restoration of the special status that was stripped last year from Indian-administered Kashmir, in Srinagar, India. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

A child looks on as Indian policemen frisk Kashmiri pedestrians during a surprise security check in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Indian security forces walk past Indian flags and flags of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a motorcycle rally by BJP youth wing to the Kargil War Memorial passes through Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, July 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

Kashmiris shout slogans during a protest after Friday prayers against the abrogation of article 370, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Oct. 4, 2019.(AP Photo/ Dar Yasin, File)

A masked protester throws stone at Indian security forces during a protest after Eid prayers in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, June 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

Kashmiris sit outside closed shops painted with graffiti during a curfew in central Srinagar, India, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)