PITTSBURGH – The Giants relished the opportunity to play TJ Watt before Monday night’s 26-18 loss.

When the topic of the Steelers’ best player was discussed with Giants head coach Brian Daboll in the week leading up to the game, he raved about the Pittsburgh game-wrecking edge rusher.

“We could sit here and talk about TJ Watt for a long time,” Daboll said before the game. ‘He’s incredible. You look at his tape and all the turnovers he has and the style he plays with… I mean, he’s one of the best players in the league. He is a dynamic footballer. He’s a problem. ”

Watt was just that on Monday night. A big problem.

After being neutralized in a first half that featured a great plan by the Giants, moving a tight end to the side where Watt lined up to help the tackle, Watt blew up the game with a monstrous sack of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. .

Watt recovered the fumble with the Giants in Pittsburgh territory trailing by eight points and driving with 2:59 left in the game.

The culprit on the play wasn’t right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, who Watt ran past to get to Jones.

It was Jones, who would call on tight end Theo Johnson to shift to the right side to assist Eluemunor, who was expecting chip help on the sideline.

And just like that, the Giants’ comeback was thwarted.

“We had a shift with the tight end to get back to Watt and we didn’t get the shift,” Daboll said afterward. “We talked about it. DJ feels terrible. He monitored the coverage and decided what he wanted to do, but we didn’t get the shift.”

Jones owned the game after the game.

“I had to change,” he said. “Theo was looking at the coverage and I wasn’t moving it and Jermaine expected me to chip, and he didn’t get that. That’s my fault.”

Watt, who was quiet in the first half as he was chipped heavily by tight ends, finished with two sacks, seven tackles and two quarterback hits.

“I saw the tight end passing by with me and I saw (Watt) one on one with (Eluemunor) and thought, ‘He’s about to make a play,’ and he did,” Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “He got the ball. That’s what he does. That’s why he’s the best in the world.”

Watt came into the game having gone the previous two games without a sack, so as a player with over 100 career sacks, he was certainly hungry.

“The problem with TJ is that he can lull you to sleep and after a few good reps you’re thinking against him, and then, out of nowhere, he can hit you with that crazy move you weren’t expecting, and then he’s a forcing a fumble or making an interception or hitting with a sack,” Eluemunor said before the game. “So as a tackle your job is to prevent that from happening and keep him out of the game.”

Jones wasn’t sacked once in the first half, but was picked off four times in the second half for a loss of 27 yards.

“I’m not surprised by it,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of Watt’s monstrous second half. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t appreciated. I just expect it because he has a unique talent. This usually produces unique results.”