San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave had some fun at T.J. Watt's expense after his team defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Hargrave, a former Steeler himself, couldn't help but celebrate on his home field with Watt's signature celebration.
Hargrave recorded the sack late in the fourth quarter, essentially putting an end to any Pittsburgh ill-informed comeback attempt.
Hargrave went as far as to say that Week 1's game would be won in the trenches. Despite the effort from Watt, who himself had several sacks and forced fumbles on the day, the 49ers dominated both lines of scrimmage as a whole.
"We gotta dominate the trenches. Y'all got a good offensive line, y'all got a good defensive line and I feel like we got a good offensive line and defensive line. Like everybody says, it starts in the trenches. So I think whoever wins the trenches is gonna win the game," predicted Hargrave. "Y'all do got some good wide receivers, we do too. So it's gonna come up to other things too, but I think the trenches is the key to the game."
49ers: Did Javon Hargrave mock Steelers star T.J. Watt?
While Hargrave did use Watt's celebration, the primary reason for Pittsburgh's defeat was the offense. Coordinator Matt Canada put together another lousy gameplan, and Kenny Pickett looked anything but the quarterback of the future.
This is all despite an impressive preseason from both Canada, Pickett and the Pittsburgh offense. San Francisco features one of the best defenses in all of football when healthy, starting with the d-line. Hargrave, along with Nick Bosa and Co., are tough to block up front. San Francisco doesn't need to blitz on obvious passing downs to create pressure, which is something most other teams cannot say.
It'll be a happy flight back to San Francisco for Hargrave and the 49ers.
