Steelers star T.J. Watt stuns Cooper Rush, joins Julius Peppers with historic pick 6 in win over Falcons

T.J. Watt was right in Cooper Rush's face when he picked him off on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / REUTERS

T.J. Watt was in the perfect spot on Sunday afternoon to stun Cooper Rush.

Watt, early in the fourth quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers' 20-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons at Arcisure Stadium, expertly snagged a pass from Rush intended for Bijan Robinson out of mid-air as he was trying to get around the edge.

Watt, only a few feet away from Rush at the time, made the two-handed grab like it was nothing. He rolled into the backfield and then managed to make his way into the end zone untouched to complete the truly remarkable pick-six.

OH MY T.J. WATT WITH THE PICK-6

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The interception was the 10th of Watt's career. He's now just the second player in NFL history to record at least 10 interceptions and at least 100 sacks in his career, since sacks became a recorded stat in 1982. Hall of Famer Julius Peppers, who had 159.5 sacks and 11 interceptions in his 17-year career, is the other player to pull that feat off.

Watt had 55 total tackles and seven sacks last season, his ninth with the Steelers. He sacked Rush twice before the interception on Sunday, too, which brought him to 117 in his career. Watt had four total tackles in the win.

Watt's touchdown put the Steelers up 20-10 at the time. They took a 13-7 lead into the break at halftime, thanks in part to a six-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Pat Freiermuth early in the second quarter.

While the Falcons responded to the interception with a field goal of their own to make it a one-possession game again, it was too late. The Steelers held on the rest of the way to grab the win.

Rush was only officially named the Falcons' starting quarterback on Sunday morning. Tua Tagovailoa was previously given the nod to start for the team in Week 1, but he went down with an oblique injury after an issue at practice on Thursday. Rush was meant to be a backup in Atlanta when he signed with the team this past offseason, behind both Tagovailoa and Michael Penix - who is still recovering from a knee injury.

Rush ended up going 12-of-22 for 143 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The first pick came in the second quarter when he was looking for Jahan Dotson deep, but overshot him and sent it right to Jaquan Brisker.

GIMME THAT

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Rodgers went 24-of-40 for 221 yards with a touchdown in the win for the Steelers, which marked their first under new head coach Mike McCarthy. The duo, who spent years together with the Green Bay Packers, are now 9-3 in Week 1 when on the same side in their careers.