Wow, Ben Watson. Wow.

Football coaches everywhere preach hustle and effort, hustle and effort. That's really what it's all about. Ability can't be taught -- either you can throw a spiral or you can't, and either you can kick a 40-yard field goal or you can't. But hustle and effort is something every coach strives to instill in his team.

There isn't a better example of hustle in the New England Patriots locker room than Ben Watson.

Watson, don't forget, is the same player who chased down Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey in the playoffs three years ago -- Bailey intercepted a Tom Brady pass in the end zone and took it back 100 yards before Watson, who was clear on the other side of the field, knocked him out of bounds at the 1-yard line. That was impressive enough.

But then he did it again on Sunday. Lawrence Timmons intercepted a pass at the Steelers' 10-yard line and took it all the way back -- or thought he'd taken it all the way back, until Watson caught him and dragged him down at the 1-yard line.

Players routinely give up on 90- or 100-yard returns for touchdowns. It's only natural. Who wants to sprint 100 yards if you've got less than a 50-50 shot of catching the guy you're chasing? In both of the above cases, it was late in the game, and just about everyone was out of gas. As Watson said in the NFL Network video linked above, if he'd have dogged it, no one would have said a thing.

No, Watson didn't win his team the game with his tackle on Sunday. He didn't even really prevent a touchdown; Gary Russell scored from a yard out two plays later.

But that's the sort of hustle that goes unnoticed in a million other instances, instances that can win close games. At this point, the Patriots need every win they can get -- and they need every ounce of hustle they can get. Watson has had a rough time catching passes and holding onto the football in recent weeks, but as long as he's hustling like that, there's no doubt the catches will come.