Watson guides Texans to win in Cincy
Deshaun Watson ran 49 yards for a touchdown in his first NFL start and led the Houston Texans’ depleted offense to a late clinching field goal in a 13-9 victory over the Bengals last night in Cincinnati.
Watson showed
up in a black tuxedo for his first NFL start — it was his 22nd birthday, no less — and showed the flash that helped him lead Clemson to a national title. He avoided the rush and ran 49 yards for a 10-3 lead late in the first half, dashing past befuddled defenders.
The Texans (1-1) got the most out of their depleted offense, and then let their defense do the rest. The Bengals (0-2) have failed to score a touchdown in their two games to open a season for the first time in their 50 seasons.
Watson led a 13-play drive that set up Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 42-yard field goal with 1:56 left. The Bengals got the ball two more times, but failed to cross midfield.
The Bengals managed only three field goals by Randy Bullock. Quarterback Andy Dalton fell to 1-6 career against the Texans, including a pair of playoff losses.
Watson was 15-of-24 for 125 yards and no interceptions, and ran five times for 67 yards.
They thought they finally had a touchdown when Tyler Eifert caught a pass from Dalton in the end zone in the third quarter — the videoboard broke into a touchdown song — but the tight end had stepped out of bounds before making the catch, nullifying it. Cincinnati settled for its third field goal.
OBJ on way back
Odell Beckham Jr. is getting closer to returning to the New York Giants’ lineup.
The three-time Pro Bowl receiver, who missed the season opener in Dallas, practiced on a limited basis yesterday for the first time since spraining his left ankle more than three weeks ago.
Beckham actually took two steps in his recovery. He took part in some individualized drills and followed that by running routes at “not high speed” and taking some mental reps at the end of practice in preparation for Monday night’s home opener against the Detroit Lions.
The 24-year-old catalyst of the Giants’ offense said there are still some movements that irk his ankle.
End for Mauldin
The New York Jets linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin has a herniated disk in his back that likely will need seasonending surgery.
Mauldin, 24, is on the injured reserve list after missing almost all of training camp and each of the four preseason games because of the back ailment. He returned for one practice midway through camp, but hasn’t been on field since . . . .
The Baltimore Ravens placed running back Danny Woodhead on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Woodhead injured his left leg in the first quarter of the season opener and did not return. Coach John Harbaugh said that the 32-yearold would miss “multiple weeks” and would be a candidate to return later in the season. He would be eligible to play again in Week 11 . ...
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr has a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice for the second straight day, jeopardizing his availability for Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh in a shortened week.