Reason to cheer
Watson rediscovers smile, swagger in season’s best win
Deshaun Watson’s smile and swagger were back.
The New England Patriots could not touch him.
The sun seemed to follow him, shining through an open-roofed NRG Stadium on a perfect-weather day in late November.
Watson, officially, is still the franchise quarterback of a disappointing 3-7 team.
But hope is needed and optimism required as 2020 finally approaches an end point.
Texans 27, Bill Belichick’s Pats 20 represented both Sunday.
For Watson. For a fan base that has had so little to cheer for since this backward year began. For a franchise that can’t stay out of the negative national spotlight and still must win its final six games just to finish 9-7 this season.
“I’ve got to enjoy this game. This is what I … I’m blessed to be in the position that I’m in,” Watson said. “I’m healthy. I’m out there with the guys, so I’m always smiling, regardless of the situation. But yeah, we’re just trying to stack wins. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Cam Newton threw for a game-high 365 yards but ended up as an afterthought inside Watson’s stadium.
J. J. Watt unleashed his biggest game of the season, Justin Reid changed the contest with a perfect late fourth-quarter sack, and the Texans’ defense dug in after an early 7-0 hole. Watson?
The 25-year-old franchise face was everything.
The pocket kept collapsing, and he kept breaking free. He fired darts on the run, threw the ball away at the right time, brilliantly improvised as certain collisions approached and reconnected the chaos of 2020 with the magic from 2017-19.
In a good season, Watson would be an MVP candidate. This season, Watson has provided his team with a powerful reminder. The Texans’ two big open jobs (head coach, general manager) can be very good ones — if the Texans’ decision makers don’t screw it up.
In Week 11, Watson was one of the best QBs between the lines in a league defined by franchise arms that lead.
He also oozed untapped potential. Just imagine what a great coach and brilliant GM could do with Watson as their locked-in centerpiece.
“We don’t look at the record. We go in and put work in each and every day,” Watson said. “And then on Sundays, you’re going to get our best bet. And the other team better be ready, because if not, we’re going to try to get the victory — and we’re going to get the victory.”
NBA superstar James Harden has spent weeks trying to leave Houston and the Rockets. Watson has more than 156 million reasons not to go anywhere. And in an ideal world, his awesome numbers against New England (28-of-37, 344 passing yards, two touchdowns, 121.9 rating, 36 rushing yards, another TD on the ground) would translate into a surge of late-season momentum.
The Texans being the 2020 Texans, simply beating a team not named the Jacksonville Jaguars felt like a huge win 10 games in the making.
Watson will receive the national platform he deserves in just four days, when the Texans hit the road to play a bad Detroit team — the Lions on Sunday were shut out 20-0 by backup QB P. J. Walker, Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers — on Thanksgiving.
“This is, of course, a big win. But we’ve just got to try to keep pushing forward,” Watson said. “Enjoy this one for the next however many hours. (Monday) when we wake up, we’ve got to get ready for Detroit.”
Watson also pushed Romeo Crennel to 3-3 as Bill O’Brien’s interim replacement on a day when wide receivers Randall Cobb and Kenny Stills left the game because of injuries, left tackle Laremy Tunsil didn’t play because he was sick, and two Texans running backs totaled only 19 rushing yards on 13 carries.
It’s hard to win a football game — especially in the NFL — when your best RBs average 1.4 yards on the ground.
But that’s how sharp, efficient and confident D4 was on a day when the Texans collected their best victory, the team’s defense produced its strongest day, and the Patriots (4-6), who had much more to play for, fell short with overtime in sight.
Tight ends were turned into offensive weapons. Will Fuller became a first-down magnet in the second half. Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly remained aggressive and kept the ball in Watson’s hands, while defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver locked down the victory by consistently attacking Newton on New England’s final two drives.
The Texans were the better team.
The Texans deserved to win and finished off the victory.
The Texans were guided and inspired by Watson on a day when losing ultimately wasn’t an option.
In a future season during a better year, this will be commonplace again.
As December draws near in 2020, the Texans’ tight sevenpoint win against a Belichick team was the first step forward in a long time.
This is what the Texans can be like when a smiling and electric Watson leads the way.