McCLAIN: WATSON CARVES UP LIONS’ SECONDARY.
Watson becomes a ‘surgeon’ as he dissects Lions’ secondary
Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller had their most prolific long-distance connection of the season in the Texans’ 41-25 Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit.
One week after Watson completed a season-high seven passes of at least 20 yards in a victory over New England, he added six more Thursday. Fuller was the primary recipient with six catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
Fuller’s second-half touchdowns covered 40 and 34 yards. He had a 23-yard touchdown catch wiped out because of a penalty. He also had receptions of 37 and 38 yards.
Brandin Cooks contributed five catches and 85 yards, including a 27-yard gain. Fuller and Cooks used their speed to run through the Lions’ secondary.
“That’s just the way it happened during the game,” Fuller said about his impressive performance that included a 28.5-yard average per catch. “I feel like me and Brandin — or whoever else we have out there — have the potential to have big games every week. Luckily, it was me this week.
“I feel good, especially getting a win — that’s all I really care about. I’m happy to help my team get the win.”
Watson finished with 17 of 25 for 318 yards, four touchdowns and a season-high 150.4 rating. He didn’t throw an interception for the sixth consecutive game in leading the Texans to their second victory in a row to give them a 4-3 record since Romeo Crennel replaced Bill O’Brien.
“Deshaun is a tremendous athlete, leader, has good weapons that he can use whenever he chooses to, and he spreads the ball around,” Crennel said. “You have to give some credit to the guys up front again. If they give him time, he’s able to make the plays. Guys can get open, and he can hit him. He has that kind of accuracy.”
In evaluating his performance and his collaboration with Fuller and Cooks, Watson said, “Both of those guys are special, and I love playing with them. Just give them a chance. Throw it out there, and let them run and get it.”
Watson played without injured receivers Randall Cobb and Kenny Stills. He got Keke Coutee and Duke Johnson involved in the passing game. He threw a perfect 33-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to Johnson, who made a terrific catch.
Watson knew the Lions were playing without cornerback Jeff Okudah, their first-round draft choice. When veteran cornerback Desmond Trufant departed with an injury, Watson went to work on the Detroit defense with surgeon-like precision.
“I have that mentality (of ) taking what the defense gives me,” Watson said. “When Trufant went out early, they (played) a lot of zone, especially when we got in the red zone, to make us run the ball.
“The O-Line did a great job of protecting me, especially after the first couple of drives, and once we got those opportunities, I took advantage of them. I picked my spots, and that’s when those opportunities came, and Will did a good job of capitalizing, too.”
The Texans entered the game with 40 completions of 20 or more yards, tied for third in the NFL. Now they have 46.
Defensive backs have to respect the speed Fuller and Cooks bring to the game, but they’re also crafty route runners, which makes them more dangerous.
“We complement each other,” Fuller said about playing opposite Cooks. “We both have great speed. We can run routes and put fear in DBs’ hearts with that speed. They don’t want to get beat deep. We use that to our advantage.”
The Texans had to overcome two deficits. They fell behind 7-0 and 14-13 before they erupted. Defensive end J. J. Watt scored the first touchdown on an interception return to ignite the Texans on both sides of the ball.
Watson and his receivers took advantage of offensive coordinator Tim Kelly’s splendid playcalling. They pulled off a fleaflicker in the fourth quarter that caught the Lions off guard.
Watson gave the ball to Johnson going to his right on an apparent sweep. The Lions closed in. Johnson threw back to Watson, who threw deep down the left side to Fuller for a touchdown that made it 41-17.
“My job was easy,” Fuller said. “Duke did a great job, really playing backyard football to make that happen. When I turned around, I saw a lot of people around Duke, and he still had the ball. I didn’t know if it was going to work, but he found a way.”
Watson thought Johnson was going to keep the ball. Before the play, Johnson told Watson if there was pressure from the Lions, he was going to run it. That was his intention until he heard Watson calling to him.
“When he kept it,” Watson said, “I just called (to) him, ‘Hey, Duke! Duke!’ I was yelling his name, and he just turned around and threw it back to me. I grabbed it, and I saw Will and I got it to him.”
Watson didn’t miss many passes, although he wished he could have back three of them to do over.
“I missed two touchdowns to 88 ( Jordan Akins),” he said. “I want that one (back) to Keke (deep ball). It (missed) by just a hair, I think he got his hands on it.”
Watson praised Kelly, assistant quarterbacks coach T. J. Yates and backup quarterbacks AJ McCarron and Josh McCown for helping him play better than any time in his four-year career.
“Everyone around me is doing their job and letting me be that surgeon,” he said about picking defenses apart. “I appreciate everyone, and couldn’t do it without (them). This is definitely one of my favorites, a special game on Thanksgiving on national TV. It was fun.”