Deep trouble
Watson’s long passes help Texans top Falcons 53-32
HOUSTON — Will Fuller knew it was up to him to make things happen Sunday afternoon with the Atlanta Falcons focused on slowing down DeAndre Hopkins.
Fuller didn’t disappoint, catching three of Deshaun Watson’s five touchdown passes and finishing with 217 receiving yards to lead the Houston Texans to a 53-32 win.
“Playing with Hop, like I always say, is easy,” said Fuller, whose receiving yards marked his most as an NFL player. “He gets a lot of coverages thrown his way, and I feel like that’s why they brought me here, to help him out. It took me a while, but I finally had this big game, so I’m just trying to help.”
Watson threw for a career-high 426 yards, and his five touchdowns tied his personal best since being drafted 12th overall in 2017.
A week after scoring a season-low 10 points in Houston’s home loss to the Carolina Panthers, Watson and the rest of the offense bounced back on a day he was 28-of-33 and became the first player to top 400 passing yards against the Falcons since Week 16 of the 2012 season. It was the second-most points in franchise history behind the 57 the Texans scored in a win over the Tennessee Titans in 2017.
Watson is the first player in NFL to throw for at least 400 yards and five touchdowns with five or fewer incompletions in a game in NFL history.
“Will did a heck of a job,” Watson said. “… DeAndre, he did a heck of a job of allowing Will to get open with double coverage and setting the routes up for him.”
Hopkins, who had 88 receiving yards, was proud the attention on him helped Fuller to his big day. Fuller’s 14 receptions and three touchdown catches tied Andre Johnson for the most in a game in franchise history. Fuller entered the day with just 183 receiving yards this season.
Darren Fells added two touchdown
grabs for the Texans (3-2) and Carlos Hyde had a rushing score, and the beleaguered offensive line didn’t allow a sack on Sunday after giving up 18 through the first four games.
Matt Ryan passed for 330 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for the Falcons (1-4), who lost their third straight game.
It was Watson’s first meeting with the Falcons after the Gainesville, Georgia, native worked as a ball boy for the team all four years of high school. Before the game, Watson shared an on-field moment with Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who started the program at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hall County that allowed Watson the opportunity to work for the Falcons.
Atlanta cut its deficit to eight points with about 11 1/2 minutes to go before Watson’s second touchdown pass to Fells pushed the Texans’ lead to 40-25 about five minutes later.
The Falcons cut the deficit to one score again with 3 1/2 minutes left when Ryan threw a 29-yard pass to Calvin Ridley to get them within 40-32. Watson and Fuller struck again, though, with Fuller grabbing a 44-yard touchdown catch to make it 47-32 with about two minutes remaining.
The Texans added another score when Tashaun Gipson returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown in the final minute.
Watson, criticized for failing to complete any deep throws against the Panthers, had no such trouble Sunday as he had multiple completions of 25 or more yards.
“It’s disappointing,” Atlanta outside linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. said. “I played a role in it, and you have to accept it for what it is and just continue to learn from it.”
Falcons coach Dan Quinn, whose team led 17-16 at halftime, said there was “no excuse” for the poor performance.
“Those explosive plays just can’t be a part of it,” he said. “That was one of the catalysts that gave them the energy in the third quarter.”
Houston got things going in the second half when Watson hit Keke Coutee on a 51-yard catchand-run. The Texans regained the lead four plays later when Carlos Hyde scored on a 1-yard run to make it 23-17, then tacked on a field goal later in the third before Fells caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Watson to extend the lead to 33-17.
DeAndre Carter muffed a punt on the first play of the fourth quarter, and it was recovered by Atlanta. The Falcons cashed in when Ryan crashed into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown, then found Austin Hooper for the 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 33-25.
“To sit here 1-4 after five games is difficult,” Ryan said. “It’s not what we wanted, but we’re going to be the ones to have to dig ourselves out of it.”
A frustrated Quinn seemed as if he might consider personnel changes.
“We’ll obviously look into everything in terms of how we played,” he said. “There’s no excuse for having a performance like that.”