Hopkins wins Round 2
In battle of All-Pros, Texans receiver outduels Bills’ star corner down stretch
Through the first half, and five minutes into the third quarter, DeAndre Hopkins blended into the turf, was swallowed up in the mid-field or disappeared deep, an unnoticeable speck of the scenery in the Texans’ scoreless 35-minute stretch and 16-0 deficit against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card game on Saturday at NRG Stadium.
Then, scurrying toward the outside not far from the line of scrimmage, Houston’s essential wide receiver found space. Finally, Hopkins got his first catch. Seconds later, he fumbled it.
Cornerback Tre’Davious White, a threat the Texans wanted to avoid, made them pay for challenging him. He punched the ball loose from Hopkins’ hands to force a turnover.
Hopkins sulked to the sideline. He’d lost hold of the ball and felt the Texans’ playoffs hopes slipping away.
A coach who is a mentor to Hopkins and a legend to Houston lifted up the sagging receiver.
“Don’t panic,” Andre Johnson, the franchise’s leading receiver and a special adviser on the coaching staff, told Hopkins. “You’re gonna make a play that’s gonna help us win this game.”
By Houston’s next possession it was clear that an unprecedented comeback would require Hopkins to beat White man-to-man. The Texans had never overcome a deficit of 10 or more points in their playoff history.
From silent to stellar, Hopkins bested White in the second half and catalyzed the Texans’ 19 unanswered points in their 22-19 firstround over-time playoff win over the Bills.
Hopkins finished with 90 yards. Three of his six catches came against White, including a 41-yard stunner that was the longest play of the game.
In an all-pro versus all-pro matchup between one of the NFL’s wiliest receivers and a steeltrap cornerback, their contest was as much for bragging rights as for a playoff win.
When the Bills beat the Texans last season, White said he felt like he “won the battle” against Hopkins, who had two catches and a touchdown.
“He cried the whole game,” White had said. “Any time the offense starts to hide a guy in the backfield to get him away from me, you already know how that’s going.”
Leading up to Saturday’s wild card game, Hopkins had posted and deleted an image on Instagram that showed him making a touchdown catch over White in a 2018 game. The caption read “2020 mood.”
But early on, Hopkins appeared to be hiding again from White, who did not allow a touchdown in the regular season. Hopkins lined up in the slot 86 percent of the time in the first quarter, a divergence from the 30 percent rate he had all year. The strategy kept White stuck outside on other assignments, but it did not carve out space for Hopkins inside the numbers. With receiver Will Fuller sidelined because of a groin injury, Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson struggled to find anyone open downfield and did not complete a pass longer than 11 yards in the first half.
The specter of White was enough to squeeze Houston’s hampered offense, which, scoreless and outdone single-handedly by Bills do-it-all quarterback Josh Allen, whimpered into halftime down 13-0.
Hopkins’ fumble gutted him in the moment. Johnson’s pep talk was as prophetic as it was logical. If the Texans were to move the ball in the air they had to get Hopkins free. They had find him a seam in zone coverage. They had to give Hopkins more chances to beat White.
“We knew if I got outside that we would get that matchup more,” Hopkins said. “That’s what we wanted. We took advantage of it.”
Watson hit Hopkins with another two passes in the third quarter. Their jaw-dropper came in the fourth, with the Bills leading 16-11.
“I knew that we didn’t do anything deep,” Hopkins said.
He felt White “sitting on me,” expecting short passes, giving Hopkins the chance to win a foot race. Hopkins got a step ahead of White and stretched out his arms. With 1.1 yards of separation, Hopkins
reeled in the catch for the 41yard play. It was the second-most improbable completion targeting White as the nearest defender this season, according to Next Gen Stats.
“It was great coverage by him, but Deshaun put the ball on it where I could catch it,” Hopkins said.
Watson directed the compliment back to Hopkins: “The best receiver in the game made plays.”
In overtime, after an exchange of scoreless possessions, Hopkins started the winning drive. He crossed the field for a 10-yard catch.
Seven plays later, Watson spun away from defenders, scrambled right and connected with Taiwan Jones for a short pass. Hopkins pushed back White to clear the way for Jones to race by.
“No. 10 was out there, and he made a great block for me,” Jones said of Hopkins.
Jones took it 34 yards, which set Ka’imi Fairbairn up for the gamewinning field goal.
Hopkins and Jones are locker mates. The receiver joked with the running back about not scoring on the play.
“That’s my homie,” Hopkins said. “I knew we would have the middle of the field the way the defender had played it, because they were in man. All ( Jones) had to do was break in the middle of the field, and that’s what he did.”
Hopkins, perhaps leery of prodding White any more, downplayed the significance of his second-half catches. He emphasized the zone coverage Buffalo used through three quarters, the way the safety pitched in.
“It wasn’t a matchup between he and I until the fourth quarter,” Hopkins said.
At his locker after the win, Hopkins asked a coach to weigh in on the debate: “What would you say about the first-half matchup between Tre’Davious White and me?”
“It was a good battle between two good players,” the coach said.
That was not the answer Hopkins was looking for. He seemed less interested in giving White the credit.
Still, Hopkins paid respect to the cornerback.
“It was a great battle, of course,” Hopkins said. “You can’t take away anything from him. He’s a great player.”