After overcoming big injuries, Watt’s back to wreaking havoc
Things weren’t looking great for the Texans on Sunday night.
Their biggest rival was in town. Their offense was sputtering in the red zone, largely because of continuing issues with the play calling of coach Bill O’Brien and the thousands of opposing fans who showed up at NRG were chanting “Let’s go Cowboys!” loud enough to overtake the Texans crowd.
The game was tied at 16, and the Cowboys had some of the game’s only real momentum just before the twominute warning.
Tough situation for the
home team. Luckily for the Texans, though, J.J. Watt is back.
He picked up his sixth sack of the season, reaching Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and taking him down with gusto.
Watt was fired up, and the Texans fans left in the stadium responded with cheers. He grabbed the spark the Cowboys had and stole it in a key moment of the game.
Prescott sputtered on the next play, and the Cowboys were forced to punt after that.
The teams stayed tied through regulation, and the Texans went on to win it 19-16 on a field goal in overtime.
Impact can’t be denied
A lot will be made — rightfully so — of Deshaun Watson’s performance. The quarterback was 33-of-44 passing for 375 yards. The play of the game will easily be DeAndre Hopkins’ dizzying catch-and-run that tore through the Dallas defense and put the Texans in position to score the game-winning field goal.
But Watt’s sack was one of the biggest reasons the Texans won Sunday night.
A few plays earlier, Prescott escaped Watt.
“It was good to get to him,” Watt said.
He also had two tackles, one for a loss, and two quarterback hurries in the game.
Watt has been through a lot the last few seasons. Injuries led to surgeries that led to questions about whether or not he would ever be the dominant defender he was was.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year has shown signs of his former self a few times this season. His return to form is being noticed, too, as he was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month earlier this week.
The way Watt has been playing is reminiscent of the past, and it’s coming at a perfect time for the Texans.
Sunday’s game was a must-win. The Texans were 1-3 and sputtering through their schedule heading into Sunday. Now they are 2-3 with back-to-back gritty overtime wins and just one game out of first place in the AFC South Division.
And while Watson and Hopkins are thrilling and easily the future of the Texans team, having the old, reliable Watt back is comforting.
Before the season, the doubts were there. After all, Watt went down in the last two seasons with injuries that are incredibly tough to rebound from.
Watt missed 24 games in the last two seasons with a hurt back, then a broken leg.
But every time he spoke during the offseason, he said he was confident and felt good.
Now he’s proving it on the field.
“I told you all offseason you’d have to see it with your own eyes,” Watt said earlier this week. I still have a lot of work to do and I think that’s the exciting part for me is I still have a lot of room to improve. There’s still so much to work on, but like I’ve said all season long, it’s been getting steadily better and better each game, each quarter, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
He was better Sunday. The Texans defense was solid. The unit was responsible for two interceptions. The Texans kept pressure on Prescott and held Ezekiel Elliott to 54 yards rushing.
Setting tone for others
The defense was crucial since the Texans struggled to score touchdowns in the game.
The defense saved the night by keeping the Cowboys at bay while the Texans offense settled for three field goals after making it inside the 5-yard line four times.
Watt had a lot of help on defense. Zach Cunningham, Benardrick McKinney and Tyrann Mathieu had six tackles each. Kareem Jackson and Justin Reid each picked off a Prescott pass. D.J Reader and Jadeveon Clowney delivered couple of big hits.
But Watt is setting the tone right now. The Texans’ defensive front is improving with him each week and giving the team some hope despite it’s rough starts. His leadership can’t be denied. He made a crucial play in a crucial game. If Watt doesn’t sack Prescott at that moment, the game could have ended a lot earlier with a different victor.
Watt didn’t just stop the play. He stopped the momentum. He caused the Cowboys offense to go back to sputtering like it had for much of the game.
The Texans capitalized from there and avoided losing at home in a game they desperately needed to win to give any hope to turning around the season. “You find a way,” Watt said. He’s done that a lot for the Texans over the years.