GETTING BACK UP
After disappointing game, Watson and the Texans have a quick turnaround
BALTIMORE — It was an uncharacteristic moment for quarterback Deshaun Watson during a miserable, sputtering day for the Texans’ offense.
Scrambling to his right Sunday afternoon, Watson had Ravens safety Brandon Carr bearing in on him. Instead of throwing it away, though, Watson threw the football across his body, forcing it into heavy traffic on a pass intended for running back Carlos Hyde. The errant throw was intercepted by linebacker Josh Bynes as Watson absorbed a big hit from Carr.
It was that kind of day for Watson and the Texans, who narrowly avoided being shut out during an embarrassing 41-7 defeat when running back Carlos Hyde ran for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter at M&T Bank Stadium.
Watson completed 18 of 29 passes for 169 yards and no touchdowns with a season-low 63.7 passer rating. Watson swapped jerseys after the game with his friend, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who excelled and solidified his MVP candidacy with four touchdown passes and some electrifying runs.
Watson said he signed the jersey with “Always love, keep grinding and MVP.”
“It’s all love, it’s all respect,” Watson said. “This game is about brotherhood. I have a lot of peace in my heart and mind. Didn’t go our way, so we will have to hear some criticism. That’s not going to stop what I’m doing. I’m going to do what I love to do at a high level.”
Watson was sacked six times, five in the first half, and lost one fumble. In the previous five games, Watson was sacked just seven times.
He ended the game watching backup quarterback A.J. McCarron as a precautionary measure with the Texans so far behind and playing Thursday night against the Colts. This is the first time that Watson has been pulled out of a game early in his threeyear career.
“It seemed like Deshaun wasn’t making some of the plays he usually makes,” Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith said. “I felt like we covered well. We had some different mixes and blitzes. It was really just effort. Our front seven knew it was going to take a lot of effort to get this guy down knowing how much he scrambles.”
This marked the first time this season Watson didn’t have at least one touchdown pass or run in his worst performance, statistically, of the season.
“A competitor,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “He made a lot of tough plays out there. I think I need to do a better job for Deshaun.”
The Texans’ offense had just 232 yards of total offense, went 2 for 10 on third downs, 0 for 1 in the red zone and averaged just 4.1 yards on 57 plays.
Whatever the game plan was, it didn’t work.
“Kind of snowballed,” Texans right guard Zach Fulton said. “Sometimes you have a bad game in the NFL. Right now, we’ve got to flush it down the toilet and move forward.”
For the majority of the game, the Texans failed to establish the running game. They finished with 122 yards on 20 carries.
“It was terrible,” O’Brien said about the game in general. “We just need to turn the page and move forward.”
The Texans had two weeks to prepare for this game following a bye week.
“This was not the big game we had circled; we have bigger games,” said running back Duke Johnson with the Colts and New England Patriots the next ones on the schedule. “Everything we want is still sitting in front of us.”
Nonetheless, this kind of ugly game came as a surprise. The Texans hadn’t faced any team quite like the Ravens, but the anticipated shootout turned into a dud.
“No, I am not shocked because we did not do our job,” Johnson said. “It is as simple as that. That is what happens when you do not do your job. It’s disappointing.”
Watson’s right leg got twisted underneath him before halftime. He rose slowly but remained in the game and said he isn’t hurt.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Healthy and ready to go Thursday.”
McCarron was sacked once as the Ravens’ defense recorded a season-high seven sacks after entering Sunday with just 16 sacks.
Ravens outside linebacker Matthew Judon had two sacks, three tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and one forced fumble.
“I think we just created some looks that they weren’t used to seeing, and we hit our pressures and we hit them fast, kept the blitzers blitzing and the coverage covering,” Judon said.
The Ravens had 10 quarterback hits overall.
“We did just a great job of disciplined rush lanes,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We held our edges. We didn’t vacate the inside rush lanes too much. When he did escape out of the pocket, we were running. We were chasing him. The pursuit part was really impressive.’
Texans left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who had one false start and now has a team-high nine for the season, noted how the offense wasn’t in a rhythm.
As for the pass protection breakdowns, Tunsil said “Those sacks were on the whole offense.”
Watson defended his play, which has been stellar for the majority of the season. He has passed for 2,601 yards, 18 touchdowns, six interceptions and rushed for 291 yards and five scores.
“Watch the games, I can show you how to be a professional quarterback, the good and the bad,” Watson said. “I’ve had a lot of success and a lot of failures. Every great quarterback has — Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers. The criticism will come.
“I can go out there Thursday and light it up and everyone’s back talking highly about me. Just as a media-driven league, I’ll continue to focus on us, the Texans and trying to get where we want to. There’s still a lot of football.”