HOUSTON — In the words of the immortal Jim Kelly in the Bruce Lee headlined 1973 martial arts flick “Enter the Dragon,” Sunday’s 57-14 final at NRG Stadium looked like something “out of a comic book,” Madden video game or a high school gridiron matchup.
Watson, in a performance that really shouldn’t be feasible at the pro level, finished 25-of-34 (74 percent) through the air for 283 yards during the win against the Tennessee Titans, adding four touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for a touchdown, giving him five total in the game and tying the NFL rookie touchdown record.
With five today, @deshaunwatson set the @HoustonTexans rookie record for most total TDs in a game! #Texans pic.twitter.com/uXhb06zUlr
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2017
Watson outdueled a more experienced, highly-touted, and equally dangerous dual-threat signal caller Marcus Mariota in the passing game, run game, and everything in between. In comparison, Mariota finished 6-for-10 for 96 yards and two interceptions before leaving the game early because of a hamstring injury.
Matt Cassell, his replacement, passed for 21 yards and threw a pair of picks.
Houston has had to suffer through a line of veteran castoffs and retreads — the Brian Hoyer’s, the Brock Osweiler’s, the T.J. Yates, and the Matt Leinart’s of the NFL. Finally, 15-years after the franchise’s return to the Bayou City, it seems that the Texans are a legitimate threat — offensively and defensively — in the AFC.
Watson’s Bayou City revival has given the city hope and may have ended a long line of quarterback futility (Jim Dedmon/USA Today Sports).
Behind a rookie that, in essence, was in his third start of the season, Houston handed Tennessee a 21-point deficit in the first 16 minutes of the game. He found Deandre Hopkins and Will Fuller on back-to-back drives and Lamar Miller capped another the first after a 2-yard rumble.
Houston scored at least a field goal on nine of its 11 drives and had three unanswered first, third, and fourth quarters of 14, 7, and 20 points, respectively.
Watson was also the first rookie to pass for at least four touchdowns and rush for at least one since Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton accomplished the feat for the Minnesota Vikings in 1961, according to historical statistics compiled by ESPN Stats and Information assets.
Deshaun Watson is the 3rd rookie QB with 3 pass TD & 1 rush TD in a game in the last 15 seasons (Cam Newton, Marcus Mariota). pic.twitter.com/eWtCfiuU14
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 1, 2017
Watson also helped the Texans break the franchise record for points in a game — 45 points against the Titans in 2014 and for the second week in a row accumulate more than 400 yards of total offense.
More importantly, Houston’s 12th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft has given the city something it hasn’t had since the Oilers ran roughshod in the conference. Watson’s big arm and larger big-game swagger may have legitimized a defensively-driven Texans team starving for the final piece of its puzzle — a quarterback to take pressure off its all-pro running back investment and find its receiving weapons in space.
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