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Houston Texans should be ‘thankful’ for QB Deshaun Watson

mark lane
·2 min read

The Houston Texans may be 3-7 on the season, but it could be a lot worse.

One of the saving graces of the 2020 campaign has been two-time quarterback Deshaun Watson, who the Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield says the organization should be thankful to have as they count their blessings at Thanksgiving.

Another team where it is hard to find a bright spot is the Houston Texans. Of course, seeing the success DeAndre Hopkins is having in Arizona — and wondering what could have been — complicates matters.

But that glosses over what Deshaun Watson is doing this season. The win/loss record clouds the picture, but Watson continues to play the position at a very high level. As we saw a few weeks ago, the young passer joined some rare company given his recent play:

That’s quite a list.

What stands out about Watson is not just his athleticism and competitive toughness, traits of his that he put on display each week while at Clemson. Instead it is his maturation as a passer. Watson is one of the best quarterback in the NFL at moving underneath defenders with his eyes, as he does in this video breakdown:

So sure, this season has not been great in Houston. But Watson is. He was again on Sunday in a win over the Patriots. You might not want to watch the Texans because of their record, but you should, because of him.

Even though it could and arguably should be better for the Texans, Watson similarly feels fortunate to be with the team in 2020.

“I’m blessed to be in the position that I’m in,” said Watson after the 27-20 win over the New England Patriots Sunday. “I’m healthy. I’m out there with the guys, so I’m going to always smile regardless of the situation. But, yeah, I mean, we’re just trying to stack wins. That’s what we’re trying to do each and every week, regardless of what the record is.”

Houston goes on the road to face the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving at Ford Field.