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Despite two end zone interceptions, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson still managed to carve his name into the NFL record books once again this past weekend in the 24-21 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
#Texans QB @deshaunwatson has now become the 4th player in NFL history to reach 70 career passing TDs within 37 career games (Dan Marino, Kurt Warner and Patrick Mahomes)#HOUvsTEN pic.twitter.com/S4QLc0WgZW
— Texans PR (@TexansPR) December 15, 2019
Right. On. The. Money.@deshaunwatson ➡️ @DeAndreHopkins#HOUvsTEN pic.twitter.com/U9HsOEsC9v
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) December 15, 2019
This has been a trend since Watson first took over the starting duties for the Texans.
QB Deshaun Watson registered at least 375 passing yards and 40 rushing yards for the third time in his NFL career, tying Steve Young (three) for the most games with at least 375 passing yards and 40 rushing yards in NFL history.
The 2017 first-rounder from Clemson has 3,497 passing yards in 13 games, which is the fourth-most in NFL history in that span, behind only Andrew Luck, Cam Newton and Marc Bulger.
Watson has now eclipsed 4,000 passing yards in 2018, and just became the first quarterback to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns as well as rush for 500 yards and five touchdowns in a single season in NFL history.
After becoming the first player in NFL history to record over 4,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in the same season back in 2018, on Monday night Watson became the fastest player in NFL history to record at least 6,000 passing and 800 rushing yards, according to the Houston Texans public relations department. He managed to accomplish this feat in just 24 games.
The Texans quarterback became only the third quarterback since 1950 to post at least 400 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and a 158.3 passer rating.
Deshaun Watson (on the 400 passing yards, 5 TDs and 158.3 rating):
“It’s pretty cool, just try to get better each and every week, try to build on that and try to do it consistently. The great ones can do those things consistently, and that’s where we are. We left a lot of plays on the field. Missed a couple touchdowns with Will [Fuller], so it could have even been better. So there’s always room to improve but, yeah, that stat is pretty crazy.”
With that last TD pass, #Texans QB @deshaunwatson joins Steve Young (1994) as the only players to record over
— Texans PR (@TexansPR) November 22, 2019
20 passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns and a passer rating above 100 through the first 11 games of a season in NFL history.#INDvsHOU pic.twitter.com/iU5cEApVBb
It’s easy to get dragged high and low with the roller coaster of Houston Texans fandom, where one week they beat the Chiefs or Patriots, and then lose to the Broncos the next. Don’t let this rob you of appreciating what’s happening in front of our very eyes.
Through 37 career games, Deshaun Watson has thrown 1,172 passes for 785 completions, 9,532 yards, and a completion percentage of 67.0. With that, he’s tossed 71 touchdowns, 28 picks, and has a career QB rating of 102.
For sake of comparison, Matt Schaub, arguably the prior greatest QB in Houston football history, threw for 10,054 yards, 839 completions, a 67.9 completion percentage, 53 touchdowns, 34 INTs, and a rating of 68.6 over his first 38 games as the Texans’ starter.
While Watson doesn’t have as many completions, his TD to picks ratio and QB rating are clearly higher in one less game. Oh, and Watson has run for 1,196 yards and 14 more touchdowns, setting his current TD total at 85...86, if you count the touchdown catch he made a few weeks ago.
Not too shabby for a guy who was touted as having the inability to throw at NFL speed when he was coming out of Clemson.
At the 2019 NFL Combine QBs were “gunned” for velocity throwing for speed and to both sides of the field, left and right. Overall, the MPHs of 2019 are nothing less than previous recorded speeds, and a couple of the 2019 passing prospects impress. Many view the 2019 crop of QBs as an underwhelming lot, and the disappointing ball velocity numbers turned in by some (Dwayne Haskins?) may have verified a portion of those negative opinions of this draft class. Like I was back when Deshaun Watson was clocked at 49, I am a tad suspicious about the mushy MPH results however. Deshaun Watson’s 49 MPH would be among the lowest velocity efforts recorded since 2008 (Blake Sims owns that dubious mark at 42).
If the Texans are going to advance to the meaningful portion of the NFL Playoffs, odds are they’ll do it on the strength of Deshaun Watson as he sets even more records along the way.
Regardless of where this team ends up in 2019, Watson’s career is already one for the ages. Enjoy it. The number of fan bases with this sort of quarterback situation can be counted on your fingers with a few to spare.
When it’s all said and done, where do you think Deshaun Watson will rank among the all-time great NFL quarterbacks?