Right now, despite the Houston Texans’ 0-2 record, the city generally feels pretty good about rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. In his first two NFL starts, he’s been able to move the football competently, and he looked improved from one start to the next. Additionally, off the field, he gets glowing reports in the areas of leadership and positive energy. All good stuff!
Now, for a dose of sober reality — keep in mind, we were all saying these exact same things about Deshaun Watson back in 2017 and into 2018. It took four seasons, a trade request, and then a couple dozen lawsuits to slap us all in the face and make us realize that either (a) Deshaun Watson changed somewhere along the way, or (b) he was never what he portrayed in the first place.
When the Texans finally shipped Watson to the Cleveland Browns in March 2022, for a boatload of draft capital including three first round picks, there was relief that the whole Watson saga was over, but likely some sadness that some other franchise would get Deshaun Watson’s prime years. After all, last we’d seen him play football, in 2020, he was pretty damn good.
Well, this post is for you Texans fans out there who may have been upset that some other city would get to experience the thrill of Deshaun Watson finally reaching NFL heights he never did as a Houston Texan. Eight starts into his career as a Brown, you can rejoice and maybe even take a victory lap, because it is official — Deshaun Watson is no longer good at football.
Once he was done serving his 11 game suspension last season (for being a complete pervert in several massage settings, allegedly), Watson started six games to close out 2022, and the first two games so far in 2023. Currently, he has a 4-4 record as a starter, and has just one game in which he’s exceeded 250 yards passing. Keep in mind, the big reason there was such a robust market for an alleged sex predator last spring is because he led the league in passing yards in 2020. Additionally, two weeks into the 2023 season, Watson is 30th among 32 starters in passer rating.
If you’re a Texans fan, or someone who is just anti-weirdo-perv, you can rejoice in Watson’s performance on Monday Night Football this week, which is basically a microcosm of what he’s become — an overpriced, aloof diva who is losing football games for his employer.
There were the turnovers, both fo which led to points for the Steelers, one at the beginning of the game (Watson’s first pass attempt):
And one at in the fourth quarter, with T.J. Watt returning a Watson fumble for the winning points of the evening:
Watson was getting facemark PENALTIES, plural, the first quarterback in league history to get two in one game:
Watson was shoving referees…..
And then claiming in the postgame press conference that he wasn’t even touching them ….
Even though the league clearly saw it happen….
If you think I’m being petty, just remember that the Texans have the Browns first round pick in 2024. I can still hide behind that for one more year. For now, go ahead and bask in the glory of Deshaun Watson’s failure.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
