Houston Texans: 5 Takeaways from loss vs. New Orleans Saints

1. Deshaun Watson is “The Man” for the Texans

How exciting was the play of quarterback Deshaun Watson in Week 1? Sure, some parts were a little fast for the action, but if nothing else on Monday night, Watson showed a national audience that the Texans aren’t afraid to take chances on offense with the deep pass, and most of the time that is a great decision.

Watson finished the season opening game with a 20-of-30 performance for 268 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. He also had the aforementioned 40 rushing yards to go with his offensive performance.

What was to like about Watson was the way he shared the passes with his teammates, because seven different players caught a pass and eight players were targeted against New Orleans. DeAndre Hopkins led the way for the Houston wide receivers with eight receptions (13 targets) for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

Will Fuller had 69 yards receiving, but one of his two receptions went for 54 yards and sparked the Texans’ offense in the second quarter. Seeing the potential of the Watson, Hopkins and Fuller trio is something to be excited about, but Fuller needed more than three targets to really make a full-game impact.

Watson is improving each time he takes the field, and remember, this was his 24th career game for the Texans.

Each time he either throws a touchdown pass, or like he showed with the 20-plus yard touchdown run where he took the hard landing, Watson is the real deal, and the rest of the league had better be ready to work when they face him in a game.