Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson deserves better than a 4-8 team

The Houston Texans haven’t done enough for QB Deshaun Watson in 2020.

For all the years it took the Houston Texans to find and sign a star quarterback like Deshaun Watson, one would figure they would do all they could to make him succeed at the highest level possible.

Watching the postgame for the Houston Texans following their eighth loss of the season, there was a video of Deshaun Watson sitting on the bench all by himself with a towel draped over his head as the final play for the Houston Texans offense saw a low snap on a shotgun formation cause Watson not to gain possession of the ball. That led to the loose ball being recovered by the Indianapolis Colts in the final moments of the game.

That goal line play wasn’t the fault of Watson, but the franchise quarterback is the leader of the team, and once he made his way into the postgame press conference, he spoke honestly and candidly about how he’s tired of losing.

Who can blame Watson for being frustrated after the first 13 weeks of the season. Watson has lost his two best wide receivers from a year ago — where they won a division title and a playoff game — and the offense has no rushing game unless it is Watson. Though this season is one of the worst in recent memory, a season like 2020 will only eventually make Deshaun Watson stronger.

Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson and Texans can finish .500

We all know winning is most important to Deshaun Watson, and following the 26-20 heart-breaking loss to the Colts on Sunday, the Texans now have four losses by seven or fewer points, meaning if the Texans had just a player or two better than they have now, those losses could be wins and they’d be in the mix for a playoff spot.

Now the best the Houston Texans can hope for is a 8-8 record, which would allow them to avoid their first losing season since 2017, Watson’s rookie season. The remaining four games of the Texans’ schedule includes the Chicago Bears, Colts, Cincinnati Bengals and the Tennessee Titans.

On paper the Texans should be close to even with the Bears and Bengals, and two of the losses by seven or fewer points have been against the Colts and Titans this season.

As gut-wrenching as the loss was for Deshaun Watson and the Texans in Week 13, honestly they can still finish with a .500 record and have a good chance of doing so, though that isn’t a guarantee either.

The reason it isn’t a guarantee is because the front office has let Watson down this season. It began with trading DeAndre Hopkins, then they never really replaced him, though Will Fuller was doing an excellent job.

Then Fuller gets suspended, and the depth of the Texans wide receiver roster isn’t the greatest. Granted, Keke Coutee and Chad Hansen each had games of over 100 yards receiving on Sunday against the Colts, but Watson has become the type of quarterback — like Aaron Rodgers — who can make any wide receiver on his team play at their highest level possible.

Somehow this offseason the Houston Texans front office needs to figure out a way to get Watson more help, not just on offense, but make the defense better too. The Texans can’t afford to waste any more productive years of the career of Watson.

Watson is an elite quarterback in the NFL, has played at a high level his entire career thus far, but he deserves better than the hand he’s been dealt by the Texans, and hopefully they realize that too after this most recent loss in the 2020 season.