Watson Shines Bright

Deshaun Watson passed for five touchdowns and put up nearly 500 yards of total offense as the Texans held off Atlanta, 53-32.

After one of his worst games last week against Carolina when he passed for 160 and was sacked six times, Watson was on target. He completed 21 of his first 25 passes in the first half and finished with 426 yards on 28 of 33 passing. He rushed for 47 yards and wasn’t sacked.

Will Fuller was Watson’s primary receiver for the day with 14 receptions for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including a 44-yarder with two minutes left to finally clinch the victory.

The win put the Texans (3-2) in a better frame of mind as they head to Kansas City next week for a showdown with the unbeaten Chiefs, who played Indianapolis later Sunday night.

Atlanta (1-4) didn’t have an answer to stop the Texans offense but Matt Ryan did enough to keep the game in doubt in the first half and provide a slight scare in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons scored on a Ryan pass to Devonta Freeman to complete a drive in the final minutes of the second quarter to give Atlanta a 17-16 halftime lead.

But the third quarter was nearly all Texans, who scored on all three of their possessions to take a 33-17 lead.

Watson was 8 of 9 in the quarter for 157 yards as the Texans ran up 224 yards of offense. In turn, the Texans defense held the Falcons to 42 yards in the quarter.

It got interesting once more when DeAndre Carter muffed a punt and the Falcons recovered on the Texans 16 to start the fourth. Atlanta scored on a Ryan QB sneak that was decided via replay review after it appeared he may have fumbled.

A two-point conversion made it 33-25 with nearly 11 minutes to play. The Texans, however, came back with an 81-yard drive in nine plays to make it 40-25 on a Watson to Darren Fells touchdown, the second of the game for that combo.

Atlanta wasn’t done, however. Ryan hit Calvin Ridley with a 29-yard TD with 3:22 left to make it 40-32.

The Texans finally put it away on a third-and-five play from the Atlanta 44 when Watson hit Fuller, who else, with a strike down the left sideline for a touchdown and a 47-32 edge.

The Texans added a final score when Tashaun Gipson returned an interception 80 yards with 24 seconds left. Ka’imi Fairbairn missed his second extra point of the game after the score.