The Houston Texans had the unthinkable happen. They were planning on playing Tom Savage until they were ready to bring Deshaun Watson in, but they had to throw Watson in the fire due to an injury to Savage. Everyone in the NFL can lose their job due to injury, and it only took Savage a little while to give this team to Watson in unexpected fashion. The Texans looked terrible today partly because the Jaguars were amazing and partly because the defense was just downright awful. Watson has a lot to learn, but this is clearly his team now.
Now he knows
Watson knows what it is like to play in the NFL because the Jacksonville defense gave him a very painful welcome to the league. It could not have been fun to go on the field feeling like his team was out-matched, and it must have been even worse to get beaten so soundly. Watson is a superior talent, but it is Hard To Imagine a player being in a worse position. He is expected to save this franchise, and he may be expected to do that as soon as possible given how good their defense is. Bill O'Brien can talk all day about taking his time with Watson, but fans of the Texans will no doubt start to see visions of Tom Brady in their heads as they hope Watson can work miracles.
Can the Texans improve?
The Texans can improve every game of this season going forward, but they will have to do a lot better on defense if they want to be in contention to do anything of significance this season. This team is simply not in a position to make the sort of plays that are required to be an effective NFL team, and they will continue to be terrible until they have fallen in line behind their new leader.
Watson will have to take a larger leadership role on the team on both sides of the ball, and his mere presence should inspire the defense to play better. Injuries cannot be avoided, but it is hard to imagine that a team of this caliber could be any worse than they were today. They have nowhere to go but up, and Watson may be the person to lead them there.
Good under pressure
Watson is the kind of guy who will bend and not break when he is managing the Houston offense. He was not very good today, but he was not so flustered that he gave up. He was simply out-matched by a Jacksonville team that was far better than most fans realized. No one could have watched them play and imagined that they would be so hard on the Texans today, and Watson must take comfort in that. He can have a very good season, but he has to get to work right away in terms of learning how to lead all 53 men on the roster.
