The Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, and Oakland Raiders have fans throughout the country. Therefore, it’s kind of a misleading to say their fans “travel well” when their teams are playing as the away team.
However, when a club that is not as nationally followed as the Houston Texans has rowdy fans making noise at Rokit Field at Dignity Health Sports Park, as they did Sunday in Week 3’s 27-20 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, it’s a significant deal.
Even Texans defensive end J.J. Watt knows it’s notable if Texans fans are showing up on the road.
“I think there’s been one other time maybe where I was on the road and raising arms to get the crowd excited — for an away game,” Watt told reporters. “Today our fans were unbelievable.”
According to Watt, the Texans defensive players were able to hype up the Texans fans dispersed in the crowd of 25,349 enough to where they were affecting the Chargers offense’s signals.
“We were treating third downs like we were in NRG [Stadium] and we were getting the crowd hyped and they were making them have a tough time making checks and a tough time making calls,” Watt said.
The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year gave the fans in Los Angeles a performance to behold. As the 30-year-old struggled through the first two games of the season to record a sack, Watt busted out with 2.0 sacks, five combined tackles, and five quarterback hits. Even though the fans assuredly are thanking Watt for being an integral part of the club’s victory that secured a 2-1 start for the first time since 2016, the face of the franchise is thanking the fans.
Said Watt: “I can’t thank our traveling fans enough. They did a great job today and they had a big impact on that last drive. They were incredible.
“Thank you to those guys.”
