Stephon Gilmore and DeAndre Hopkins put on a show during the Houston Texans’ 28-22 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football in Week 13.
With Gilmore in single coverage for most of the night, Hopkins put together a respectable performance with five receptions for 64 yards. (One of Hopkins’ receptions didn’t come with Gilmore in coverage.) It’s probably fair to call their 1-on-1 matchup a draw.
Still, Hopkins celebrated his performance on Twitter and showed a picture of him during a reception with Gilmore on the ground.
“When you see 10 double him,” Hopkins wrote on Tuesday.
That drew a response from Gilmore, who wanted to set the record straight. While Hopkins suggested he was drawing double coverage, that simply wasn’t true. The Patriots doubled Hopkins for just two of 56 snaps.
The problem with doubling Hopkins was that it opened up options for the rest of the Houston offense. So when New England put two defenders on the Texans’ star wideout, quarterback Deshaun Watson made them pay. He managed a touchdown on each snap that the Patriots had a double team on Watson.
Gilmore allowed a significant amount of yardage in the fourth quarter on a game-sealing touchdown drive. Surely, that didn’t help his or the Patriots case in logging a win. Still, Hopkins and Gilmore, both arguably the best at their position, put together a respectable performance on Sunday.
