Beat the New England Patriots on a national stage and it will leave little doubt anyone’s mind you played a game worthy of accolades.
Houston Texasn quarterback Deshaun Watson was named the AFC offensive player of the week for his 18-of-25 for 234 yards, three touchdowns, and 6-yard touchdown reception of his own as the Texans cruised to a 28-22 win over the Patriots.
For Watson, it is the third time in his career he has earned player of the week honors. The first time was in Week 4 of 2017, his rookie season, and Watson actually earned player of the week nods in Weeks 3 and 5 of 2019.
The Pro Bowler’s play in the win over New England was chock full of firsts and joined him in rare company. Watson joined Jim McMahon, a fellow Davey O’Brien Award winner, as the only quarterbacks to throw three-plus touchdowns and catch another in a game since 1966. Those four passing touchdowns against the Patriots are the most against New England this season.
Watson also became the first player to throw multiple touchdown passes against the Patriots this season, and his 140.7 passer rating was the highest against the Patriots since Alex Smith in Week 1 of 2017.
The former 2017 first-round pick from Clemson is now 6-2 in prime time games with a 121.1 passer rating. Watson notched his fifth game of three-plus touchdowns in 2019, which is tied for the most in the NFL. Watson is the third player in league history to have over 23 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns while keeping his passer rating above 100.0 through the first 12 games of a season.
Watson is the first Texans player to win three player of the week honors in the same season, and he is the 47th Texans player to be named player of the week in club history and the fourth one total for 2019.
