 finest work today,'' Seattle wide receiver Doug Baldwin said. Watson was nearly the equal of Wilson, throwing for 402 yards and four touchdowns. But he couldn't come up with a final answer and was intercepted by Richard Sherman with 7 seconds left on a desperation throw. Sherman had two interceptions, his first since Week 10 of last season, and Earl Thomas returned a pick 78 yards for a TD in the first quarter. But they were the only mistakes by Watson in an otherwise stunning performance against one of the best defenses in the NFL - and an even better final rally by Wilson. ''Go ahead and give him rookie of the year. I love watching him,'' Wilson said. Watson threw touchdown passes of 59 and 20 yards to Will Fuller, 2 yards to Lamar Miller, and a wide receiver screen that DeAndre Hopkins took 72 yards for a score with 5:01 left to give Houston a 38-34 lead. It was Watson's TD pass to Miller that reminded everyone of Wilson. He spun away from a sack and flipped a pass to Miller as he was being brought to the ground. ''We definitely know how other teams feel now,'' Sherman said. Watson is the first rookie to throw at least three touchdown passes in four consecutive games. His 16 touchdown passes in his past four games are the most by a rookie in any four-game span. And if he needed more accolades, Watson became the first player in the Super Bowl era with 400 yards passing, four TD passes and 50 yards rushing in a game. This season, Watson has 19 passing touchdowns, the most by a rookie in his first seven games of a season. Watson mimicked Wilson in nearly every manner, leaving the Seahawks mostly impressed and a little stunned by the performance. ''He played a better game than a lot of people come in here and play at that position,'' Seattle defensive end Frank Clark said. ''And that's just a credit to him, a credit to their team. '' Wilson and the Seahawks had two chances late to rally. Wilson drove the Seahawks to the Houston 20 with 2:55 left, but Marcus Williams intercepted at the Houston 6, undercutting a pass intended for Richardson. Seattle forced Houston to punt and this time Wilson didn't make a mistake. Wilson was the entirety of Seattle's offense. He accounted for 482 yards running and passing. The two QBs combined for eight TD passes and 854 yards passing. Hopkins finished with eight receptions for 224 yards, while Fuller had five catches for 125 yards. NATIONAL ANTHEMThe day started with the majority of Houston's roster kneeling during the national anthem in protest of owner Bob McNair's ''inmates running the prison'' comment that emerged this past week. Only 10 of Houston's active players stood for the anthem. Houston offensive lineman Duane Brown, who ended his holdout and reported to the team this week, said he believed there was universal support among the players that stood and those that knelt. ''Some people didn't feel quite comfortable (kneeling) and some people did, but we all supported each other. That was what was important,'' Brown said. RUNNING NOWHERESeattle's run game was again nonexistent. The Seahawks finished with 33 yards rushing on 21 carries. Wilson led the way with 30 yards, but Seattle's running backs didn't have a run go for more than 4 yards. FULL(ER) HOUSEFuller continues to dazzle since he returned from a collarbone injury that kept him sidelined the first three games of the season. Since 1991, no player has reached seven TD receptions in fewer total receptions than Fuller. Fuller now has seven TDs on 13 receptions this season. ''I just got to keep clicking with Deshaun and hopefully we get better from here,'' Fuller said. INJURIESTexans: Houston was already thin on the defensive line with both Joel Heath and Kendall Langford inactive. The Texans lost Christian Covington to an elbow injury suffered early in the second half. Seahawks: Thomas said he pulled his hamstring on Hopkins' long TD in the fourth quarter. He was unsure of his status going forward. UP NEXTTexans: Houston returns home to host Indianapolis next Sunday. Seahawks: Seattle stays at home and will host Washington next Sunday. ---For more NFL coverage: http://www. pro32. ap. org and http://www. twitter. com/-NFL)
Oct 26, 2017With each week comes a new set of challenges for Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose early-season exploits have not only surprised the NFL, but have buoyed an offensive unit that appears to gain increasing proficiency with each contest. In Watson, the Texans (3-3) have a signal caller ranking first in touchdown percentage (8. 6), tied for second in touchdown passes (15) and sixth in passer rating (101. 1). Watson led the NFL in scoring strikes before the Texans enjoyed their week off last weekend, and Watson used a portion of his downtime to continue improving instead of resting on his considerable laurels. "Just worked out, recovered the body, did some conditioning," Watson said. "I watched a lot of film on myself. So, self-evaluation, trying to correct the mistakes I made the first previous weeks and just try to build on that. "Just continue to make better decisions, ball placement, make quicker reads, my pocket awareness. Just try to operate the offense as best as I can. " Focusing on the finer details is mandatory labor for any starting quarterback, but with the Seahawks (4-2) on deck at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Sunday, executing the minutiae becomes paramount. As is annually the case, the Seahawks are stout defensively with their collection of secondary Pro-Bowlers thriving on the back line of the stingiest unit in the league. Seattle ranks first in points allowed (94), third in net yards per pass attempt (5. 0), fifth in passing yards surrendered (1,145), and eighth in yards per play (4. 9). The names remain unchanged, with cornerback Richard Sherman and safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor again anchoring the secondary and meeting lofty expectations with exceptional results. With Watson developing his familiarity with the offense and strengthening his rapport with his playmakers, namely receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, the Texans have eclipsed the 30-point plateau four consecutive weeks. That success makes for a confident bunch, but the Texans' collective self-esteem will be tested this weekend to extremes unfamiliar to Watson. "They are very, very smart," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said of the Seattle secondary. "Very well coached. Very athletic. They have length. They do a great job of communicating. "We feel good about our playmakers but we also know that it's a huge challenge and that our guys need to be at the top of their game on Sunday. " Following a sluggish start to their season, the Seahawks have rounded into form, coming out of their off week and claiming their third consecutive victory, 24-7 over the New York Giants last weekend. While their defense hit a rough path in the second half of a loss at Tennessee in Week 3, that unit has been far more consistent and reliable than the Russell Wilson-led offense. However, perhaps emblematic of team trending in the right direction, Wilson enjoyed his most efficient performance of the season against the Giants, posting a 121. 1 passer rating. He passed for three touchdowns without an interception and completed 69. 2 percent of his attempts en route to a 334-yard effort, his highest yardage total during the winning streak. Wilson annually shoulders too great a burden relative to the productivity on offense, with the line charged to protect him often serving as the first line of failure. But when Wilson shines as he did Sunday, it's difficult to disregard how dangerous Seattle can be when everything clicks. Comparatively, that's where the Texans stand with Watson at the controls. Wilson started from the onset of his rookie season and hasn't missed a start in his six-year career, methodically building on his first-year success to secure a standing among the elite at his position. Based on what Watson has managed in five weeks as the starter, plenty are projecting a similar career path. Inserting Watson into the starting lineup as a rookie might ultimately serve Houston as well as it did the Seahawks when they did the same with Wilson. "It depends on the player," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "You got to get them out there. They can't learn not playing. There's stuff that they can learn, but in the case of guys that have the physical ability, you got to get them out there and get them going so that they can start stacking up information and start to build kind of a background and a reservoir of experiences they can draw from. "
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