Chapter 1377: Chapter 1376: A Rational Choice
Uh.
A muffled groan, dizzy and dazed, sky collapsed and earth shattered.
Watson didn’t even have a chance to catch his breath, let alone adjust or escape. A force as unreasonable as a force of nature slammed into him, taking him down directly.
So embarrassing.
Despite being a mobile quarterback, known for his pocket footwork and running ability, with evasion skills that are his trump card—result?
Sack.
Watson had no idea what happened, why the fake handoff didn’t deceive the opponent, what happened to the offensive line’s pocket protection. He couldn’t even recognize whose red figure completed the sack; he fell without resistance, like a chick just born, yet not even able to open its eyes, much less stand firmly.
Dazed, a right hand appeared in front of him.
Without thinking, Watson instinctively grabbed the right hand and got up, facing Chris Jones’s face, expression frozen.
Chris Jones, expressionless, eyes showing a hint of restraint, "Sorry."
That look, as if bullying a child, an unfair victory.
Watson: ... "Why are you apologizing? Hey, why are you apologizing? What sorry, who is sorry, why sorry, explain clearly."
However, Chris Jones had already turned around and rejoined the team, continuing to set up with the defense, readying for the next defensive play.
Watson was completely left in place: ...
Looking left and right, a breath stuck in his chest, almost exploding.
Running back Taiwan Jones accidentally caught Watson’s glare, quickly looked up at the sky, whistling, using all his lifelong acting skills to prove his innocence.
"Damn!"
Watson could no longer control himself, cursed, clenched fists, continually reminding himself to inhale deeply, and then deeper, controlling emotions—
In the sixth week of the regular season, the Houston Texans again challenged the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The game was once deadlocked, tensions high, with the Kansas Chiefs Offense pulling ahead, the Houston Texans urgently needed to score and stay in the game.
At that time, Watson volunteered himself, daringly shouldering a heavy responsibility, trying to prove himself.
And the result?
Sack. Interception. Three strikes out.
Powerless to resist, overreaching, forceful beyond reason.
Watson couldn’t become the Houston Texans’ superhero savior, instead becoming the last straw that led the team into chaos and lost confidence.
After that, the Houston Texans were unable to score again, completely swept into the tempo of the Kansas City Chiefs, losing the game miserably.
Those lessons remained vivid and engraved, closing eyes still able to see lifelike scenes.
The scene in front of him was eerily familiar; then, the Kansas City Chiefs Defense chose to blitz, and Defensive End Frank Clark sacked.
He couldn’t let history repeat itself.
The same lesson, experiencing it once is already bad enough, going through it again and again in the same season is foolish—
He refused to give Li Wei such a handle to label himself: foolish.
"Calm down. Their tactics are similar to ours, pressing the front. Watson, we discussed this in the pre-game meeting, we know what to do."
In the headset, O’Brien’s voice came through. Although Watson felt hot-headed, the first reaction was to cover his ears, refusing to hear O’Brien’s nagging; but this time, he barely controlled himself, instinctively turning to look for Li Wei amongst the crowd.
Li Wei was resting, discussing with the offensive team coaching staff, completely oblivious to the action on the field, demonstrating his team leader demeanor.
Damn!
He couldn’t lose to that guy, he refused to lose to that guy.
Is proving himself more important, or the team more important? This time, Watson finally made a rational choice.
Before the reins of reason slipped away, Watson managed to hit the brakes, controlled himself, and engaged in a brief dialogue with O’Brien through the headset.
Just like O’Brien said, the Kansas City Chiefs focused pressure on the front line blitz, aiming to keep the quarterback under constant pressure. This tactic was nothing new to the Houston Texans, they anticipated this possibility in the pre-game analysis—
In the pre-game battle, O’Brien and Reed were truly locked in, the first wave of offense and defense was just the beginning; the second wave of offense and defense was still within this scope.
Just now, the Kansas Chiefs Offense revealed their colors; now, it was the Houston Texans Offense’s turn, and this team wasn’t just about JJ-Watt.
Immediately, the Kansas City Chiefs Defense discovered something:
Watson, surprisingly, no longer held onto the ball!
In other words, Watson was no longer obsessed with playing the hero, greatly reducing the predictability of the offensive strategy, and the Houston Texans’ offense opened up as a result.
Facts proved that Watson still possessed talent.
During his NCAA days, Watson was generally regarded as a more promising quarterback, even slightly surpassing Lamar Jackson.
Indeed, Jackson’s physical attributes were nearly heavenly, a once-in-a-decade talent, virtually unstoppable within the NCAA’s tactical framework.
But everyone knew that, upon entering the Professional League, quarterbacks ultimately needed to pass the ball. Jackson’s ground advancement ability was comparable to a stellar running back, yet his passing ability was concerning, even weaker than the Carolina Black Panthers’ top draft pick quarterback Cam Newton, with a cap on his potential.
Watson was different.
As a mobile quarterback, Watson’s passing ability was excellent; in fact, Watson himself preferred passing to running.
The intuitively critical point is, when the pocket collapsed, facing the danger of a sack, Jackson, like other mobile quarterbacks, tended to rely on his legs to solve problems, including this season with significant progress being no exception; whereas Watson tended to rely on passing, running was a last resort under unavoidable circumstances.
In the midst of adversity, the instinctive choice from conditioned reflex, showcases true character.
Look at Watson’s first two years of data after entering the NFL.
The current league’s standard to measure excellent quarterbacks is a three-thousand-yard season; Watson broke four thousand passing yards for two consecutive seasons, with rushing yards hovering around five hundred—excellent, even considered top-notch, but with a clear difference from Jackson’s rushing stats.
The most startling aspect was the passing completion rates: 61.8%, 68.3%, surprisingly delightful.
Watson’s quarterback rating also prominently led among young players, 103.0 for the 2017 season, 103.1 for the 2018 season.
Both quarterback ratings exceeding a hundred in the first two seasons of his career, such performance positioned Watson at the pinnacle of young quarterbacks, counted on fingers.
From various perspectives, Watson seems like a slightly less stable... Rodgers.
Precisely because of this, among this batch of young quarterbacks in the league, Watson’s talent and ability were consistently acknowledged, widely regarded as having boundless potential and promise.
To some extent, Watson’s potential value is no less than Mahomes, who shone across the league last season.
In a league generally lacking in quarterbacks, even quarterbacks like Cousins, slightly above average, could easily negotiate big contracts; quarterback salaries were markedly inflated, and the market for vibrant and potential-rich quarterbacks like Watson continuously soared, a bright future ahead.
The key point is, how Watson fulfills his potential?