J.J. Watt again proves he loves to play on Thanksgiving with insanely athletic pick-six
J.J. Watt is having fun again and making plays to remind everyone he’ll go down as one of the better defensive players of his era.
Yeah, we’re five years removed from his third Defensive Player of the Year Award, and those seasons have been injury-riddled: multiple back surgeries, a broken leg, fractured hand, groin issues, a torn pectoral. The list is extensive.
But he’s looked more comfortable — and explosive — in recent weeks playing for the Bill O’Brien-less Texans. He’s making vintage J.J. Watt plays again, like this stunning interception against the Detroit Lions in the first quarter of the NFL’s opening Thanksgiving Day game.
As CBS analyst Tony Romo said in the wake of this play, there aren’t many players with the wherewithal and physical ability to make this play. It sort of looks simple — Stafford, after all, appears to throw the ball right into Watt’s hands. That’s because he’s generally able to make that throw without worrying about the defensive end doing that.
Of course Watt has terrorized Stafford on Thanksgiving before: Back in 2012 he had three sacks, four tackles for loss and two passes defended in a 34-31 victory that pushed the Texans to 10-1 (with Matt Schaub at QB!).
Watt’s score was the sixth of his career.
Fans, former and current players and analysts on Twitter were in awe of the play: