Brady vs Watson, Duel for the Ages
Week Three featured a handful of great match-ups including Giants-Eagles, Lions-Falcons, and Packers-Bengals. But the best game we were lucky enough to witness took place in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in a battle between the Houston Texans and New England Patriots.
The Texans and Patriots represent two different dynamics. In Houston, Deshaun Watson was under center for his second career start, while the New England remains the home of the greatest quarterback of all-time, Tom Brady.
Brady’s performance was as advertised, throwing for 378 yards and five touchdowns, the last of which coming on a game-winning drive. Brandon Cooks sealed the game for the Pats with his first breakout game of the season, catching five balls for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Cooks would go on to catch Brady’s fifth touchdown pass which would be the clincher in this effort.
Tom Brady certainly kept the spotlight centered on himself, but the effort put forth by Watson was definitely an unexpected breath of fresh air. Watson passed for 301 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, not an easy feat for a rookie to do against a perennial strong Patriots defense. The Clemson product joined Andrew Luck to become the second rookie to throw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns in Gillette Stadium, a feat the Colts’ superstar pulled off in 2012.
Watson demonstrated the poise of a big game quarterback and started to show that “Michael Jordan” talent that his Clemson coach Dabo Swinney alluded to before the NFL Draft. It’s too early to say for certain, but it seems that Houston made the right decision to grab Watson in the most recent NFL Draft. Watson has been a dynamic play-maker, adding a dimension to Bill O’Brien’s offense that had been sorely lacking during his tenure as head coach.
This was certainly the first great QB duel of the 2017 season and hopefully not the last. With other marquee match-ups on the schedule like Aaron Rodgers vs. Dak Prescott, there is plenty to look forward to, but Brady and Watson have already set the bar high.
