HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Deshaun Watson had been a star when the lights were brightest in the past. He was part of two Clemson teams that combined to score 75 points across two National Championship Games against Nick Saban's Alabama defense, but when the Texans quarterback made his NFL playoff debut last season he fell flat.
Against the Indianapolis Colts, Watson and the Texans didn't move the scoreboard until the fourth quarter, falling to their division rivals 21-7. On Saturday at NRG Stadium, he'll get a chance at redemption when the Buffalo Bills come to town.
"Last year's last year," Watson said Tuesday. "But, it was definitely a motivational deal throughout the offseason, but it's a new season, it's a new playoff opportunity, it's a new team that we're going against in the Buffalo Bills."
The Texans enter the postseason 10-6 with a second consecutive AFC South title under their belts, but Watson knows what happened during the first 16 games of the season pale in comparison to what will take place on the field Saturday.
"Going into every game, every play matters, but you don't really know it until you actually experience that, and that's what we experienced last year. It's going to happen fast, it's gonna come by, fast, the game is gonna go by faster. The players play a little bit faster than in the regular season. Everything just speeds up."
Watson averaged just 4.8 yards per attempt on 49 pass attempts in that game against the Colts and threw an intereption, but Texans head coach Bill O'Brien doesn't have any concern that he was or will be caught up by the moment.
"He's got really good poise," O'Brien said Tuesday. "Anybody that's been around him for a long time, he doesn't have any fear. He has no fear and he goes into every game, he has a lot of fun playing, you see the smile on his face, he loves playing football and he loves being out there with his teammates."
Watson was selected for his second consecutive Pro Bowl, but since a three touchdown game against New England December 1, the Texans offense has been held in check down the stretch. The Texans quarterback pinned the blame on himself for that.
"You take those two turnovers from Tennessee, and then just miscommunication in Tampa Bay, and that's pretty much it. In the Denver game, we didn't get too many opportunities in the redzone, but yeah, if I don't turn two balls over in Tennessee that's 14 extra points and who knows how the game goes. It's something that we corrected, but I can't worry about that and just play football. Whatever happens, happens and we'll move on from it."
While it may not have ended on a high note, Deshaun Watson performed at a Pro Bowl level once again in 2019, a year that started with a loss in the playoffs to Indianapolis. With the calender flipped to 2020 on Saturday he'll have an opportunity to avenge that loss.
"I know it didn't go our way but we've got another opportunity this year."
