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Deshaun Watson made the most of his first career start at Thanksgiving, throwing four touchdown passes in a resounding 41-25 victory over the Houston Texans. Will Fuller featured a monster over the holidays, catching six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns – becoming the eighth player with more than 170 yards received at Thanksgiving. Fuller is only the fourth player to have more than 170 receiving yards and two touchdowns on Thanksgiving.
Watson has the most games with more than 3 touchdowns in Texans history (13), passing Matt Schaub for the honor. His 24 touchdown passes are the most thrilling touchdowns for a Texas quarterback in the first 11 games of the season. He’s also the only quarterback in each of the past two seasons to throw more than 250 yards and a touchdown in 10 of the season’s opening 11 games.
Fuller has joined Mike Evans, Tyreek Hill, and DK Metcalf as the only NFL players for the past two seasons with a receiving touchdown in at least seven of the first 11 games. His eight touchdown receptions are a career-high and is tied for sixth in the league.
Matthew Stafford, who already has the most passing yards at Thanksgiving, tied Tony Romo for the most touchdowns (18) during the vacation with a 14-yard strike to Mohamed Sanu at the end of the fourth quarter. Stafford was 28th of 41 for 295 yards with a touchdown and an interception, becoming the first player to throw 3,000 career yards at Thanksgiving.
Adrian Peterson became the second oldest player to score a Thanksgiving touchdown with his 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter that put the Lions ahead 7-0, a lead that ended up being short-lived. Peterson, who had two quick touchdowns that day, is just the second player over 35 to score a rushed touchdown on Thanksgiving (Marcus Allen is the other). He finished with 15 carries for 55 yards and two scores.
Here are the takeaways for this Thanksgiving morning. Our live blog below also features highlights from it.
Why the Texans won
The Texans turned the ship around under Romeo Crennel, whose transition to head coach was much easier thanks to the play of Deshaun Watson. The Texans quarterback was excellent against a putrid Lions secondary, making four touchdowns – including two grueling to Will Fuller in the fourth quarter to put the game aside. Houston only ran 77 yards and 33 yards per carry, so it was up to Watson to carry the offense again. All Watson did was throw just eight incomplete passes averaging 12.7 yards per attempt and finish with a 150.4 passer rating – the fourth highest ever on Thanksgiving (minimum 20 attempts ).
Watson had a year of career, which went unnoticed thanks to the Texan front office and coaching issues. He’s got to show a national TV audience he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the game on Thanksgiving.
Why the Lions lost
The Lions are in a mess, and turnovers were at the center of the problems with this Thanksgiving mistake. Detroit had three turnovers in the first half that led to 10 Texans points – a Stafford interception that resulted in a defensive touchdown (we’ll get to that in a moment) and two fumbles. Houston has only had five takeaways in 10 games all season, but had three in the first half against a Lions team that just can’t get out of its way. The turnovers kept Detroit from challenging a Texas defense that allowed the most rushing yards and the highest yards per run attempt in the league.
The Detroit secondary is also appalling, allowing Houston (team) 11.4 yards per passing attempt – well above the season average of 7. Watson was able to enjoy the entire game.
Turning
JJ Watt changed that game in favor of the Texans with his interception return for a first quarter touchdown. Watt managed to steal a pass from Matthew Stafford and take it 19 yards the other way around for a score, becoming the third defensive lineman at Thanksgiving to have an interception return for a touchdown.
The Lions were leading 7-0 when Watt had the interception that gave the Texans all the momentum. Stafford faced the pressure from Tyrell Adams, but reacted too early and threw a wandering throw in Watt’s direction. Detroit turned the game over on three straight possessions that led to two Texans touchdowns (13 points). Houston had a lead he wouldn’t give up.
Play the game
The Texans had fun this Thanksgiving with that flea flicker and the game under their control. On the first play after Detroit returned the ball on the lows, Houston rearranged the turn play as Watson handed the ball over to Duke Johnson – who actually appeared to run the ball and kill a clock. Once Johnson took a few steps, he returned the ball to Watson – who found Fuller wide open in the end zone for 24 yards.
Watson’s fourth and final touchdown pass was a beauty and put the Texans 41-17 with 10:07 to go.
The quote
“I should have had two more touchdowns that I missed.” – Deshaun Watson to Tracy Wolfson of CBS Sports after the Texans win.
Watson was fortunate enough to compete with Bob Griese (1977) and Peyton Manning (2004) for the most passing touchdowns at Thanksgiving, but missed Jordan Akins on a ball and threw one too hard at Akins because the tight end didn. ‘failed to shoot the pass into the end zone. These are two of his eight incompletions of the day.
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The Texans (4-7) have 10 days off before hosting the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Dec.6. The Lions (4-7) will also play in 10 days, before a road game against the Chicago Bears.
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