Seahawks feast on rookie quarterbacks, but is Watson different?
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks face the Houston Texans on Sunday in a matchup of the LOB versus a rookie quarterback. Normally young quarterbacks struggle in Seattle. But is Deshaun Watson a different kind of player?
The Seahawks like to play inexperienced quarterbacks. Last year, Carson Wentz played well. This year he has been great. But in his game in Seattle in 2016, he was not good. Wentz had a QBR of 25.7 against Seattle. This was his third lowest rated game of last year.
Deshaun Watson, though, is playing at a level that is much higher than Wentz’s was in his rookie year. Remember when Houston’s offense struggled early in the year? Houston scored 20 points in the first two games combined. Since then the Texans have scored 157 points in four games. Or 39 points a game. Watson has 15 touchdowns passes. He averages 7.2 yards-per-carry. He is very good.
The Seahawks, though, have faced 17 quarterbacks since 2012 in the first or second years. The group combined has a 71.8 quarterback rating in those games. This is not a bad group either. Players like Derek Carr, Wentz and Cam Newton are among them. But is Watson more poised and with better receivers than the rest of them? Maybe.
Receiver DeAndre Hopkins, despite only averaging a career-low 10.3 yards-per-catch, is on pace to far exceed his best-year touchdown receptions. He has six through six games. His best year is 11 in 16 games. This mainly is due to Hopkins finally having a good quarterback throwing him the ball. The Richard Sherman and Hopkins matchup might be the most one to watch in the NFL this weekend.
A few things may keeps the Texans from winning. First, Seattle is good. Second, Houston’s defense is missing a few key players, most notably J.J. Watt. Thirdly, there is a bit of unrest in the Texans locker room. Hopkins purposely missed practice today after Texans owner Bob McNair comments that the “inmates were running the prison” in reference the NFL’s national anthem issue.
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But this is immaterial to whether the Seahawks will fare as well against Watson as they have other young quarterbacks. Watson is good. So is Sherman and company. On Sunday, we will find out who is better.