The NFL has named Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson the AFC Offensive Player of the Week following his performance in the team’s 27-20 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. This marks his second career Player of the Week award and first since Week 4 of the 2017 season.
In Week 3, Watson completed 25-of-34 passes (73.5 percent) for 351 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 135.8 rating. He also ran for 18 yards on seven carries (2.6 avg.). Watson completed a 53-yard touchdown pass to TE Jordan Akins in the fourth quarter, which marked Watson’s second-longest completion of the season. He also threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Akins in the third quarter and a 16-yard touchdown pass to TE Darren Fells in the second quarter. Additionally, Watson’s 38-yard pass to WR Kenny Stills in the second quarter set up Houston’s first score of the game.
Watson threw for the most yards (351) in a game since Week 5 of the 2018 season vs. Dallas (375). He recorded his seventh career game with three-or-more touchdown passes and eighth career game with 300-or-more passing yards, which is tied for the fourth-most 300-yard passing games (eight) within a player’s first 26 career games in NFL history. It also marked his 15th career game with multiple touchdown passes, which tied Carson Palmer (15 from 2004-05) for the fifth-most games with multiple touchdown passes within a player’s first 26 career games.
Watson became the fastest player in NFL history to record 6,500 career passing yards and 500 rushing yards while also becoming the fastest player in NFL history to record 50 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns (26 games). He is just the third player in NFL history to record at least 6,500 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns in a player’s first 26 career games and became the fourth-fastest player in NFL history to record 50 passing touchdowns. Watson now owns 51 passing touchdowns, which is the fourth-most in NFL history through 26 games, and 6,642 passing yards, which is the sixth-most in NFL history through 26 games.
This marks the 45th time a Texan has been named Player of the Week in franchise history and the second time this season. It is also the 14th time Houston has won the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award in team history.
