Watt time is it? Time for Chiefs to buckle up and face Texans’ star pass rusher again
The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans aren’t quite the same teams they were when they met in October, a game the Texans won 31-24 at Arrowhead Stadium.
For one, the Chiefs’ defense has morphed into one of the NFL’s top units. And while the Texans still have threats on offense with quarterback Deshaun Watson and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, their defense has slipped against the run, punctuated by allowing the Buffalo Bills to gain 172 yards rushing in last week’s AFC Wild Card Round.
But there is one constant and imposing figure on the Texans that the Chiefs must contend with in Sunday’s Division Round showdown against Houston at Arrowhead: defensive end J.J. Watt, who returned from a torn pectoral muscle in time for the postseason.
“Any time he’s in game, that’s the guy you have to be aware of at all times,” Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz said. “It doesn’t really matter whether it’s the front side or back side of the run, and obviously any pass play. … It’s always a challenge against him. That’s why he’s a (future) Hall of Famer.”
Right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif agreed.
“He’s a really good player,” Duvernay-Tardif said. “Whether he’s inside or outside, run game, pass game, you’ve just got to account for him on every play.”
That Watt is even playing is amazing. He suffered what is typically a considered season-ending injury in Week 8 against the Oakland Raiders.
When Schwartz heard the news that Watt was returning, his reaction likely mirrored so many others’ around the league.
“When the reports came out, you’re like, ‘No way, there’s no way,’” Schwartz said. “But obviously with him, knowing him and how hard he works, it didn’t really surprise.”
The Texans placed Watt on injured reserve but activated him in time to face the Buffalo Bills. In the opening round of the playoffs, they appeared to utilize the five-time All-Pro in a situational role.
Watt still found a way to make an impact on his 52 of Houston’s 85 total defensive snaps, with two tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits in the Texans’ 22-19 win.
“He looked really good last game,” Schwartz said. “I know he’s in a little bit of a different rotation than normal, but he looked great. He’s using both arms. I didn’t notice any difference in terms of his strength, his mobility or his power.”
Will the Texans’ star defensive end see even more playing time against the Chiefs?
“I’m not sure,” Watt told reporters Thursday, via a transcript from the Texans. “We’ll have a plan. Just because I played one game doesn’t mean my pec magically healed. It’s still in basically the same situation it was in before this game, and obviously we played a little bit more in the last game than we expected to.”
Even a less-than-100 percent Watt is cause for alarm. When fully healthy, he’s entirely capable of wrecking an offense. The Texans often allow him to pick his spots on where he lines up before a snap, but most of his damage in recent years has come on the left side of the defensive line, lined up over the right tackle.
Watt’s bone-crushing sack of Bills quarterback Josh Allen last week occurred after he beat Buffalo right tackle Cody Ford off the edge.
The Texans star will find highly capable foes across the line of scrimmage Sunday in Schwartz, a 2018 first-team All-Pro and three-time second-team All-Pro, and left tackle Eric Fisher, who made the Pro Bowl in 2018.
The Chiefs’ front five did a good job in October of containing Watt. He totaled two tackles that day but didn’t get to quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs’ offensive line embraces the task of facing him again.
“As a professional football player, that’s the kind of challenge that you got to enjoy and you prepare for,” Duvernay-Tardif said. “Then, on Sunday, you put everything you know in your back pocket and you just go ahead with 100 percent focus and intensity.”
