Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is a man that is known for his ability to create something out of nothing. Some have described him as a magician at the quarterback position while others have compared his playmaking ability to that of Michael Jordan. Well, Watson built up his legend even further on Sunday when he threw a touchdown pass after taking a cleat to the eye.
Late in the fourth quarter and trailing the Oakland Raiders by four points, the Texans lined up near the end zone. Watson took the snap and bounced around while looking for an open receiver. He was grabbed and spun toward the ground by defensive end Arden Key but somehow managed to break out of the grasp and throw a touchdown to tight end Darren Fells.
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However, the replay showed that Key accidentally kicked Watson in the face and jabbed him in the eye with the bottom of his cleats. As the photos showed following the battle in Texas, the eye was completely swollen.
Deshaun Watson’s eye…is not 100% pic.twitter.com/fb68IEtaZt
— Ari Alexander (@KPRC2Ari) October 27, 2019
Watson was ultimately down on the field for quite some time while being tended to by the medical staff. There were also concerns about further damage considering that there appeared to be blood on the towel he was holding up to his face.
Despite the damage done and the concerns about his now-swollen eye, Watson was able to re-enter the game and seal the victory with a late drive to run out the clock. He finished the game with 279 passing yards and three touchdowns.
The interesting part about this play is that Watson didn’t actually see where he was throwing the ball. As he explained following the game, he took the cleat to the face which made one eye automatically shut. After adjusting his helmet, he saw Fells moving to the right side of the end zone. However, Watson’s other eye was forcibly closing at that exact moment, so he simply guessed where the tight end would be and threw the ball in that general direction.
The pass, as it turns out, was on the mark and resulted in a game-winning touchdown. Watson didn’t see the play, but he knew that the team had scored due to the cheers of the crowd. He was later able to catch up and see the replay after getting his eye checked, but he essentially threw the game-winning touchdown while blind.
(Photo Credit: Bob Levey/Getty)
