J.J. Watt will always be known for his career with the Houston Texans.
The best defensive player of his generation won three Defensive Player of the Year awards within his first five seasons in the league, setting an NFL record with two 20-plus sack seasons.
Watt helped lead the Texans to their first playoff berth in his rookie season in 2011 and their greatest period of success as a franchise with six playoff appearances in his 10 seasons with the franchise.
Fast forward to the present day and the Texans are back as a winning team, fresh off of a playoff appearance in C.J. Stroud and DeMeco Ryans’ debut seasons with the franchise.
Houston is once again primed to win the AFC South with an 8-5 record entering their bye in Week 14 and while they haven’t been overly impressive this season, Watt believes the Texans can match up with the AFC’s elite on their best day.
“On their best day, I can see the Texans matching up with anybody,” says Watt in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his partnership with Peloton. “But I think if you’re asking right now based upon the recent games, it’s hard to say that at the moment, I think those guys are clearly up there. Obviously the Steelers are up there as well in the AFC. But that’s the thing with the playoffs. You got to get in and then it’s just one game at a time from there. It’s all about just who can be their best at the right time.”
The Texans have only one win over a winning team this season and have lost their other three games against winning squads. They’re actually 3-4 in their past seven games and barely squeaked out a win over the 2-10 Jacksonville Jaguars without Trevor Lawrence.
Watt acknowledges the team hasn’t reached the expectations that were placed on them coming into the season.
“I think there’s extremely high expectations coming into the season,” says Watt. “I would say at this moment, compared to where the expectations were from the exterior, they aren’t exactly where people thought they would be, but they are still in first place in the division. If you would have said that two years ago, going through some of those seasons if they went through when they got the No. 2 overall pick, people would be ecstatic with where they are right now.”
.@HoustonTexans welcome @JJWatt to their Ring of Honor ❤️ pic.twitter.com/bpZiMZ1LYq
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023
Stroud hasn’t been very good this season, throwing 15 touchdowns against nine interceptions and ranks 22nd in passer rating. Despite the lackluster numbers from the team and Stroud, Watt believes this is actually a chance for the team “to grow.”
“I think that rough patch is actually potential for them to grow and to learn and to get better,” says Watt. “DeMeco is a great coach, so I know he’s extracting every single learning opportunity from this for them and I’m looking forward to seeing how they transition that into the rest of the season and the playoffs. But I never count them out, not with DeMeco, not with CJ. I think they’ll be fine.”
While Watt may be best known for his time with the Texans, he spent the final two seasons of his career with the Arizona Cardinals, teaming up with Kyler Murray, helping lead the Cardinals to their last playoff appearance in 2021.
The Cardinals are coming off of a tough 23-22 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13 and are now trailing the Seattle Seahawks by a game in the NFC West for the division lead. Arizona lost to Seattle earlier this season and will have their rematch against them this week in a pivotal game.
“The division has been a crazy division all year,” says Watt. “Obviously coming into the season, there’s no question the 49ers were everybody’s preseason favorite, but it just hasn’t gone that way over there. At the moment, it’s a week-to-week league and the Seahawks right now have that advantage. But the Cardinals have another shot at them, so they can try and right that ship.”
Watt acknowledges that the Seahawks are the “favorite” to win the division but that the game this week will be a “great battle.”
“I don’t think you can say they’re the favorite at the moment, just because of how crazy the division has been,” says Watt. “You have to say it’s the Seahawks, but it’s going to be a great battle. They’ve been playing really well. Kyler is playing some of the best ball in his career and they’ve been a lot of fun to watch.”
When pressed on who will win the division at the end, Watt goes with his former team to win the NFC West.
“I am still a Cardinal at heart — I’ll go with the Cardinals,” says Watt.
Arizona Cardinals are ROLLIN
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) November 10, 2024
As far as Watt’s prediction for the Super Bowl is concerned, he’s saying it’s the Detroit Lions against the Buffalo Bills. However, he wants to make sure there’s a time stamp on it, with the prediction being made just prior to the Lions’ Week 14 win over the Green Bay Packers.
“Probably go with the Lions and it’s a toss-up between the Bills and the Chiefs,” says Watt. “I think the Steelers are in that mix, but I’d say it’s a toss-up there. The Bills just beat the Chiefs, so I’ll go Lions-Bills if you asked me today. Put a time stamp on that so I don’t go roasted endlessly. But they play each other next weekend. It’s going to be a phenomenal matchup and we’ll be there for CBS in Detroit. I look forward to that.”
And while Watt is staying away from the debate surrounding Defensive Player of the Year talk involving his brother, T.J. Watt, and the reigning winner, Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett, he did hint at who he thinks will be the winner this time around.
“I don’t think there’s many questions about that,” says Watt while smiling during an interview alongside his brother, T.J. “I also don’t feel like fueling any fires at the moment. Everybody knows.”
T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett will be on the same field again Sunday.
But Watt isn't focused on that. The Steelers star told SportsCasting he just wants a damn playoff win this season.
"It has been a huge thorn in my side since I’ve been here.”https://t.co/VHRTfbrTTL
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) December 5, 2024
