Houston Texans: 3 Standouts from Week 1 vs. Saints
3. WR DeAndre Hopkins
To be honest, one of the best wide receivers in the league also made one of the game’s biggest mistakes.
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Following a third-quarter interception served up by teammate Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins body-slammed Saints’ safety Marcus Williams after the pick and was assessed a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty and set up New Orleans at the Houston 49-yard-line. And a four-play drive led to a touchdown and gave the Saints a 24-21 lead early in the fourth quarter.
But the positives far outweighed one regrettable moment. Along with New Orleans Saints’ wide receiver Michael Thomas, Hopkins was targeted 13 times. He finished the evening with eight grabs for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
His biggest catch of the evening came in the final minutes when his 38-yard reception was the front end of a two-play, touchdown drive that resulted in Watson’s 37-yard scoring strike to newcomer Kenny Stills (obtained via trade with the Dolphins) with 37 seconds remaining in the game.
It’s going to be fascinating to see what kind of numbers Watson and the receiving trio of Hopkins, Stills and big-play performer Will Fuller (two catches for 69 yards) will put up when the latter three are all on the field at the same time.