Packer Central

Watson’s Legend Grows With Clinching Touchdown

Christian Watson, the Green Bay Packers' rookie scoring machine, did it again during Sunday's victory at the Chicago Bears.

Bill Huber

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CHICAGO – If you expect Christian Watson to score a touchdown every time he touches the ball, you’re not alone.

With the Green Bay Packers nursing a 20-19 lead over the Chicago Bears at the 2-minute warning, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich suggested a jet sweep to Watson. Coach Matt LaFleur liked the call. So did quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

A lot.

“I expected them to play some man coverage so, at the last second, I ran over to the sideline to verify we weren’t in a Rolex situation where we wanted to not score,” Rodgers said. “And I think Matt was maybe a little surprised by the question.

“I said, ‘Hey, if this comes out of the gate, do you want him to score or not?’ And he said ‘Score.’ I just came in [the huddle] and said [to Watson], ‘Don’t worry about going down if this comes out of the gate.’ When I came off the handoff to the fake to AJ (Dillon) and I felt like the whole side of the line was over there, I figured it was probably going to be a good play.”

Oh, it was a good play.

There were two defenders on the left side of the field. One bought the fake to Dillon. The other was blocked by Sammy Watkins, who immediately raised an index finger to the sky to celebrate the inevitable.

A 46-yard touchdown. The Packers tacked on the two-point play for a 28-19 victory.

Watson’s speed is breathtaking. It’s why Watkins celebrated with Watson 40 yards from the goal line. You’d have a better chance catching a Lamborghini with an old Ford Escort.

The only Bears defender in pursuit was the man that Watkins briefly blocked: cornerback Josh Blackwell. At Duke’s pro day in March, Blackwell ran his 40 in 4.34 seconds. Watson ran his in 4.36 seconds at the Scouting Combine. Forty times be damned. It looked like a race between a thoroughbred and a draft horse. With a head of steam, there might not be a defender in the league capable of catching him.

“Yeah, to be honest, if I see nothing in front of me, it’s looking pretty good,” Watson said. “Honestly, that’s exactly what I saw: I saw no one. I saw the corner go in with Sammy on his little crack block and I knew if the corner’s not coming off there’s no one that’s going to make the play from the inside.”

Watson’s legend grows with every game. After missing so much of the first half of the season due to injuries, Watson has caught a touchdown pass in four consecutive games – the ninth-longest streak in NFL history among rookies. Watson scored two touchdowns vs. Chicago to give him eight in merely 17 touches during the stretch.

It’s almost as if Watson is unstoppable. Not every play – the NFL is too good for that – but Watson is too good to be held in check for an entire game. At some point, with his combination of size and breakaway speed, a big play seems almost inevitable.

“I think that’s my mind-set, for sure,” Watson said when asked whether he felt unstoppable. “That’s the mentality everyone has to have, honestly, when they’re out there. When you’re going every single play, it’s a one-on-pone between you and the man across from you. So, I think that’s the mentality everyone has out there, and it’s definitely the mentality I have, for sure.”

The Packers scored three touchdowns against Chicago. Watson had a hand in all of them. The first was a 14-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 just before halftime. That cut the Bears’ lead to 16-10. With Chicago leading 19-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, Watson got behind Jaylon Jones on a deep ball and drew a 38-yard penalty for pass interference. That set up AJ Dillon’s touchdown run that made it 19-17. Finally, with Green Bay at least trying to burn some clock in the waning moments, Watson took off like Secretariat at the Belmont for the clinching score.

The execution on that touchdown was flawless. Other than the celebration.

“No, actually, that was not planned at all and, when I was in midair, I had no clue what I was doing,” Watson said. “So, I’ve got to come up with something beforehand if I’m going to do something like that because that was definitely not what I was trying to do or planned on doing.”

Christian Watson soars into the end zone with the clinching touchdown. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson celebrates his game-clinching touchdown. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson celebrates his game-clinching touchdown. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson celebrates his game-clinching touchdown. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson celebrates his game-clinching touchdown. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson is off to the races for a 46-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Christian Watson gets off the turf following his fourth-quarter score. (USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson goes airborne after scoring in the fourth quarter (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson draws a pass-interference penalty for a gain of 38 against cornerback Jaylon Jones.

Christian Watson draws a pass-interference penalty for a gain of 38 against cornerback Jaylon Jones.

Christian Watson scores a fourth-down touchdown in the first half. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson scores a fourth-down touchdown during the first half on Sunday. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Christian Watson celebrates his first-half touchdown at Chicago. (Photo by USA Today Sports Images)

Christian Watson celebrates his first-half touchdown. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

Aaron Rodgers and Christian Watson celebrate their second-quarter score.

Christian Watson catches a pass during warmups. (Photo by USA Today Sports)

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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