Packer Central

Watson Joins Elite Group in Three-Touchdown, 100-Yard Club

Green Bay Packers rookie receiver Christian Watson scored three touchdowns vs. the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson joined the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Randy Moss and James Lofton in a small group of wideouts who had games of three touchdowns and 100 receiving yards as rookies.

Watson caught four passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday’s overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys. All three touchdowns came with the Packers trailing. One came on third down and another came on fourth down.

“I’m just trying to show who I am, trying to be who I am and be able to contribute,” Watson said. “I think it was huge for me to just in terms of continuing to gain confidence in myself and put that confidence out to everyone to have the confidence in me. But, I mean, we’ve got a lot more games to go and I’ve got to keep in the incline.”

Over the last 75 NFL season, only 22 rookie receivers turned in a game of 100-plus receiving yards and three-plus receiving touchdowns. Watson became the fourth Packers player to do it, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Lofton (three receptions, 107 yards, three touchdowns vs. the Saints in 1978), Packers Hall of Famer Billy Howton (seven receptions, 123 yards, three touchdowns vs. Detroit in 1952) and Packers Hall of Famer Max McGee (three receptions, 104 yards, three touchdowns vs. the Eagles in 1954).

Lofton, Randy Moss (twice), Marvin Harrison and Michael Irvin are Hall of Famers to accomplish the feat. Chase, Chase Claypool, Calvin Ridley and Odell Beckham are current players who’ve done it, as well.

Thirteen of them were first-round picks. Watson was drafted early in the second round. With the trade of Davante Adams, the pressure was on Watson to become a contributor to help Green Bay’s rebuilt passing game.

“I think regardless of the draft spot, it’s just gratifying to be able to have a role and to be able to contribute to this team,” Watson said. “Obviously, the draft stuff always ends once we’re into training camp and getting through training camp. It doesn’t matter where you’re drafted, what spot. When you get the opportunity, you’ve got to make the most of the opportunity. Regardless of the draft spot, it’s gratifying to me just because I was able to go out there and show who I am. I think we were able to show who we are.”

Among all players, there have been 17 games of 100-plus receiving yards and three touchdowns in a game since the start of the 2019 season. Watson, Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown and Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs were the only players to do it this year. Davante Adams was the last Packers player, doing it vs. Tennessee on Dec. 27, 2020.

Watson joined Lofton, Howton and McGee as the only rookies in Packers history with three touchdown catches in a game. And with his scores of 58 and 39 yards, Watson became the first Packers receiver with two touchdowns of 35-plus yards in a game since Jordy Nelson had scores of 73 and 40 against Chicago in 2014.

Watson shook off back-to-back drops on the opening possession.

“It feels amazing,” Watson said. “Just to have the guys rallying around me, obviously picking me up. Obviously, not the way I wanted to start. They were in my ear all game. It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish. I think that was huge for me, just in terms of me staying in it. And obviously when more opportunities came my way, I wasn’t down. I was cool, calm cool and collected. And more opportunities came my way.”

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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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