On the first play of Thanksgiving, the Green Bay Packers threw a deep pass to Christian Watson. He made an acrobatic catch for a 53-yard gain.
If you had told someone this in August, it wouldn’t have been a huge surprise. Watson was a popular breakout pick early in the season and fantasy football drafts reflected that. He showed plenty of talent as a rookie last season and was projected to be the Packers’ No. 1 receiver.
That didn’t really happen. Watson’s slow start is highlighted by this strange statistic: He set a season-high in catches in the first quarter against the Detroit Lions. It’s week 12.
Watson had four catches for 78 yards in the first 12 minutes of Thursday’s game. He hadn’t made more than three catches in a game all season. Before Thanksgiving, he had only one game of 37 yards or more, a 91-yard game against the Las Vegas Raiders, highlighted by a long catch notable because the Raiders incurred a horse-collar tackle penalty , instead of letting him score.
On Thursday, Watson showed up ready to eat.
Watson looked great on Thursday, making another notable third-down grab near the sideline in addition to his long post route early in the game.
The Packers took Watson’s lead and had perhaps the best quarter they’ve had all season. Love threw two touchdowns. The defense recovered a Jared Goff fumble and scored. The Packers led 20-6 before the end of the first quarter.
This is what optimists thought the Packers could be like this season. It was nice to see Green Bay and Watson put up some highlight plays, even if not much happened until Thanksgiving.
