With the 2020 Oscars set for Sunday, the HoustonTexans.com writers will be unveiling nominees for some of our favorite plays from the 2019 season. Instead of Best Actor, Best Picture and Best Director, we've come up with our own categories. Today, we nominate a play for (cue the music)…
BEST CATCH OF 2019
Drew Dougherty, Texans TV Host
Nomination: Kenny Stills TD grab at New Orleans
Hi Kenny, welcome to Houston. Now go learn our offense and be able to make what should've been a game-winning catch in a loud stadium against a Super Bowl-contending team.
Stills did all of that on Monday Night Football in Week 1. Acquired via trade from the Dolphins one week before the first game, Stills caught a short pass in the second quarter, another one early in the fourth, and then pulled in a 37-yarder from Deshaun Watson with 38 seconds remaining. It gave the Texans a lead, but the Saints drilled a 58-yard field goal as time expired to win.
John Harris, Texans Analyst and Sideline Reporter
Nomination: Deshaun Watson's TD "Catch" vs. New England
The best catch of the season has to be Deshaun Watson's touchdown "catch" against the New England Patriots. First of all, it was Deshaun's first catch since high school and a touchdown catch at that. Furthermore, it was the first positive yardage catch for a quarterback in Texans history (Joe Webb was playing receiver when he caught passes). Dave Ragone, Matt Schaub and Brock Osweiler all had catches for negative yards but Watson not only picked up positive yardage, he scored. So, we're going with Deshaun's touchdown catch on a throw from DeAndre Hopkins.
Deepi Sidhu, Texans Insider and Lead Writer
Nomination: DeAndre Hopkins' toe-tapper on Thursday Night Football
DeAndre Hopkins' sideline toe-tapper vs. Colts on Thursday Night Football has to be the best catch of the 2019 season. Late in the first quarter on third-and-6, Hopkins hauled in a pass that looked like it was out of bounds.
Oh, but it wasn't.
Nothing is out of reach at all for the three-time All-Pro. Hopkins extended his entire body, straight as an arrow at a 45-degree angle with toes perfectly placed inside the white line. Put that to some classical music because that had all the finesse of a gorgeous ballet move.
Marc Vandermeer, Voice of the Houston Texans
Nomination: Jordan Akins' 53-yard catch-and-run in Week 3 against the Chargers
The best catch is always going to belong to DeAndre Hopkins. It's like picking the NBA MVP when Jordan was winning rings. So let's focus on someone else.
Akins' TD catch was his second of the game. And it wasn't so much the reception itself but what he did with it afterwards, scoring the final touchdown of the afternoon to help nail down a big win on the road.
