With the 2020 Oscars set for Sunday, we will be unveiling our 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 RUN OF 2019
Deepi Sidhu, Texans Insider and Lead Writer
Nomination: Deshaun Watson's 20-yard TD run against Buffalo
Is there any other option for best run besides Deshaun Watson's 20-yard score in the AFC Wild Card game?
With everything on the line and hopes for a playoff win slowly slipping out of reach, the Texans needed to get on board and do so quickly. With 1:41 left in the third quarter and down 16-0, Watson powered 20 yards into the endzone, collecting some Bills along the way. The Buffalo variety, that is, not cash. But Watson was all money as he followed up with another scramble and for a successful two-point conversion. The Texans instantly cut the Buffalo lead in half and everyone watching remembered why Houston was never out of the game when Watson was in it.
Marc Vandermeer, Voice of the Houston Texans
Nomination: Carlos Hyde's seven-yard run vs Jags
We all know Watson's 20-yarder in the playoff game is the winner so I went in another direction. And when you read that this was a seven-yard run for a first down in the second quarter of a regular season game you might think it was no big deal. But it was. Deshaun Watson was about to be sacked and spotted Hyde for an over-arm lateral. He actually shouted out "Los!" to make sure Hyde was ready for the opportunity. Hyde caught the ball and ran for a memorable first down, a key cog in a big touchdown drive.
Drew Dougherty, Texans TV Host
Nomination: Air Watson in London
Deepi took the obvious winner, and Vandermeer nabbed my second choice, so I'll go with an iconic play that didn't result in points.
In trash time, with Houston on top of the Jaguars 19-3 in London, the Texans were knocking on the door with a 1st-and-Goal.
Deshaun Watson scrambled to his right, leaped in the air towards to pylon, and was juuuuuuuuust shy of the goal line. It looked like a score to me, Watson agreed, but the officials ruled him down inside the 1. He found DeAndre Hopkins for a short scoring pass on the next play, but his leap looked like Michael Jordan in mid-flight. His college coach Dabo Swinney famously compared Watson to Jordan in the pre-draft process back in 2017, so it was fun seeing #4 pull a #23 type of move in a game.
John Harris, Texans Analyst and Sideline Reporter
Nomination: Taiwan Jones' big play in the AFC Wild Card game
Sometimes the best run is one made after a catch and that's my submission for the best run in 2019 - Taiwan Jones run after the catch in the playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. The play will be remembered forever yet most will point to, rightly so, Deshaun Watson's escape from a three-man car crash that he survived. But, Jones' 4.3 speed was the most valuable aspect to that play when he darted to the middle after the catch and then made a mad dash for the South end zone. As he sprinted up the field, I kept yelling his name as if I was reminding everyone in the building who just made that play. I love seeing players that don't normally get a chance to make plays make HISTORIC plays as Taiwan did that day.
Up next: Best Defensive Play of 2019
