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    J.J. Watt's New Nickname

    J.J. Watt gets a ridiculous new nickname as Clowney injury ups the pressure and makes Swagg vital

    Chris Baldwin
    Sep 8, 2014 | 5:54 am

    D.J. Swearinger does everything all out — with a passion that can make an evangelical preacher look tame by comparison. The second-year Houston Texans safety just doesn't know when to stop.

    Which is something that obviously pleases Bill O'Brien. The Texans' rookie NFL head coach has embraced the Swagg as Swearinger himself would call it. And it's already looking like a brilliant unexpected move from a seemingly close-to-the-vest coach.

    For Swearinger's all over O'Brien's first career win — a 17-6 defensive suffocation of RGIII and the Washington Redskins. He's flying in for a first quarter sack, revving up a record season opening crowd. He's seemingly coming from all angles in Romeo Crennel's ever-shifting defense. He's making both the big mistake and the big play in one sequence. He's even hitting J.J. Watt, his other-worldly teammate, with a new nickname.

    All in a single afternoon. No, it sure doesn't stink to be Swagg.

    "J.J. is The Hundred Mil, so he's supposed to do that."

    "Six points?!" Swearinger half says, half boasts. "Six points, if we do that every game it's going to be hard to beat us."

    Swearinger needs to be consistently crazily brilliant in his own bizarre way for the Texans to keep this promise going. Game One of the O'Brien era sees Houston put on its most impressive defensive effort since late in the 2011 season. That season — which ended with a defensive January masterpiece in Baltimore undone by Jacoby Jones' boneheaded blunder and T.J. Yates' forced interceptions — is the last time the Texans truly scared teams as a complete defensive unit.

    J.J. Watt himself mostly just frightened teams with individual thunder on an otherwise flawed, overrated defense prone to giving up some big point totals in 2012.

    But now, the Texans suddenly look like more than just Watt on defense. Suddenly, Watt finds himself surrounded by a lot of havoc-making sidekicks. Make no mistake, J.J. Watt is still the single biggest reason Houston has a winning NFL team for the first time in 358 days. The new $100 Million Man goes Full Mega Watt with a sack, a critical blocked extra point, two tackles in Washington's backfield, a batted down pass, a fumble recovery and five hits on Robert Griffin III.

    In one play, Watt loses his helmet — and still makes a tackle in the backfield.

    Watt might as well have stolen all the iPads containing Washington's gameplan too — for all the good new Redskins coach Jay Gruden's schemes do when faced with No. 99. Watt probably made Gruden wish he followed his more famous brother into TV rather than coaching.

    "He's the man," Swearinger says of his teammate. "He just got the hundred mil. He got it for a reason, you can see that . . .

    "J.J. is The Hundred Mil, so he's supposed to do that."

    The Hundred Mil. It's doubtful Watt himself will be thrilled with the new nickname Swearinger's bestowed on him, but he sure appreciates the help.

    More than J.J. Watt Now

    For it's not just Swearinger. Brooks Reed — yes, the oft forgotten Brooks Reed — spends huge chunks of the afternoon in Washington's backfield. Reed is flying all over the field. It's not his best game ever as some reporters will suggest to Reed afterwards, which causes the ever-polite linebacker to only softly demur with, "I don't know. I have to go look at the tape." (Look back at Reed's two-game 2011 rookie playoff run, he was pretty special then, if Watt overshadowed.)

    Still, it is Reed's best game in a long time.

    Game One of the O'Brien era sees Houston put on its most impressive defensive effort since late in the 2011 season.

    It's also cornerback Johnathan Joseph's best afternoon in ages. Joseph suddenly looks a true shutdown corner again, holding big-play monster DeSean Jackson to a very small 62 yards on eight catches. Joseph finally seems healthy and ultra motivated.

    The play of Swearinger, Reed and Joseph is actually more encouraging — and telling — than Watt's superhuman numbers. For Watt's a given. What he needs is a team around him. Especially with No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney now out for almost half his rookie year with a knee tear.

    Even missing Clowney, Watt's team is going to be completely dependent on the D. Despite Arian Foster's typical brilliance — 120 total yards on 29 touches, looking like the best offensive player on the field again — and second-year receiver DeAndre Hopkins' big play moment, O'Brien's first Texans team will live and die on defense.

    Which is fine with Swearinger, who's liable to do both on the same play.

    That's what happens when Swagg gets embarrassingly beat badly by third-string tight end Niles Paul for a 48-yard gain. Swearinger may be done, but he's anything but out. For he chases Paul down, all the way up the field, and strips the football from him for a fumble that safety Kendrick Lewis recovers for the Texans.

    There's all-out effort. And then, there's what Swearinger does on this play. This is why such a happily anal Bill Belichick disciple like O'Brien cannot help but love the trash-talking ball of fire.

    Watt may as well have stolen the iPads with Washington's gameplan too — for all the good Gruden's schemes do when faced with No. 99.

    "He wasn't supposed to catch that ball from the beginning," Swearinger says, almost chastising himself again at his locker. "It was my bad on the coverage. But we had to finish."

    Few finish like Swagg. Who else could get away with not only The 100 Hundred Mil tag, but also yelling at Watt for doing one of his patented swats?

    "J.J. knocked down a pass I was going to intercept," Swearinger says, all serious. "I let him know about that."

    Watt may not exactly know what to make of D.J. Swearinger. Few players in the NFL do. Certainly not Falcons all-pro wideout Roddy White who is likely still not over the barking Swearinger did on Hard Knocks. Assuredly not Peyton Manning who Swearinger made lose his legendary cool — and his damn mind — in that preseason game.

    But Watt knows he needs a few crazies with him. Clowney's already down, but this defense cannot afford to be. Not even for a quarter.

    "Defense is all a mindset," veteran nose tackle and Crennel devotee Jerrell Powe tells me in a quiet moment in the locker room. "We've got that relentless mindset. That's what we're working on. That's what you saw out there today."

    Doesn't know how to stop? It turns out this is one place where D.J. Swearinger fits right in.

    Brooks Reed didn't play his best game ever in the Texans' win over the Washington Redskins. But it was his best game in years/

    Texans Skins gang tackle
      
    Photo by Michelle Watson/CultureMapSnap
    Brooks Reed didn't play his best game ever in the Texans' win over the Washington Redskins. But it was his best game in years/
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    J.J. Watt Dance Master

    J.J. Watt's supporting cast needs to be shown the money now: Keeping Case Keenum at QB key to retaining rightful MVP's help

    Chris Baldwin
    Dec 28, 2014 | 11:52 pm
    J.J. Watt's supporting cast needs to be shown the money now: Keeping Case Keenum at QB key to retaining rightful MVP's help
    Photo by Michelle Watson/CultureMapSnap
    J.J. Watt spent most of the Houston Texans' season-ending win over the Jaguars dancing.

    J.J. Watt breaks into a shimmy, rolling his hips like he never could in that omnipresent Verizon commercial. The most dominant defensive football player of this generation is forever dancing in the Houston Texans last game of the season.

    It's almost like Watt's determined to prove to everyone that he really can dance — while winning the NFL MVP.

    When you're this good, why not multi-task? So Watt breaks into dance after his first sack, after his second sack and after the safety that accounts for his third. He shimmies after nearly every time that "Turn Down For What" — or "Turn Down For Watt" in Texans land — song blares over the NRG Stadium sound system. Which seemingly happens after almost every defensive play on this rollicking Sunday Funday.

    Watt's day ends with those three sacks (making him the first player in NFL history to record two separate 20-sack seasons), a forced fumble, a safety, six tackles and a 23-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. It doesn't add up to a playoff berth for Bill O'Brien's great first-year turnaround story, but that should hardly deny Watt his rightful league MVP.

    "I love this team, love this city. I have a lot of friends here. And I almost feel like we're finally here (as a team). It'd be sad to leave."

    MVP voters who won't vote for Watt now because of no playoffs are essentially saying their decision hinged on whether the Baltimore Ravens would choke enough to completely blow a playoff berth. How does that make sense?

    No, Justin James Watt is the 2014 NFL MVP. He earns it by getting the most out of his freakish athletic ability on every single play.

    "I’m trying to make sure they get their money’s worth and our fans get their money’s worth because they deserve that," Watt says. "I was a kid once. I grew up watching a team, I know what it’s like.

    "You want to be that superstar that every average Joe would be if he was a superstar."

    Watt is that worthy $100 Million Superstar, but even a supernova needs some support. And that's why O'Brien's team finds itself at a critical telling point. Watt played at a superhuman level all season. But the Texans truly took off when the rest of the defense caught on, giving defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel the confidence to unleash his full array of disguised coverages and fronts. Over the last month of the season, the Texans arguably played the third best defense in the entire NFL, behind only the defending champion Seahawks and maybe the Rams.

    Now a huge chunk of that defense — six of the 11 starters — are up for free agency and another vital piece (cornerback Johnathan Joseph) could be facing the kind of pay cut scenario that everyone else is trying to force onto Andre Johnson. Watt's great, but he needs many of these guys for the Texans to go anywhere in the future.

    This Texans defense can be great. If its key pieces are kept together.

    "This is something we can look at and build on," safety Kendrick Lewis says after the Texans play lights-out defense for the third straight week. "We have to pick up where we left off. I believe in the defense that we have here, the type of attitude that we have.

    "It is like blood in the water. We want a taste for more."

    Kareem Jackson's Future Keys All

    Cornerback Kareem Jackson is the No. 1 must sign by far, but the Texans would be wise to re-sign Lewis, nose tackle Ryan Pickett (a perfect veteran fit for Crennel's defense) and linebacker Brooks Reed who has been a consistent playmaker for weeks now as well.

    "Of course," Reed responds when asks if he wants to return. "I love this team, love this city. I have a lot of friends here. And I almost feel like we're finally here (as a team). It'd be sad to leave."

    The most disruptive force in football will be one lonely $100 Million Man, if Houston doesn't retain much of this company.

    Desire doesn't necessarily equal reality in the hard-line NFL though. If O'Brien gave Case Keenum a real chance at quarterback, the Texans would have more money to bring back more of their defensive core — and add more important pieces. But it'd be a stretch to expect this coach to think that way.

    It'd be a shame to see this emerging defense disbanded though. Watt & Friends aren't just making Blake Bortles — an offensively challenged rookie who likely would have been the Texans quarterback if Jadeveon Clowney wasn't in the draft — look lost. They flummoxed Andrew Luck and Joe Flacco in back-to-back weeks too.

    "Our defensive kind of changed late in the year," Reed says. "We ran a lot more disguises, made it hard for quarterbacks to see what coverages we were in. It's allowed a bunch of guys to make plays."

    Watt is not the only making them now — the way he was during that 2-14 nightmare last season. Jared Crick — the third-year defensive end who is under his rookie contract for another season — sacks Bortles, drops a running back for another loss and knocks down a pass against Jacksonville. Reed runs sideline to sideline, tracking running backs with his long hair flapping behind his helmet. Jackson . . . well, the once-mocked Jackson just changes everything for these Texans.

    The most disruptive force in football will be one lonely $100 Million Man, if Houston doesn't retain much of this company.

    "I’d definitely love to be back," Jackson says. "At the end of the day, I understand the business side of it. For me, I just have to sit back and just see what happens."

    This Texans defense has come too far to lose key pieces and essentially be left needing to start over learning Crennel's complex schemes in training camp. Watt's the MVP that everything centers around, but he cannot be Bob McNair's only big defensive buy this football year.

    There's a solution staring the Texans in the face: Give Case Keenum the chance to be the effective, low-cost winning starting quarterback. Develop a passer with tons of potential and keep the supporting stars on the other side of the football.

    "We have a chance to be a really explosive defense," Joseph says.

    Only if they're not torn apart. Even a shimmy-happy MVP cannot do it all by his lonesome.

    J.J. Watt spent most of the Houston Texans' season-ending win over the Jaguars dancing.

    J.J. Watt Texans dance Jags
      
    Photo by Michelle Watson/CultureMapSnap
    J.J. Watt spent most of the Houston Texans' season-ending win over the Jaguars dancing.
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