The ReMatch
Andy Dalton swears he's not afraid of J.J. Watt, not haunted by The Swat TD
J.J. Watt didn't just steal a pass from Andy Dalton — he stole the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback's mojo. In front of 71,725 roaring witnesses.
Watt's you-had-to-replay-it-to-believe-it, swat-and-grab interception of a Dalton pass turned a 10-10 tense playoff game on its ear, sending the Houston Texans to a 17-10 lead, rolling toward a 31-10 romp.
It's probably the greatest single play in the Texans' 10-year history. It essentially started the legend of J.J. Watt, propelled him to becoming a Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio level beloved figure in H-Town. And Dalton insists it does not haunt him one bit.
Dalton calls the play "unfortunate," insists it didn't faze him even then. "It didn’t affect the way I played."
In fact, as he's set to return to the scene of Watt's theft for a first round playoff rematch a year later, the Katy Kid still talks like it really wasn't a bad pass.
"It was just a good play on his part," Dalton said Tuesday morning in a call with three Houston reporters, including CultureMap. "If he didn’t touch it, I complete the pass."
And if Mona Lisa's smile was more ordinary . . .
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis holds no illusions about how much the Swat Pick-6 meant.
"Obviously, at that point in the game it’s a close football game," Lewis said Tuesday. "We’re moving the football productively and we have a chance for points before halftime. He turns it around and it becomes a seven point or more swing the other way. It’s kind of a big dagger for us.
"We never really overcame it. He’s done that a lot."
Enough that Lewis is joking about asking the league for a special dispensation from the NFL to combat No. 99.
"I wrote a letter to the commissioner to petition for 13 (players on offense), Lewis said. "I figure if we put a guy on each side of him and put a guy in front of him, we got a good opportunity.”
It's a great sound bite. And that type of Watt Special point shifter is exactly what a reeling 12-4 Texans team could need to get back on track and end the Bengals' season for the second straight January. But one gets the idea that the Bengals, Dalton in particular, still think Watt's swat touchdown is something of a fluke.
Something that is unlikely to happen again.
"There is nothing Andy can learn from that (play) other than that you want to make sure your release point is where it belongs all the time and, if you can, find the open lane," Lewis said.
Dalton calls the play "unfortunate," insists it didn't faze him even then. "It didn’t affect the way I played," Dalton said. "He just made a good play.”
The 25-year-old Dalton clearly believes he's more prepared to handle the chaos and noise of a playoff-buzzing Reliant Stadium this time. "“We know what the atmosphere is going to be like," he said. "We obviously fell short last year, but I think we’ve got a lot of guys that experienced all that.
Lewis is joking about asking the league for a special dispensation from the NFL to combat No. 99.
"I don’t think there will be too many surprises for us going into it."
Thirty eight current Bengals were on the team that fell to The Swat last January. It's still a big deal for Dalton, who starred at Katy High School, to be playing in Houston. But it's not quite as overwhelming a prospect.
"I’m sure last year there was a little bit more nerves and it was tough," Lewis said. "I talked to his parents last weekend and obviously (the playoff game in Houston) was a huge weekend for him.
"Now he’s been there and done that."
And experienced The Swat. Not that it bothers him. Not that he even thinks about it.
Of course not.
