DeAndre Hopkins looked all right for most of the first half in Minnesota. Then T.J. Yates put a ball up high for Hopkins to go grab — and the Houston Texans rookie wide receiver showed why the coaches think he can be great.
Vikings cornerback Bobby Felder thought he had Hopkins covered on the play. But as the NFL's learning, looks can be deceiving when it comes to Hopkins.
For when Yates threw the ball up high in the end zone on a third-and-8 from Minnesota's 34-yard line, the 6-foot-1 Hopkins simply jumped over Felder and plucked the ball out of the air with his giant 3 XL hands. Hopkins held onto the ball as he hit the Metrodome turf, showing the concentration to complete the catch before letting the ball pop out.
As the NFL's learning, looks can be deceiving when it comes to Hopkins.
Touchdown — and more Texans hope. The most remarkable thing about the play? Felder is listed at 5-foot-11, but Hopkins made the difference seem like much more than two inches on the jump ball.
The night would end with the Texans winning 27-13, but that wasn't as important as The Play. Preseason games are about performances not final scores.
When Hopkins grabbed the touchdown, his veteran, non-playing teammates J.J. Watt and Brian Cushing rushed down the sideline to greet him. It's good to have another difference maker.
Hopkins would finish with four catches for 52 yards, with the first three grabs coming on short outs. On the fourth, he flashed his supersized talent.
"He basically did the game what he's been doing all training camp," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said of Hopkins in his halftime TV interview.
This Hopkins burst of jump ball brilliance is probably what Texans fans wanted to see most in this Friday night preseason opener. Unfortunately because of KTRK Ch. 13's horrific broadcast, it turned out to be one of the only things they really saw.
KTRK essentially turned the TV broadcast into a radio broadcast. And not a very good radio broadcast at that.
For almost right after Hopkins' touchdown catch, KTRK started losing its picture. The technical difficulties lasted well into the third quarter. Sometimes the picture was a jumbled mess of pixels and a few slivers of the game. Other times KTRK simply put up a "Technical Difficulties" filler frame, essentially turning the TV broadcast into a radio broadcast. And not a very good radio broadcast at that.
One rightly expects more from the ABC station in the fourth-largest city in America.
KTRK's broadcast tormented fans, coming back for a few plays only to fizz out again. Again and again. As if listening to Spencer Tillman declare every third and fourth-string player a key to the season isn't punishment enough?
KTRK is blaming the glitches on a faulty component in an uplink truck, which stopped their signal from reaching the satellite.
The bad picture won't be the lasting image from this game though. No, that will be DeAndre Hopkins going up high and plucking a touchdown out of the air. Some things even outshine a farce.
DeAndre Hopkins impressive training camp carried over to the preseason opener in Minnesota.
