In Christian Watson‘s last game against the Chicago Bears, he tore his ACL before catching a pass. On Sunday, the script was flipped from that Week 18 disaster last season.
Watson’s speed was the difference in the Green Bay Packers’ 28-21 Week 14 win over their rivals. The fourth-year pro repeatedly burned the Bears’ secondary, housing two long touchdowns on pivotal third downs.
“It means a lot to me for sure. Honestly, I tried not to think about it that much, but as the game was kind of getting going, it was definitely creeping in my mind a little bit,” Watson said of last season’s injury, via Dominique Yates of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I’m just so thankful and blessed to be able to do what I do, and I’m glad today panned out how it did.”
Watson’s biggest play came deep into the third quarter after the Bears cut an 11-point deficit to three. Facing a third-and-3 at the Chicago 41, Jordan Love read the all-out blitz and checked into a slant to Watson. The speedster won off the line, snagged the perfect pass in stride and ran away from C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Watson’s speed broke the angle of safety Kevin Byard trying to catch up.
“As soon as I saw Jordan make the check, honestly, I’d like to say I knew it was going to be a touchdown,” Watson said. “Anytime you get man coverage, that’s the mentality that we should have.”
Watson led the Packers with 89 yards on four receptions with two touchdowns.