HOUSTON – Houston Texans defensive star J.J. Watt was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, the NFL announced Thursday.
It is the fifth time in Watt's career he has won the award while no other player in franchise history has won it more than twice.
Watt recorded an NFL-best 7.5 sacks, 26 quarterback hits and nine tackles for loss in the month, along with one forced fumble and 20 total tackles (16 solo), helping lead the Texans to a 4-0 record.
Watt had three games with 2.0-or-more sacks in November, giving him an NFL-best five games with multiple sacks this season and 20 in his career, which is the second-most by any player in his first five seasons in NFL history (Reggie White).
In Week 8 against Tennessee, Watt set a single-game career-high with 10 quarterback hits, to go along with 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble. In Week 11 against the Jets, Watt led the team with eight solo tackles, including five for loss, six quarterback hits, and 2.0 sacks. He was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Watt finished off the month recording 2.0 sacks and eight quarterback hits against the Saints in Week 12.
During November, Watt became the second-fastest player in NFL history to reach 70.0 career sacks (Reggie White, 57 games) and passed Derrick Thomas (66.0) for the second-most career sacks in a player's first five seasons in NFL history.
Watt has an NFL-best 70.5 sacks, 201 quarterback hits, and 126 tackles for loss since entering the league in 2011. Additionally, Watt has now recorded a sack in five straight games, tied for the third-longest streak in Texans history and tied for the longest active streak in the NFL.
Watt led a defense that was the best in the NFL in November. For the month, the Texans defense ranked number one in the NFL in points allowed per game (8.8), net yards allowed per game (250.5), net passing yards allowed per game (180.5), and second in rushing yards allowed per game (70.0). They also did not allow a touchdown in three of their four games in November.
For the season, Watt has an NFL-best 13.5 sacks, 42 quarterback hits, and 23 tackles for loss. This is his fourth straight season with 10.0-or-more sacks, which is the longest active streak in the NFL. He became the first Texan with four seasons (2012-15) of 10.0-or-more sacks in his career as no other player in franchise history has three. This is also his fourth straight season with 40-or-more quarterback hits and his last four seasons are currently the top four single-season quarterback hit totals since the NFL began tracking the stat in 2006.
Through the first 11 games this season, Watt has recorded more tackles, sacks, quarterback hits, and tackles for loss than he did through the first 11 games in 2014, when he was named the first unanimous Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year in NFL history. Watt's 7.5 sacks are the most in November by any player in franchise history and the most by any player in the NFL in the month since 2012 (Aldon Smith, 9.0).
