By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com
DeAndre Hopkins wasn’t completely shut down against the Patriots, but he had at best a minor impact on the Texans’ 28-22 win on Sunday. He decided to chirp Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore anyway.
It feels strongly like Hopkins was going to tweet this regardless of his numbers, as long as Gilmore didn’t wipe him off the face of the planet like he did to Cowboys wideout Amari Cooper. So apparently, five catches on eight targets for 64 largely inconsequential yards was enough to try to roast Gilmore with this photo and caption:
..????”when you see 10 double him” pic.twitter.com/R7hme5pXP5
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) December 3, 2019
This is gaslighting. And most Texans fans probably just accepted it and will regurgitate it in bar arguments. But the truth is the Patriots only doubled Hopkins on two out of his 47 snaps in the game. So Gilmore, in his typical silent assassin form, lets Twitter know about it with a quick little clap-back.
Bro was doubled on only 2 snaps all game and wants to be loud lol
— The Gilly Lock (@BumpNrunGilm0re) December 3, 2019
The way Gilmore has played this season, five catches for 64 yards is actually a pretty good game against him by that standard. Hopkins does deserve credit for making two big catches on a Texans’ fourth-quarter drive, one of which came on third down. The drive eventually led to Hopkins’ trick-play toss to Watson for a touchdown that kept the surging Patriots at bay.
But that was absolutely not a game where Hopkins had a right to posterize Gilmore on Twitter. Based on catch total, he had his worst game of the season. It took him flinging a pass on a trick play to find the end zone. So Hopkins needs to settle down. All this does is set the stage for Gilmore to get his #revenge (if he even has to) if these teams meet again in January.
Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at matthew.dolloff@bbgi.com.