120 is a unique number.
It's the height, in inches, of regulation NBA hoop.
U.S. Army mortar shells are often 120 millimeters in diameter.
120 is China's equivalent of 9-1-1, if you're having a medical emergency.
J.J. Watt can dunk a basketball, and there may have been a few offensive linemen who yelled "Incoming!" when Watt rumbled toward the QB. He also caused medical problems for a few offensive players, though none were Chinese.
But today at the NFL Annual Meetings, Texans head coach Bill O'Brien shared with the media some of his mathematical research on the season that was 2014 for Watt and the Texans.
"Out of all the plays that he played, I had 120 plays that were either a TFL, a quarterback hit, a quarterback sack, a batted ball, an interception, a fumble recovery, a caused fumble," O'Brien said. "On 120 plays, he did one of those seven things."
The Texans defense was on the field for 1,077 plays in 2014. That means on 8.9 percent of the Texans' defensive plays last season, Watt did one of those seven impactful things. Or more roughly speaking, once out of every 10 plays he caused a major disruption.
But in O'Brien's opinion, the best might be ahead for Watt and the Texans.
"Now, he's out there in Wisconsin or wherever he's at working out, and he's trying to get better," O'Brien said. "He knows that he has no limit. His ability to come back and be an even better player, which probably sounds crazy to some people, it's not crazy to us in Houston. We can't wait to see him when he comes back."
But back to the number 120.
If Watt lives up to O'Brien's, and no doubt his very own, expectations, there's likely to be a lot of laughing out loud on the Texans' sidelines next autumn.
