Against the Bears on a Sunday night in week of 2024, Nico Collins was purposely poked in the face on the final play of the first quarter by Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson. Naturally, Collins responded to get Stevenson's fingers out of his face. Unfortunately, the refs only saw Collins and threw a 15-yard penalty on Nico. I watched him throughout that entire quarter break time out and I could see him patting his shoulder pads as if to say "my bad!"
Then, the magic of Nico Collins surfaced on the first of the second quarter. Stevenson, now in coverage, inadvertently struck Nico in the face on his release, but Collins shrugged it off as he ran a slant route to the middle. He snared the catch and then with all of that "I'm going to make up for that mistake" spirit ran through what appeared to be the entire Bears defense for the only Texans TD that night.
EVERY. SINGLE. DEFENDER.
That was just one of the tremendous moments that stood out about Collins' 2024 season. It started in week one as he returned to Lucas Oil Stadium, registering six catches for 117 yards. Then, he was Sunday Night Football's Player of the Game against the Bears in that week two game, catching eight for 135 yards and that aforementioned touchdown. After a 12 catch/151 yard/one TD performance against Jacksonville in week four, he led the league in receiving yards. He would do so for the next couple of weeks, even though he only played one quarter of football in those next few weeks after getting injured against Buffalo. He earned his first Pro Bowl honor and went over a thousand yards receiving for the second consecutive season.
And, he's only getting started, just don't make him mad, if you know what's good for you.
