C.J.

Stroud

Stroud said after the Texans’ Divisional Round loss to the Patriots that “there are no excuses” for throwing four interceptions on 47 attempts against New England, but that he was still getting comfortable in an offensive scheme installed by first-year offensive coordinator Nick Caley. Stroud in 2025 completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 3,041 yards and 19 touchdowns with eight interceptions, improving in most categories after a letdown of a 2024 season following his outstanding 2023 rookie campaign. The Texans will have to make a decision on Stroud’s fifth-year contract option by May 1, and head coach DeMeco Ryans said after the team’s postseason loss that he would not discuss the team’s plans for Stroud, who turns 25 in October.

It is just a day after the Texans’ season ended, so it’s an unsurprising non-answer. It’s still noteworthy that the answer wasn’t exactly an affirmative, no-questions-asked, yes. “There is a lot of negative talk right now and he understands that,” Ryans said in an answer about how his message to Stroud is to block out the noise. Stroud’s catastrophic playoff performance will likely leave him getting his fifth-year option picked up this offseason, but neither Stroud nor the Texans should exactly be giddy about negotiating off his 2025 season. We’d be surprised if a long-term extension was coming before the conclusion of 2026 — if it comes at all.

About the only good news was that Stroud managed to avoid any fumbles in one of the worst fiasco performances in recent playoff memory. Missing Nico Collins (concussion) and without Dalton Schultz after a first quarter calf injury, Stroud seemed incapable of delivering a clean ball in adverse New England weather conditions. Almost literally every attempt was inaccurate, with Stroud’s picks being of the “hard-earned” variety rather than hard luck. It was a confidence- and potentially franchise-shaking performance as the Texans mull Stroud’s fifth-year team option for 2027. It will undoubtedly be exercised, but an extension is probably out of the question at this point after Stroud closed the book on his postseason with seven turnovers in eight quarters. Stroud is capable of deep touchdown strikes, but too often loses his mechanics and looks as if he is throwing literal darts over the middle of the field. Heading into his age-25 campaign, Stroud is a player more on the spot than ever.

The final score does not tell the full story for Stroud in this one as the veteran signal caller put the ball on the ground a ridiculous five times, losing two of them, in addition to his interception in the red zone. The three turnovers kept the Steelers in the game, with the Texans nursing a 7-6 lead into the fourth quarter before their defense broke open the dam with two defensive scores in the final frame. To his credit, Stroud did manage to lead the team down the field without alpha wide receiver Nico Collins to ice the game late, although the Pittsburgh defense was completely gassed at that point in the game. Stroud will assuredly need to play better football if the Texans want to avoid being sent packing when they square off against the Patriots in Foxboro in the Divisional Round next weekend, a game he could be forced to play without Collins considering he immediately entered the concussion protocol late Monday.

Stroud was benched at halftime as the Texans chose not to further pursue the AFC South with the Jaguars up 31-7 over the Titans. He’ll be Houston’s starting quarterback in the Wild Card round. He finishes the regular season with just over 3,000 passing yards in 14 starts and a 19/8 touchdown-to-interception ratio. The Texans led 23-17 at halftime when Stroud departed.

The report was relayed via Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, wherein Ryans states, “we still have an opportunity to win our division. That’s always the goal each and every year - to win the division. We know we need help from the Titans to be able to do that, so we’re going and playing our guys.” The Texans remain in the hunt for the AFC South Division title but need a win over the Colts and for the Titans to beat the Jaguars. As things currently stand, it sounds as if it will be hands on deck as the Texans look to do their part in that equation.

Stroud scored his first touchdown of the day on the Texans’ opening drive, taking advantage of the clean pocket provided to him by his blockers by connecting with rookie WR Jayden Higgins for a 75-yard post-route touchdown. Stroud again took advantage of the Chargers’ preoccupied safeties, this time standing tall in the pocket as two pass rushers hurdled toward him, by connecting with rookie WR Jaylin Noel for a 43-yard post-route touchdown. Stroud nearly connected with Noel for a 26-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, but he was hit by a pass rusher mid-throw, resulting in a badly underthrown pass. The win earns the Texans (11-5) a playoff spot, though the AFC South standings have not yet been finalized, with the Jaguars (11-4) sitting in first. Stroud is a back-end QB1 against the Colts next week.

The Texans started off slow in this one, with just six offensive points in the first half while Stroud was off-target and late on a number of throws, particularly while throwing to the sideline. They managed to get things together enough to hold off the Raiders, and Stroud went 13-of-15 for 105 yards and his touchdown in the second half, but this was not particularly sharp football. Stroud will snap back to the QB2 line in Week 17 in a Saturday playoff rematch against the Chargers.

The Texans did not punt until the fourth quarter. Stroud put a bullet on Nico Collins for a score on Houston’s opening possession over the middle, and the Texans never looked back. Stroud would later add an improvisational touchdown to Dalton Schultz and a third score to Collins to put the game out of reach after Arizona mounted a second-half comeback. The Texans will be handed a home game against the Raiders in Week 16, and with Stroud’s current form, he’s a viable-if-unexciting borderline QB1 in that one.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Texans found a way to down the Chiefs to improve to 8-5, now clinging to the final playoff spot in the AFC. Stroud did well to avoid mounting pressure in the first half as he made numerous key throws in high leverage situations to keep the Texans afloat, the most impressive of which was a 53-yard completion to alpha wide receiver Nico Collins in the second quarter which led to the only touchdown of the first half. He would then toss nine straight incompletions after the break, the most to that point in the season throughout the NFL - the most until that point because Patrick Mahomes would go 10 straight passes without a completion later in the game. The Houston defense took over from there, sealing the victory with a turnover on downs and interception on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter. Stroud and the Texans now await the reeling Cardinals in Week 15 as they fight for their playoff lives.