In a deflating Thursday night primetime showdown, rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans suffered a 21-13 loss to the New York Jets that left the young signal caller searching for answers. Stroud, who was sacked a career-high 8 times and hit on nearly half of his dropbacks, didn’t mince words in assessing his team’s performance.
“To come out here on a prime-time game and get embarrassed, that is never fun,” Stroud said bluntly. “We have to be better in a lot of areas, and it starts with me.”
The 21-year-old, who has shown flashes of brilliance in his debut campaign, shouldered much of the blame for the offense’s struggles. “There’s plays I gotta make, throws I gotta make,” he admitted. “I point the finger at me and realize I gotta be better as a football player. If we want to win, this is not the recipe for it.”
Pass Protection Woes Plague Texans
While Stroud was quick to take responsibility, it was clear that Houston’s porous offensive line played a major role in the team’s offensive woes. The Jets’ relentless pass rush had Stroud running for his life on nearly every dropback, with the pressure getting home in an average of just 2.87 seconds according to Next Gen Stats.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans, who has preached the importance of pass protection all season, was visibly frustrated after the game. “We give up eight sacks, and every drop-back and pass situation looks like we’re in scramble mode, so it’s just not good enough,” Ryans lamented. “We can’t operate on time, and we gotta get that fixed.”
Self-Inflicted Wounds Compound Issues
Stroud, to his credit, acknowledged that some of the offense’s issues were self-inflicted. “One thing I can do is just get the ball out faster,” he noted. “When something’s open, I got to be able to hit it, because there’s times where I sit back there and I’m thinking too much.”
The rookie’s time to throw was a career-high 3.63 seconds against the Jets, a number that reflects both the constant duress he was under and his own indecisiveness at times. For the Texans to get back on track, Stroud will need to speed up his processing while the offensive line works to shore up its protection.
Ground Game Provides Silver Lining
If there was one bright spot for the Texans’ offense, it was the continued success of the run game. Led by veteran back Joe Mixon’s 106 yards, Houston racked up 187 rushing yards on the night, marking the third time this season they’ve eclipsed the 180-yard mark on the ground.
While the running game’s effectiveness is encouraging, the Texans know they’ll need a more balanced attack to consistently compete in the NFL. With a Sunday night matchup against the high-powered Detroit Lions looming, Stroud and company will need to quickly regroup and find answers to their pass protection woes.
“This is definitely a great wake-up call for us to tighten up the ship,” Stroud said, striking a determined tone. For the sake of the Texans’ season, they’ll need to heed that wake-up call sooner rather than later.
