C.J. Stroud has been in the playoffs and won a game each of his first two seasons. In year three, after a slow start, he looks to lead the hottest team in the league to a deep playoff run.
C.J Stroud is back in the playoffs again. Still in the record books as the youngest quarterback to ever win a playoff game, Stroud has lost in the divisional round to MVPs in Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson the last two years. But this year neither of the two are playing in the postseason and the Texans are coming in with some serious momentum and a ferocious defense to support their signal-caller.
While no one would say an 0-3 start to a season is an advantage, the resilience the team has shown in righting the ship and the hot-streak they had to go on for the playoffs to ever be a possibility might have meant a lot to the team’s playoff chances. While others are getting used to the one-and-done nature of the playoffs, the Texans have been in elimination mode almost the entire year.
Not only has Stroud gotten off to a great start in his playoff career, he’s trending to get better every postseason run as well. Passer rating went from 92.7 to 109.3, TD% went form 1.6 to 5.6 and touchdown-interception ratio went from 1-1 to 3-0.
He passed for more yards per game and a higher completion percentage in his first playoff run so that’s experience he can lean on as well should he be forced to air it out.
The key to the Texans success this postseason is Stroud playing mistake-free football. If he can manage the game just enough with the occasional big play to take the top off the defense, the Texans might be the last team standing in February.
Even with games missed due to injury this year, C.J Stroud posted a respectable 3000+ yards, 19 touchdowns, and a 92.9 passer rating. He’s showed splash plays and downfield passing potential throughout the course of his young career, he just needs to get a hot hand in January and the Texans need to ride it to a Super Bowl appearance and win.
With unproven running backs, the onus is on Stroud to do the heavy lifting at least on offense. With a defense full of heavy lifters and a legendary defensive player as a head coach, that side of the field should be on lock. Stroud has to be good enough and not throw the ball away. He’s got the potential to do that and a lot more, as we saw his first two playoff runs.