We need to talk about Kevin C.J.
It has happened again.
The Houston Texans season ended, as it has in years past, in the divisional round against a team that they have never beaten in the playoffs, the New England Patriots.
The game began poorly after Calen Bullock slipped on the turf, slick with water and snow, allowing a touchdown to put the Patriots up 7-0.
The Texans would respond the way they know best: with a field goal.
The wheels then completely fell off as C.J. Stroud had what can only be called the worst game of his professional career. He threw 20/44 for 212 yards with one touchdown and FOUR(!) interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
The loss marks the seventh time the Texans have reached the divisional round without a win. But the loss itself might be the least troubling part of the afternoon.
We’ve reached the point where we have to have the “We have to talk about Kevin” talk. This happens after a game where one player or coach has a game where the wheels completely come off. This time, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, we have to talk about C.J. Stroud.
Looking back at his rookie season, he looked unstoppable. In the years following his unbridled success, he has looked more than stoppable. But today the person stopping C.J. Stroud most was C.J. Stroud himself. He made throws that you do not make in good conscience. You do not make those throws unless you are seeing ghosts, or are rattled to the point of incomprehensible (in a “what was that” sense).
There is clearly something wrong here. Something that can only call into doubt whether C.J. Stroud is the future for the Houston Texans. If he is, then this is a blip in the road and he’ll come back better next year. If it’s not, then the Texans are in a weird and highly unenviable place where the defense will keep the team too good to tank, but will struggle to get a high draft pick where the better quarterbacks historically come from.
There can be no doubt, however, that given today’s game, C.J. Stroud absolutely should not get his fifth year extension. He has shown little in the last two years to show he deserves it. He has played like someone who was far above his head in his rookie year and has come crashing down to Earth since.
The question that remains, and it’s one that will be argued about forever, is whether Davis Mills would have made a difference between winning and losing that game. Personally? I don’t think Davis Mills was going to be the difference, given his struggles to complete passes in regular season games. But Stroud showed no reason to give him the second half. But BUT(!) if you do pull him in that situation do you stunt whatever chance for growth he has?
See? I’m only just throwing it out there and I’m already arguing with myself.
This result can only be seen as a setback for a team with Super Bowl ambitions; questions are going to swirl around the single most important position in football, if not in sports. If Stroud is not the guy, what do the Texans do in the alternative? Does Caley pare back whatever the hell his offense was to compensate for Stroud’s shortcomings? Does Caserio pull a rabbit out of his hat and trade for a quarterback somehow or pull a trade for a high draft pick to get a QB there?
I’m not optimistic because I’ve watched this team for too long and see how glacial a pace they make their changes at.
There’s so many questions and I wish I had any answers for you. But I don’t. I have the same questions you do. And they make me sad that I have to continue asking them.
Go on, the rest of the thread is yours to complain in. Please, don’t be a jerk, we’re all upset here.
Category: General Sports
