The Houston Texans lost to the New England Patriots 28-16 in the AFC divisional round.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud threw four interceptions in the first half of the playoff loss.
Stroud’s performance has regressed over the past two seasons since his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
Coach DeMeco Ryans and teammates publicly supported Stroud despite his poor postseason showing.
FOXBOROUGH, MA – Houston, we have a quarterback problem.
Following the Texans’ 28-16 loss in the divisional round – the third straight season that has ended at this stage for DeMeco Ryans’ team – to the New England Patriots on Jan. 18, quarterback C.J. Stroud said he felt like he let his team down.
Four interceptions – all in the first half – justified his feelings. But it wasn’t just about his pair of sloppy performances from both postseason games, which included a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers six days prior in the wild-card round. Since an electrifying rookie season, Stroud has regressed over the past two seasons and been a crutch for a team that consistently boasts elite defenses, especially the 2025 version.
“I just feel like I let people down, and I’m not happy with that,” Stroud said. “It hurts, and I’m not naïve to it. I didn’t play my best this year, but I’m going to respond. I’m going to keep my chest up, my chin up high, and I’m going to just keep battling forward.”
Progress has largely evaded Stroud. Just ask Troy Aikman, who was calling the game for ESPN.
“(Stroud) has been chasing his rookie success for the last two years,” Aikman said in the final minutes of the game on the broadcast. “He’s not been the same player. We’ve not seen the development from him. There’s a reason for that, and it has to be addressed.”
Stroud became the first player in NFL history to throw five interceptions and fumble the ball five times in a single postseason. He accomplished that unfortunate history in less than six quarters of action.
‘C.J. is our guy.’ Houston players reflect on poor playoff performances
“C.J. is our guy,” Ryans said. “I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed that he could play better, and he did that in the second half.”
Houston moved the ball better in the final 30 minutes, but it didn’t result in any touchdowns. Stroud finished 20-for-47 with 212 passing yards and was sacked three times.
Ryans tried to shield his quarterback from criticism by assigning himself the most blame.
“We have a really special group, a tight-knit group, and when things don’t go your way, you have bad performances, it’s not a time to point fingers or say it’s on one person,” Ryans said.
How close this team became over a 10-game winning streak, after a 0-3 start that had everybody counting the 2025 Texans out, is “what kills you when you lose,” linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said.
“That’s what makes it such a blessing when you can reflect on how far you’ve come,” he said. “From where this team started to where this team ended up?”
When last season ended at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round, Al-Shaair felt his “terrible” game was the reason for the loss. He remembers sitting in the Arrowhead Stadium visitors’ locker room and not being able to face his teammates. His instruction to Stroud was to not forget the feeling – let it fuel the next season.
“I know exactly what it feels like to feel like you let the team down,” Al-Shaair said. “You just truly believe that you’re going to find a way to win this ballgame.
Stroud appreciated the conscientious effort of his teammates to comfort him during a distressing time.
“I’m really appreciative of this team and them doing that because they didn’t have to,” Stroud said. “But yeah, it was not easy. It’s something that I’m going to learn from. I’m just grateful my teammates were picking me up.”
Stroud was without Nico Collins, who suffered a concussion during the Pittsburgh game. Tight end Dalton Schultz departed in the first quarter with a calf injury. That left him targeting third-year wideout Xavier Hutchinson 13 times. Rookie Jayden Higgins had 10 targets.
Hutchinson referred to Stroud as one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
“I believe that. It wasn’t the best game for a lot of us. That’s just how the ball goes, sometimes,” Hutchinson said.
Texans need to ‘stop beating themselves.’ That starts with Stroud
For the team to take that next step and start competing for Super Bowls, Hutchinson said they needed to “stop beating themselves.”
“It doesn’t feel great. It’s just plain and simple,” he said. “You can’t beat yourselves in the playoffs, and that’s exactly what we did today.
“A lot of times, we got in our own way,”
For that, the conductor – the quarterback – deserves requisite ridicule, given the stage and the stakes. That applies to all quarterbacks who turn the ball over multiple times in a game of this magnitude, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills included.
There were plenty of dropbacks against Mike Vrabel’s defense in which Stroud had nowhere to throw and nobody to throw to. The conditions were not conducive to the clean delivery of the football, although the dry setting of Monday’s night game didn’t prevent him from putting the ball on the ground five times (he recovered three of his fumbles). But the pick-six he surrendered, when K’Lavon Chaisson chased Stroud down on a partially broken play, could have been avoided by throwing the ball away or taking a sack.
“It’s something I can learn from, and it just sucks that it has to be in this game, in this environment, on this stage,” Stroud said. “But like I said, I’m not going to hold my head down. I just feel bad. I really feel like I let my teammates down.”
For the divisional-round delusion – the team is 0-3 with the Ryans-Stroud coach-QB pairing but has at least advanced to the round in their first three seasons together – to cease in Houston, Stroud has to clean up the inconsistencies. He has a case of botching the easy plays but converting the difficult ones. Peyton Manning recently said that doing the boring thing, for a quarterback, is an acquired skill. Stroud did that with ease as he rolled to 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he was eighth in MVP voting. The two following seasons have seen less production, more turnovers, the changing of offensive coordinator from Bobby Slowik to Nick Caley and more frustration.
In one breath, Stroud can put the ball in a place only Higgins can catch it on a key third down. And in the next, he’s throwing with zero direction to the sideline and being intercepted by Carlton Davis with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
Sometimes it is his fault, sometimes it’s not. There is nothing to be done about Craig Woodson’s interception, as an accurate pass for a sizable gain over the middle hit Hutchinson in the hands. Except the receiver didn’t catch the ball, and Woodson easily caught the deflection.
“I believe C.J. has done a lot of great things throughout this entire year,” Ryans said. “I know C.J. I know what it means to him. If anybody, you think about how anybody is feeling at this moment, you think about C.J. I think about the man, first and foremost. It’s not about the player.
“Of course it’s not what we would have hoped for. It’s not what we thought would happen. But I still stand by the young man, believe in him and what he’s done for us to be in the position we’re in right here today. It’s because of him and all of the guys on our team, for battling, fighting hard, making the plays to put us in this position.”
Stroud credited the McNair family and Texans ownership for bringing in general manager Nick Caserio and Ryans to stabilize the organization. He sees a bright future in Houston. Will Anderson Jr., the stud defensive end who had three sacks and forced two of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s four fumbles, told reporters that he and Stroud – selected third and second, respectively, in the 2023 draft – are just getting started.
“I’m excited to be in it and to be on this team and in this city. I don’t take that for granted,” Stroud said. “But I think Will is right. We have a lot of ball left in our careers, God willing. We’re going to learn from this and move on.”
That sounds nice. It’s also contingent on the Texans not moving on from him first.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
