C.J. Stroud entered this postseason with a fairly strong playoff resume, but his past two games have gone completely the other direction.
Stroud threw four first-half interceptions in the Texans' 28-16 loss to the Patriots on Sunday, including a pick-six that gave New England a lead it wouldn't relinquish. He finished the game 20 of 47 passing for 212 yards, with one touchdown pass and a career-worst four picks.
"I think when (the interceptions) started to pile up, I tried my best just to stay locked in, in the spirit, and realizing I've just got to be there for my teammates, and they encouraged me a lot through it," Stroud said after the loss. "I'm really appreciative of this team and them doing that because they didn't have to. 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."
The Texans' offensive limitations also cost them. They were without wide receiver Nico Collins (concussion) on Sunday and lost two tight ends, including Dalton Schultz (after his early 42-yard catch and run). The Patriots bottled up the Texans' rushing attack and gave their offensive line fits all game.
Despite Stroud's struggles, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said he never considered benching Stroud at halftime for backup Davis Mills.
"C.J.'s our guy," Ryans said. "I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it."
Stroud agreed with his coach's decision and said he had no plans to take himself out.
"I don't think that's smart on my part to get myself out of the game," Stroud said. "I don't think my coach would ever do that either, but if he did, I would understand.
"I think my whole team trusts me, you know they believe in me. Just like how quick it can go bad, how quick I can get hot."
Even with the Texans' five total turnovers, including Woody Marks' lost fumble in the third quarter, the Patriots couldn't take advantage, with Drake Maye also turning it over three times. Marcus Jones' 26-yard INT return for a touchdown represented the only points New England converted off of those five turnovers, keeping the game close until the fourth quarter.
"Our team (was) doing great, our defense (was) getting stops, and I'm just being careless with the football," Stroud said. "I gotta get that fixed, and it's something that I know I can. So, I'm gonna get that done."
Stroud avoided turnovers after halftime, but he also took three sacks and saw his final, desperation pass on fourth down get knocked out of the hands of Xavier Hutchinson to all but end the Texans' season. It summed up a frustrating offensive game for the Texans, who are now 0-3 in Divisional Round games with Stroud at QB.
"I believe that he can play better, and he did that in the second half. He did play better," Ryans said. "... And as I always tell our guys at halftime, it really doesn't matter what happened in the first half. We have to flush it, remove it, and you just have to go out and finish the right way."
Ryans supported his quarterback, saying he delivered a message to Stroud after the loss.
"Keep your head up, I love you," Ryans said he told Stroud. "I have your back, this whole team has your back."
Ryans deflected blame for the loss away from Stroud and toward himself.
"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. "If anybody, it all starts with me. For me, as the head coach of this team, we didn't perform well. Obviously, I didn't have our guys, you know, ready to go in this moment. So that starts with me. We stick together."
The Texans were fortunate to have survived Stroud's five fumbles (two lost) during the Wild Card Round at Pittsburgh, with Houston's defense taking over in the fourth quarter. That gave Stroud a total of seven turnovers in two playoff games, with only Carson Palmer (eight in 2015) having more in a single postseason since 2000, per NFL Research.
Following a brilliant rookie campaign, Stroud hasn't looked quite the same. He followed up a disappointing second season with a mixed bag in 2025, missing three starts with a concussion. Mills took his place, and the Texans went 3-0 while Stroud was out.
Stroud played fairly well after returning, helping extend the Texans' win streak to 10 games prior to the postseason. In his first four postseason games prior to this year's playoffs, Stroud had thrown for 976 yards and four TDs, which is why his yips in the past two games were so surprising.
Stroud said he felt like he let all of Houston down, both on Sunday and for the whole season.
"I look back (at the season), and I just, I just feel like I let people down," Stroud said. "Not happy with that. It hurts, and I'm not naive to it. I didn't play my best this year.
"But I'm gonna respond. I'm gonna keep my my chest up, my chin up high, and I'm gonna just keep battling for it."
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