Houston Texans rookie CJ Stroud had a historic performance last Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During this comeback win, Stroud set the rookie record for most passing yards in a single game with 470 passing yards and 5 touchdowns (NFL). He is only the 19th quarterback since 1950 to pass for at least 450 years and throw 5 touchdowns in a game (Bleacher Report).
In addition, Stroud has a record low 0.35% interception rate through his first 8 career games (NBC Sports). Many in the NFL have been impressed by Stroud’s confidence in throwing the football. “It’s a gutsy performance from him,” head coach DeMeco Ryans said “It wasn’t all clean, but he gutted it out. He was tough in the pocket, made some plays, [and made] some big-time throws for us…” (NFL).
The highlight of Stroud’s performance was Houston’s game-winning 75 yard drive with 40 seconds left in regulation time, where he led the Texans’ offense down the field with six straight completions, concluding with a 15-yard pass to Tank Dell in the end zone to give the Texans a 39-37 lead over the Buccaneers with 6 seconds left.
As the Texans move to 4-4 on the season, they have hopes of making a playoff run. Next week, the Texans will take on the veteran Cincinnati Bengal. Future matchups seem optimistic; they play the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Denver Broncos– whose defenses are all statistically ranked in the bottom 10 of the NFL– according to ESPN’s analytics.
Sunday’s victory was perhaps the greatest feat of Stroud’s young career — a performance that is likely to establish him as the clear frontrunner for the NFL Rookie of the year award — as he looks to lead his team to their first playoff berth since 2019.
