ATLANTA – C.J. Stroud patiently waited nearly the entire day to deliver a specific pass, a certain connection he had absolute confidence in, another weakness in the defense to exploit.
As the Texans’ rookie quarterback calmly settled in the pocket after taking a shotgun snap from rookie center Jarrett Patterson, Stroud finally got the look he wanted and had been waiting for. When veteran tight end Dalton Schultz sold an inside fake and cut outside to create enough separation behind Atlanta Falcons standout safety Jessie Bates III, only then did Stroud lob the football perfectly into his fingertips.
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Stroud had masterfully led the Texans to a potential dramatic comeback, celebrating by hopping up and down in the Texans’ backfield after his 18-yard touchdown pass to Schultz staked his team to a fleeting 19-18 lead. The Texans would ultimately lose the game, though, falling 21-19, and halted a two-game winning streak as the defense faltered on the ensuing drive and kicker Younghoe Koo hit the game-winning field goal as time expired at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“He may be a rookie, but he’s not a rookie,” Texans veteran offensive lineman Tytus Howard said. “That guy’s special, so we follow him. He leads us, and he is going to take us a long way.”
Nothing fazed Stroud, a fierce competitor. Not the Falcons’ talented secondary and tight coverage schemes. And definitely not being a 22-year-old starting his fifth NFL regular season game.
“God put a certain dog in me that I don’t flinch,” Stroud said. “That really has a testament to do with the guys around me and just the work that not only myself, but we put in. I put a lot of extra work in every week just to give our offense a chance and our team a chance to win football games. I think guys see that.”
#Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud 'It's hard to live on third and long' @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/PxNBSJkJnc
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 8, 2023
Stroud set an NFL record in the third quarter against the Falcons for the most passes without an interception to start his career. He has now thrown 186 passes with no interceptions and has passed for 1,461 yards to rank third in the league in passing yards with seven touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Stroud surpassed Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s record of 176 passes he established in 2016. Stroud was nearly picked off by Bates earlier in the game, but the rangy safety dropped the football.
“It’s cool,” Stroud said. “I got close a couple of times. Those DBs were really good. I think every week, I’ve almost thrown a pick, so it’s cool but guys just drop them. It’s important to take care of the football, and I don’t think I’ve put it in harm’s way too many times. I just want to let our offense know and our coaches know they can trust me with the football because turning the ball over is a recipe to lose.”
ATLANTA -- Breaking down #Texans 21-19 loss to #Falcons with @KPRC2Ari on Sports Sunday @KPRC2 @KPRC2RandyMc @KPRC2Chancellor pic.twitter.com/s4P7RoPtuc
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 9, 2023
Stroud completed 20 of 35 passes for 249 yards. During the Texans’ final drive of the game, Stroud told his teammates what was about to happen. He called his shot.
“Great leader for us, stayed poised the whole game,” wide receiver Robert Woods said. “That drive I was impressed. I mean this guy called it out in the huddle, knew exactly what was going to happen and was able to find Dalton in the end zone and found a way to compete.”
It was largely a frustrating game, though, for the Texans and Stroud.
The Texans got into longer down-and-distance situations and converted just 4 of 13 third downs. They went 1 for 3 in the red zone. They were limited to just 313 yards of total offense.
The Texans squandered a 12-7 lead built by four field goals from kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn heading into the fourth quarter. The defense struggled, though, beyond containing Falcons star rookie running back Bijan Robinson. And the offense should have scored a lot more points, but failed to capitalize in the red zone on prime scoring opportunities.
“Third down wasn’t good enough, red zone wasn’t good enough,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We needed to get points there and we didn’t. Credit to Atlanta; they have a really good defense and did a really good job of forcing us to kick field goals in those positions.
“The guys are disappointed. We felt this was a game we could’ve had. I told the guys, we had a lot of opportunities, a lot of chances for us to make plays. That wasn’t the case, but who is going to step up and make those plays in those opportune moments? We didn’t do that today.”
The football game was lost for multiple reasons. Stroud wasn’t one of the reasons why they fell short, though. There’s a growing confidence in the second overall pick and two-time Heisman Trophy finalist from Ohio State.
‘Always,” Texans Pro Bowl left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil said after returning from a knee injury that sidelined him the previous three games. “I’m not worried about 7 at all. Just give him some time, he’ll be good.’”
For historical recordkeeping, the throw that passed Prescott in the third quarter came in the third quarter when Stroud threw the football out of bounds when nothing broke open.
“C.J. continues to do a really good job of protecting the ball, protecting the team,” Ryans said. “C.J. continues to play well. We just have to continue to play well around him. Credit to him and the offense for when it was time to go and make a play, even though it wasn’t great throughout the game. We started a little slow there, but proud of C.J. and the way he drove the offense.”
The Texans didn’t reach the end zone until 1:49 remained in the game. That was too much time for the Falcons to have against a vulnerable defense.
This marked Stroud’s second consecutive loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium following his college football semifinal defeat to the Georgia Bulldogs during his final college season with the Buckeyes.
“I’ve been done bad in this stadium two times now,” Stroud said. “I don’t think it’s funny. We just have to go back to the drawing board and keep working.”
The third-down issues were extremely problematic for a young Texans team that is starting to experience some success with consecutive wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers only to fall short against the Falcons in a winnable football game.
The Texans were limited to 64 rushing yards as running back Dameon Pierce was held to 66 yards on 20 carries for an average of 3.3 yards per run.
“They were loading the box and making it really hard for us to run the ball,” Stroud said. “I feel like we still tried to withstand that and get positive runs, but it is hard when you live in third-and-long. I think today was probably our worst day in third down and that’s on me. I’ve got to take completions and be better on third down.”
And the Falcons cut off routes and did a nice job of shadowing the Texans’ wide receivers. Stroud was forced to check down more often than usual.
Texans first-year offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s game plan didn’t work as planned and the Texans didn’t make enough adjustments to react to the Falcons’ defensive schemes.
What was the Falcons’ strategy? It was multi-faceted and cornerbacks Jeff Okudah and A.J. Terrell did a nice job in coverage, per Stroud.
“They were in a 6-1 frame with a crowded line scrimmage and the linebacker roaming around, shooting gaps,” Stroud said. “They were manning on my side, playing quarters with two high shells. So it’s hard to take shots in that look. I felt like our receivers did a great job still trying to get off press coverage. Okudah and A.J. Terrell are two great defensive backs, I think they are great tandem together. They’re in a quarters look, a lot of Cover-Two, not trying to let us take shots and not switching up on third down, playing like a robber.
“They dropped both safeties, ran somebody through the middle and I felt like I saw it well. Sometime ours plays don’t have the exact route that we would like. To win that coverage is tough. So it’s hard on me, it’s hard on Bobby to execute because you got to have man plays, man routes. And they play certain coverages for you to just take a checkdown. I feel like we did a good job of just not being dumb. Whenever we threw the ball deep, that’s a recipe to lose. We tried to just keep chopping wood. "
The lack of a consistent running game has been a recurring theme for the Texans. Pierce was a Pro Bowl alternate last season, but it’s been extremely tough sledding for him this season. He’s a marked man.
“I think we have to get it going,” Ryans said. “We’re going to keep running it. We’ve got to block it better. We’ve got to run it better. They made a couple of plays there at the end of the game, and we didn’t. So credit to those guys for stepping up and making the play when they had to.”
Stroud is off to a special start to his NFL career. He’s clearly the top quarterback in this rookie draft class. His name is in the record books in rarified air, including Tom Brady and other special quarterbacks.
“It’s cool, it’s special,” Stroud said. “Those guys are special football players, and I know my path might be different. I’ve talked to Tom. I’ve talked to multiple great quarterbacks. I appreciate the unity and the brotherhood that an NFL quarterback has, and I want to be great like they are. But I have my own path and my own way to do it, so I’m going to use those things that they taught me and explained to me for my game.”
With his passing lanes to his wide receivers largely restricted as Nico Collins finished with three receptions for 39 yards and Woods with three catches for 30 yards on nine targets as he dropped a few passes, Stroud adapted. He hit Schultz seven times for 65 yards and a score on 10 targets.
“Just poised, he makes smart decisions,” Schultz said. “And even the throwaways are smart decisions. He’s got a lot of poise for a young kid. I think he’s doing a great job. Obviously, none of us did enough to win the game.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
