Texans’ passing game sputters in loss to Panthers, C.J. Stroud reacts: ‘We’ve got to be more explosive’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – C.J. Stroud didn’t mince words or hide his frustration about the Texans’ sputtering passing game that was a major factor in a road loss to the Carolina Panthers.

The Texans’ standout rookie quarterback, a leading candidate for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, was outshined by his longtime friend, Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young, during a 15-13 defeat.

While Stroud completed 16 of 24 passes, the majority of his throws were short to intermediate range attempts as he passed for a season-low 140 yards and had zero touchdown passes for just the second time in his seven starts.

With the exception of a 31-yard completion to wide receiver Noah Brown, the passing game lacked explosiveness as the Panthers took away the deep pass and the Texans settled for checkdowns and underneath routes. Wide receiver Nico Collins’ 15-yard catch was the second-longest completion for Stroud. All of his other longest completions were 11 yards or less.

Stroud was accountable for his part in the lack of production and not critical of offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, but he also emphasized his belief that there are big plays to be had. Three of Stroud’s passes were knocked down at the line of scrimmage by the Panthers’ defensive line.

“You can point the finger everywhere, but me personally, I point the thumb,” Stroud said. “I’m not saying that I’m playing terrible, but I’m not making the plays I want to make. Sometimes, I have to take what’s there. A lot of teams are being smart and playing back. Even when I do take the checkdown, this team was knocking it down. I thought we could have gotten some firsts from that. It is what it is. I feel like the talent we have, we’ve got to use it, and we’ve got to be explosive like we want to be.

“That starts up front running the ball. I think those guys did a good job there. On top of that, we’ve got to take some shots. We’ve got to be more explosive and do some things down the field. We can’t just let people dictate what we do just because we’re not throwing the ball short. I mean, that’s me getting more trust from the coaches and the guys getting their depth in the routes. It’s a whole team thing. Man, I definitely think we have the talent to be explosive, and I think we’ve shown that we’re, if not a top five offense, top ten offense, we’ve showed it, and we can do it. We’ve just got to go out there and call it and run it and execute.”

While the Texans’ passing game hit a wall, Young had his best game of the season. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 235 yards, including a 40-yard pass to Jonathan Mingo and a 31-yard throw to Adam Thielen, with one touchdown pass and no interceptions. He was sacked six times and hit 10 times overall.

Stroud wasn’t impacted much by the Panthers’ pass rush. He was sacked twice and hit three times overall.

The Texans spread the football around to seven different targets. Brown was the leading receiver with 57 yards. Collins was held to four catches for 30 yards. And tight end Dalton Schultz was limited to five yards on two catches on five targets.

The running game was solid with 110 yards on 30 carries, including 46 yards on 12 carries from running back Dameon Pierce. None of it was enough for the Texans to sustain drives on a consistent basis.

“I feel like that’s why we haven’t been consistent,” Stroud said. “Too many taking the ball short and not having enough explosives. It’s hard to play on third down, too. I think Bobby’s done a great job calling it, trying to be better with us and getting used to how we like calls and things like that. Hopefully, we start being a little more explosive.”

The Texans couldn’t match the Panthers’ big-play capabilities.

It’s something of a trend, too.

Each of the past two games, Stroud has passed for under 200 yards.

For the season, he has passed for 1,800 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception.

He set an NFL record with 191 passes without an interception to start his NFL career.

Stroud passed for 242, 384, 280 and 306 yards in the first four games of the season. In the past three games, he’s passed for 249, 199 and 140 yards.

Is the NFL adapting to Stroud and the Texans’ offense. Perhaps they are.

“I think with any quarterback, especially young quarterbacks, defenses continue to game plan and get more film on him, you see what guys do well, and you switch your game plan accordingly to put the quarterback in difficult spots,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Just have to keep growing, keep learning. We’re going to see a lot of different things. C.J. will do well with it. He’ll handle it well. He’ll bounce back. I know he’ll come ready to work next week prepared and ready to attack the next opponent.”

Despite the setback to a previously winless team and dropping to 3-4 overall, Stroud is upbeat about the Texans’ outlook heading into next Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“What’s the point of holding your head down?” Stroud said. “Of course you’re not happy about it, but we’re not that type of team that’s just going to tuck our tail and not have swag and confidence no more just because we took a L.

“I feel like we showed our potential, and we’re going to keep doing it. I think next week is really big for us. I think we have Tampa Bay, and that’s a really good defense and a good challenge for us. We’ve got to go back to work and practice really good. I think now we’ve got the bye week jitters out, and now it’s time to play some real ball.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.