HOUSTON – C.J. Stroud rifled passes to Nico Collins, finding holes to exploit in the Chicago Bears’ talented secondary.
And the Texans’ Pro Bowl quarterback, named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, surpassed Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes to set an NFL record with the most passing yards in his first 10 career home games, including the postseason. Stroud has passed for 3,106 yards in 10 games, passing Mahomes’ mark of 3,011 yards in his first 10 home games.
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Statistical milestones and accolades are nice, but Stroud was far from satisfied with the Texans’ sputtering offensive performance during a hard-fought 19-13 victory Sunday night at NRG Stadium.
Especially in a lackluster second half as they scored just three points after building a 16-10 halftime lead. The Texans had 206 yards of total offense and 173 passing yards in the first half with 10 first downs, finishing with 310 yards of total offense, 260 passing yards, 75 rushing yards, 35 on the ground in the second half and 15 first downs. The Texans converted just 4 of 14 third downs.
“First half I felt like we played really good, definitely knew that they were going to try to stop the line and just do some different schemes for that,” Stroud said. “Tried to throw it. I thought we threw it pretty well in the first half. Second half, we were just flat. Just needed a big play or just needed a play, stack plays really. We just couldn’t find our rhythm.
“That’s a good defense over there. A lot of respect to those guys. They had a good plan for us. Good to learn with the dub, but I definitely know we’ll be better. There’s definitely a lot of things we can clean up. I definitely know that Texans football was not what we put on the field, at least in the second half. We’ll definitely be better, for sure.”
There’s plenty of room for improvement. While Collins finished with eight catches for 135 and one touchdown on 10 targets and leads the NFL with 252 receiving yards on 14 catches on 18 targets through two games, the other receivers were unproductive.
Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who scored two touchdowns in the season-opening win over the Indianapolis Colts, was held to four catches for 37 yards on six targets. Tank Dell had one catch for minus-3 yards on four targets, uncharacteristically dropping a few passes, including one potential touchdown.
Stroud avoided any interceptions and made sound decisions. He completed 23 of 36 passes for one touchdown for a respectable 94.7 passer rating.
“C.J. just has to do his part,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “A lot of people talk about rallying the troops and all those things, everybody has to just own up and do their job. Man up, do your job. Do whatever your tasked to do on particular plays, everybody just do it to the best of your ability.
“C.J. just has to play his game, but it is not all on C.J. or all on one person to get everyone going. Everybody just has to have that ownership. Everybody has to have that mindset, that whatever it takes for us to win they are ready and willing to do it on each and every play.”
The Texans’ running game regressed after running back Joe Mixon rushed for 159 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries against the Colts and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week. Mixon was limited to 25 yards on nine carries with three catches for 25 yards as he suffered a sprained ankle on an unpenalized hip-drop tackle.
The Texans were also penalized 12 times for 115 yards, including false starts on Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. They lost the time of possession battle, 31:13 to 28:47.
And running back Cam Akers lost a fumble in the red zone.
“The things we have to clean up, I think it starts with just being more consistent,” Ryans said. “I think we targeted really well and ran the ball well our first week. Coming in this week presented different issues with the front, but we still have to be consistent and run it as best as we can. And from a penalty standpoint, I know we have to play cleaner there. We allowed drives to continue.
“A lot of plays, we hurt ourselves with penalties, and also just protecting the football. We have to do a much better job of protecting the ball on the offensive side. We’re carrying the ball, we can’t give the ball up there when we’re in the red zone. We cannot give the ball up in that situation right there. So, a lot of different things, different players have things to work on. That’s the beauty of the league. Who can make those adjustments? Who can make those improvements and continue to get better as the season goes on?”
The Texans went 1 for 2 in the red zone. If not for four field goals from kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, including a 59-yard boot, the outcome of this game could have been different.
“I mean, it’s a multitude of things,” Stroud said. “I feel like just shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s never really them. We run a type of play style where regardless of the coverage, or whatever it is, it’s up to the players to execute. I definitely think we got to stop getting penalties. That’s one thing. Another is just stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Hat on a hat in the run and hat on a hat in the passing game. Really just stop getting in our own way.
“It’s football. It’s hard to win in the NFL. I’m happy. Of course, I’m not satisfied. I’ll never be satisfied. There’s always things that you can point out. We’re not going to let one half of football make us put our heads down. We’re going to stay confident, taking shots. We’re going to stay betting on us. I definitely understand we need to be better. So, we won. Now it’s time to move on and get better.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
