Rough day at office for Texans’ offense, C.J. Stroud streak of no interceptions since November 2023 snapped in loss

MINNEAPOLIS – There were immediate, alarming signs that it wasn’t going to be the Texans’ day offensively against an aggressive, unpredictable Minnesota Vikings defense built by Brian Flores.

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A holding penalty on rookie tight end Cade Stover while being overpowered by Vikings pass rusher Jonathan Greenard nullified a first down completion to wide receiver Nico Collins on the first play from scrimmage.

One play later, Texans Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud was trying to connect with wide receiver Tank Dell on a crossing pattern. However, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips tipped it at the line, and former Texans linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill intercepted the deflection to give the Vikings possession at the Houston 21-yard line.

Six plays later, Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold hit paydirt as he connected with star wide receiver Justin Jefferson for a touchdown pass.

It was that kind of day for Stroud and the offense as they absorbed their first loss of the season, a 34-7 setback at noisy U.S. Bank Stadium to the undefeated Vikings. Stroud was intercepted twice and threw one touchdown pass to running back Cam Akers.

This marked the first time that Stroud had been intercepted since Nov. 19, 2023, snapping a streak of 266 passes in a row without an interception in a span that lasted nine starters, including two playoff games.

The Vikings used their traditional two-high safety coverage scheme and some Cover Zero blitzes. Greenard provided the majority of the pass rush as he recorded a career-high three sacks as Stroud was sacked four times overall and hit eight times.

“I mean, they kind of did exactly what we thought,” Stroud said. “Played a lot of two-high, a lot of taking away our passing game, and then they would either blitz the edge and try to stop the run on a certain down. They did a lot of things that we thought they were doing. We just weren’t moving quick enough. We weren’t executing, weren’t playing hard enough. It starts with me. Just got to be better. It’s something that I felt like can be fixed, so it’s nothing to hang our heads down about but definitely can and will be better.”

Stroud completed 20 of 31 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown for a 68.6 passer rating.

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The Texans were penalized 11 times for 88 yards, eight of them on the offense with the majority of the penalties coming on false starts and illegal formation infractions. The Texans finished with just 296 yards of total offense and went 4 for 14 on third downs, a 28.6 success rate as they were frequently in third-and-long situations.

“Can’t live on third-and-long, especially with a defense like theirs,” Stroud said. “They cause a lot of issues on third-and-long. You have to give yourself a chance. You keep shooting yourselves in the foot and moving backwards, backwards, backwards, you’re not playing complementary football even for yourself. I don’t know exactly. I can’t just tell you right now exactly what the issues are there.

“There has to be conversation away from the game and just meetings and just seeing what we can do to be better when it’s loud and how intentional we have to be in practice and things like that, just to get those things fixed. We’re moving the ball, it’s just you’re kicking yourself out of the red zone and kicking opportunities, and it’s hard to live on 3rd and plus 10.”

Texans Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs led the team with a season-high 10 catches for 96 yards and expressed optimism that the defending AFC South champions will bounce back strong, starting with next Sunday’s home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Texans have the opportunity to improve to 3-1 and 2-0 in the AFC South division.

“One-hundred percent agree,” Stroud said. “I’ve dealt with games like this before where it’s like, ‘Man, we looked terrible, but that’s not the truth.’' They kicked our butts today. They are a great team, and they will continue to be doing great things. But we know what we are, and that’s not what we put on the field today. Got a lot of respect for those guys over there, but this is just the beginning.

“It’s no time to point the finger or separate. It’s on us to come together. The thing that matters is we don’t care about the outside noise. We know everybody is probably going to turn their back on us. We know our fans are going to stay loyal. It is what it is. We know what we’re going to be, and we’re going to continue to go through the lumps that everybody goes through during a year at some point, and we’re glad it’s happening now.”

Stroud was later intercepted by Vikings safety Camryn Bynum in the fourth quarter led to another touchdown.

The Texans were labeled as a trendy Super Bowl contender this entire offseason as they added proven talent like Diggs and Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter.

Now, they are determined to get back to winning football games.

“I smile, realizing that we’re still very, very talented, we’re still a force to be reckoned with, and we’re still very dangerous,” Stroud said. “I always use this quote: ‘Never let a hard time humble you all the way to zero.’ You learn and you have some humility, but you don’t let it take it back to square one or square zero. We built a foundation solid on rock, so we’re not going to act like everything was perfect out there, but we’re not going to act like there wasn’t some positives.

“Once we fix the negatives, we’re going to be rolling. I’m excited, man, because the only way we can go now is up, so I’m very grateful and blessed that we did get our tails whooped today and there’s something to learn from. I’m glad it happened early. Now it’s time to go to work.”

The Vikings’ pass rush took a toll on Stroud, who was replaced by backup quarterback Davis Mills as a precautionary measure in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.

“I was making the right reads all day,” Stroud said. “I felt like I played well other than the turnovers, especially the one at the end. I was seeing it well. I tried to stay in the pocket and deliver it as best I could, but they had some coverages and some pressures that they did at a very, very high level, so kudos to those guys.”

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