FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — How will Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans fix quarterback C.J. Stroud? That more or less was the gist of postgame questions directed at Ryans on Sunday after the Texans were eliminated by the New England Patriots 28-16 at Gillette Stadium.
With the sounds of postgame victory celebration reverberating through the stadium, Ryans — the Texans brilliant third-year head coach — defended his young quarterback but said that he was in no mood to talk about the future.
“I’m not in the mood to talk about the offseason right now, right here,” he said. “I’m proud of our team for making it to this moment. Guys did an outstanding job a place where a lot of the teams would love to be. It didn’t end how we wanted to end, but we keep battling. That’s one little hiccup here.”
He added, “C.J. is our guy.”
For the second week in a row, Ryans watched his third-year quarterback struggle in the playoffs. Houston defeated Pittsburgh in a wild card game last week but only because the Texans’ suffocating defense bailed out Stroud, who committed three turnovers. Stroud played well enough to lead the Texans to a 30-6 victory over the offensively challenged Steelers.
Stroud appears to be the classic victim of his early success in the league. As a rookie in 2023, Stroud had one of the greatest first seasons for a quarterback in NFL history. He led the Houston Texans to the AFC South title and a playoff win, set records for efficiency and became just the third rookie quarterback with 4,000 or more passing yards. He was lauded for his remarkable poise, his accuracy and his clutch play. Stroud was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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Stroud set a very high bar for himself. In retrospect, it was a bar that would be difficult to consistently reach. By comparison, his next two seasons have seemed average. That first season has become part of his young legacy, the standard by which he is being judged and critiqued.
After Sunday’s game, I asked Stroud if he thought that it was unfair that critics were judging him by a standard he established as a rookie. In some ways he is being haunted by the ghost of 2023.
“No. I mean, everybody’s entitled to their own opinion,” he said. “I know that I’m still getting better, and I still got a lot of things to figure out. I’m in Year 3 for me, it’ll be Year 4 next year, and I’m still learning every day.
“I had a new system this year, and new guys, it’s something that I’m still getting adjusted to. But that’s no excuse. I got to learn from that. I try my best to forget successes and failures. So regardless of, what it is in that specific season, I’m going to learn from this, and I’m gonna move on. I’ll be better, and I’m going to be back.”
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud loses his grip on the ball throwing a pass during the second quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 18 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Winslow Townson/Getty Images
It should be noted that veteran MVP caliber quarterbacks have also been knocking at the door unsuccessfully. Buffalo’s Josh Allen has never reached the Super Bowl, and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson has played in one conference championship game in eight seasons.
Stroud is not just being compared to his past, he is being compared to contemporary young quarterbacks, including New England second-year quarterback Drake Maye. He had his own woes on Sunday with an interception and a pair of fumbles, but he also threw three touchdown passes including a 32-yard backbreaking strike to Kayshon Boutte that put the game on ice. Maye has played so well this season that he is a serious contender for league MVP honors.
In Denver, Bo Nix struggled at times as a rookie but in his second season, buttressed by a strong defense, took a major step forward and led Denver to the AFC West title. Nix’s successful season ended Saturday when he broke his ankle in Denver’s overtime victory over Buffalo.
Chicago Bears second-year quarterback Caleb Williams had a rough rookie season but this year, under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, he took a major step forward and brought the Bears to the cusp of reaching the NFC Championship Game. The Bears lost to the Los Angeles Rams who were led by a wizard of their own: 37-year-old Matthew Stafford. But Williams established himself this season as a come-from-behind artist who makes sensational throws under duress.
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And even though the Bears lost, Williams is not being as heavily scrutinized or criticized as Stroud whose incredible rookie season continues to be a blessing and a curse. What happens if that rookie season was an aberration, and Stroud turns out to be closer to who he’s been these last two seasons than he was in Year 1?
Many a head coach has been fired because they were not able to fix their quarterback situation. What happens if Stroud is a very good but not great quarterback? The question that Ryans must answer is whether Stroud is indeed the Texans’ franchise quarterback and does he really have to be as long as Houston has a world-beating defense? You can make the argument, as some critics have, that Ryans only has half of the team he needs to reach the next level. He simply needs Stroud to be who he was in 2023.
On Sunday, the Texans head coach steadfastly defended Stroud. As the postgame interview session wound down, I asked Ryans what was the source of his faith in his 24-year-old quarterback.
“C.J. has done a lot of great things throughout this entire year,” he said. “And I know C.J. I know what it means to him.” Sunday’s loss was a disappointment, Ryans added, but it should not define Stroud.
“It’s not what we would have hoped for. It’s not what we thought would happen. But I still stand by the young man. I believe in him and what he’s what he’s done for us to be in the position we’re in right here today.”
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans looks on during the third quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 18 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Ryans and Stroud have been joined at the hip since 2023 when the Texans drafted Stroud and hired Ryans. Had the Texans won on Sunday and again next week in Denver, Ryans and Stroud would have been the first Black head coach and Black starting quarterback to reach a Super Bowl.
Yet, they have won the AFC South twice, had three consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins and have reached the playoffs three consecutive seasons. They are the first head coach and quarterback duo in NFL history to win the division in each of their first two seasons together. They are one of only a few head coach-quarterback duos in NFL history to reach the playoffs in each of their first three seasons together.
Before Sunday’s game, Ryans spoke with typical optimism about the Texans future.
“There’s a lot of firsts here to be made in Houston,” he said. “I want our guys to really be a part of history. That’s something special that a lot of teams don’t get to do. A lot of teams already have a history. For here, being in Houston, understanding the history that we can make as an organization, it’s something that gives you a little bit more juice to go for it because you want to be that first to do a lot of things here.”
The Texans do NOT have a quarterback problem. The New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals have quarterback problems. What the Texans have is a young quarterback who needs to be fixed.
Ryans has built a legendary defense in Houston. He has become known as an NFL king of defense. His challenge is to get Stroud to the be the dynamic player he was as a rookie.
If Ryans doesn’t find a way to fix Stroud in the next two to three seasons, the throne he occupies may become a very hot seat.
William C. Rhoden is a columnist for Andscape and the author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete. He directs the Rhoden Fellows, a training program for aspiring journalists from HBCUs.
