The Houston Texans are currently preparing themselves to visit the New England Patriots’ home for the upcoming divisional round clash. Despite a commendable 12-5 record in the regular season and a playoff win, one major issue that continues to haunt the team’s overall dynamics is with CJ Stroud’s offense. Seeing it as a loophole for the upcoming game, Insider Phil Perry urged Mike Vrabel to take complete advantage of this to advance in the rounds ahead.

“I think their offensive line is below average, quite frankly. Like, this is not a good unit. This is a unit that traded away Laremy Tunsil. They had all kinds of problems last year,” Perry said, in a recent appearance on the NBC Sports podcast.

“They might be a little bit better than they were last year, but there’s still plenty of holes up there up front for Houston. So the question to me is, if you’re the Patriots, how do you attack it? Because this is now two weeks in a row where you’re going against offensive lines that aren’t great.”

C.J. Stroud finished the wild-card round game (against the Steelers) with concerning overall numbers. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 250 yards and averaged a strong 11.9 yards per attempt. Stroud threw one touchdown and one interception, ending the game with a passer rating of 86.7. He had one rushing attempt for zero yards. While the passing totals were solid, the full stat line reflected a difficult outing.

The biggest issue in Stroud’s performance was ball security. The recent game saw him set a new career high by fumbling five times before the third quarter was over. That total was one short of tying the league’s record for most fumbles by a single player in one game. Although he only lost two of those fumbles, the repeated mistakes disrupted drives and added pressure on his team.

The quarterback also faced consistent pressure from the defense. He was sacked three times for a loss of six yards. However, this time the situation could get even worse as they now face an even tougher defense. The team completed 350 passes out of 527 attempts, setting a 66.4% success rate. They also hold challenging numbers in terms of rushing, with 411 attempts for 1729 yards. While Stroud might have faced scrutiny for his errors, he surely had a justification for them.

CJ Stroud addresses catching concerns with an honest admission

Not only the fans but CJ Stroud himself felt disappointed about the multiple fumbles in his last game. Despite the commendable win, the 24-year-old realized the areas where he needs to improve. According to him, situations like these are quite likely to hinder the team’s confidence, but his peers helped him maintain composure by not losing faith till the end of the wild-card clash.

“We had some problems with the snap, me catching them,” Stroud said after Monday night’s win. “Got to find a way to catch ‘em and take care of the ball. I thought every time we had to bounce back, we made more plays, so I’m proud of our guys for having a little bit of resilience in those moments. To finish the game like that was really dope.”

While his mistakes were somehow compensated for by the overall team performance, the Texans are now looking forward to seizing the opportunity that they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs last year. While the Patriots’ defense stands to be a major threat, it still remains to be seen if Stroud fixes the issues to turn the tables.

Top Stories

Jerry Jones Announces Retirement Plans as Dallas Cowboys Owner Makes Triple Decision on Coaching Hiring

Calls Mount for Investigation Against C.J. Stroud After Texans QB’s 5 Fumbles Against Steelers

Mike Tomlin Receives New Job Offer as Steelers Make Final Decision on Firing HC After Aaron Rodgers’ Fury – Report

Sean McDermott Announces Concerning Josh Allen News as Bills HC Confirms Double Setback Before Broncos Game

Chiefs Officially Cut Ties With 7 Players as Patrick Mahomes Pays the Price for Offensive Failures