Even in a Wild Card victory, a quarterback’s performance can be alarming, and for C.J. Stroud, a five-fumble night against the Steelers was exactly that. The quarterback set a rare postseason record by fumbling five times during the game. While his teammates recovered three of those, the Steelers’ defense managed to take the ball away twice. Stroud has now addressed those struggles 

“We had some problems with the snaps, me catching them,” Stroud admitted in his post-game conference.“Got to find a way just to catch them and then take care of the ball. We knew on tape that they did a good job of punching at the ball or trying to get you while you’re throwing. I try to work on that throughout the week, but they make plays.” 

Stroud addressed his issues bluntly about the game, where he threw a costly interception in the red zone, bringing his total to three turnovers on the night. The third-year quarterback further spoke about the importance of moving on to do better.

“I think from my experience, they’re going to make plays, we’re going to make plays,” Stroud admitted to the press. “It’s all about moving forward and trying your best to flush it and keep going.”

The performance was a shocker for many from a QB who is otherwise reliable with the ball. Stroud only had 2 fumbles during the entire 2025 regular season. A road playoff game in cold weather was expected to affect him, and it certainly did, as per the statistics.

C.J. Stroud made three big mistakes during the game. The first mistake happened during a trick play that went wrong. A defender hit him and knocked the ball loose before he could throw it. 

The second mistake was a fumble that happened because he dropped the ball at the start of the play and then got hit while trying to fix it. The third and perhaps the biggest mistake was an interception, where he threw the ball directly to Steelers defensive back Brandin Echols deep in Pittsburgh territory.

Thanks to a strong Texans defense, irrespective of these errors on the QB’s end, the team kept the game under control. Pittsburgh’s offense found it nearly impossible to move the ball and managed to score only three points off of Stroud’s three turnovers. Because the Steelers couldn’t take advantage of these extra chances, Houston was able to maintain the lead for most of the night and avoid a loss. Head coach Ryans addressed this issue later in his comments. 

HC DeMeco Ryans kept faith in the Texans despite Stroud’s mistakes

The Houston Texans’ most recent win against the Steelers was particularly historic for the franchise, as it marked the Texans’ first-ever road playoff victory. Despite the intimidating margin, the game was a defensive “rock fight” for three quarters, with Houston holding a slim 7–6 lead at halftime. Things finally changed in the final quarter.

The victory was largely credited to Houston’s top-ranked defense, which stepped up during an uncharacteristically difficult night for quarterback C.J. Stroud. Despite the quarterback’s mistakes, Head coach DeMeco Ryans praised Stroud’s mental toughness after the game.

“I love that,” the coach said to the media. “We had some bad plays that happened for C.J., and he didn’t wave. You can easily go into the tank, but he didn’t waver. He’s a resilient young man who’s able to bounce back. Anybody can go into the tank and drop the ball a few times. You keep battling. … That’s what he did, and he made some big throws for us, some huge passes that allowed us to get in striking distance and score.”

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Stroud shook off early fumbles and connected on key passes to Christian Kirk (33 yards) and Jayden Higgins (9 yards) to keep drives alive. His late drives set up Marks’ touchdown and Fairbairn’s clutch field goal, sealing the win.

Offensively, Stroud finished the night completing 21-of-32 passes for 250 yards, including a touchdown to wide receiver Christian Kirk, who had a standout performance. Rookie running back Woody Marks also contributed significantly, rushing for 112 yards and a late touchdown. 

Following this win, their 10th in a row, the Texans will travel to Foxborough this Sunday to face the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round, where they will try to secure yet another road playoff victory.