This loss could have a dramatic impact on C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans, and the fourth-year quarterback knows it.
What impact it has is up to them, and Stroud is ready to hash out their issues as needed.
“I think we know how this goes. We’re going to be get a bunch of people talking crazy and want us to do this, do that. ‘He’s terrible, he’s bad, he should have played like this, he should have…’ So, got just blocking out the noise and just understand we got ourselves in this hole, we got to find a way to dig ourselves out,” Stroud told reporters on October 25.
“I have the utmost trust and hope in our team that we can do that. But we got to address things, have hard conversations, and I got to be better myself. So, I think there’s a lot of accountability that needs to be had, and we’ll be able to, hopefully, get those things fixed.”
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Stroud believes the bye week is a “good time for us to have those conversations and self scout and get some things corrected.”
Stroud completed 17 of 28 passes for 153 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions.
The Giants sacked Stroud once, as the Texans offense was not humming but was hardly their biggest concern on the day. That includes their struggling running game, which saw Woody Marks gain 66 yards on 19 carries.
C.J. Stroud Echoes DeMeco Ryans About Texans’ Issues
Stroud spoke candidly about the Texans’ penalty issues, sounding a lot like head coach DeMeco Ryans during his postgame presser.
“We got to find a way to get that fixed. It’s not winning football when you don’t give yourself a chance,” Stroud said. “Those are drive killers. So, we just got to find a way to help whoever needs help out. And at the end of the day, got to find a way to get it fixed.
Ryans went so far as to suggest the Texans could explore changes during the bye week.
However, the Texans’ latest loss has reignited speculation about what direction the franchise should go for the future, which should still include Stroud.
“The funniest part of Houston’s collapse this season is that C.J. Stroud has more than earned a $70M + APY contract and the roster talent is only going to get *worse* moving forward,” Texans Code Blue’s John Crumpler posted on X on October 25.
“Is this the coaching staff best suited to lead that next version of the team?”
Check out what @Housh84 had to say
Other fans lamented the offense’s failure to capitalize on their opportunities in the third and fourth quarter, as well as the fact that they had the ball first in overtime.
The Texans have the second-easiest strength of schedule through “Sunday Night Football” in Week 7, per Tankathon. However, their current record suggests they are closer to a rebuild (or at least a retool) and being a seller rather than a buyer as the trade deadline approaches.
Additionally, speculation about Stroud will reemerge if the Texans continue to flounder.
C.J. Stroud Planning to Have ‘Hard Conversations’ With Houston Texans