Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is looking like the obvious selection for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and every week he manages to show why he’s a legitimate franchise quarterback.
He’s even fooling his opponents into making back-breaking mistakes.
With the Texans lining up to go for it on fourth down in the first quarter, a flag was thrown pre-snap for a false start on Houston. That should have been the end of it, but Stroud noticed that the Broncos’ Alex Singleton continued his pursuit after the whistle. Stroud didn’t back down at all. Instead, he got into Singleton’s face, and the Broncos linebacker took the bait.
You better believe the Texans have C.J. Stroud's back đ¤ pic.twitter.com/69rt5ybRhm
— NFL on CBS đ (@NFLonCBS) December 3, 2023
Singleton’s helmet made contact with Stroud’s, and once he added a shove, flags were thrown for a personal foul. And sure, the shove was soft, but Singleton cannot lose his cool like that in a fourth-down situation. After all, refs are going to protect the quarterback, and they always flag the retaliation.
The penalty gifted the Texans with a first down and they quickly scored a touchdown on a Dameon Pierce run.
The sequence gave fans another reason to be impressed with Stroud.