Tag: 2023 wild-card playoffs

How Texans QB C.J. Stroud can rock Jim Schwartz’s Browns defense

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud vs. Jim Schwartz’s Browns defense is one of the best matchups of wild-card weekend. Here’s how it could play out.

Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik comes from the Kyle Shanahan tree, so you know that he wants to fool your defense with personnel. Slowik had been a defensive assistant and passing game coordinator under Shanahan both in Washington and San Francisco, so if there’s a 49ers-ish tint to what the Texans are doing, don’t be surprised.

One thing you’ll see from the Texans is explosive passing plays out of heavier personnel. It’s a Shanahan staple, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniels (Shanahan’s former run game coordinator in San Francisco) draws on it as much as anybody, and Slowik continues that trend. Rookie sensation C.J. Stroud has 62 explosive passing plays in the 2023 season, and 22 of those plays have come out of 12, 13, 21, and 22 personnel — with multiple tight ends and/or running backs on the field.

Why is this effective? In preparation for his team’s wild-card matchup with the Cleveland Browns’ outstanding defense, Slowik got into why he likes to run things the way he runs them.

“That was very intentional coming into the season that we did that,” Slowik said when asked why ne needs his personnel looks to be interchangeable. “Obviously in San Francisco that’s kind of how that offense was built. I was lucky and fortunate enough to be there kind of when that evolution happened and we really started getting different pieces like that with guys that could play multiple positions. Really, you just see how freeing it is as someone who has to game plan, as a play caller, but also, it’s freeing for the quarterback. Just being able to know, ‘Wherever I distribute this ball, on my four reads on this play, I trust and I love all these dudes. I want to get all of them the ball.’ That’s really important.”

Dec 24, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik smiles before the game against the Cleveland Browns at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Slowik also deploys different guys in different positions because it makes things easier for the quarterback, giving him more pure progression reads against match-style coverages.

“I feel like a lot of it now, more across the NFL, there’s more just zones and different versions of zones, in particular soft zones where you can’t always determine where the ball’s going when teams are doing that,” Slowik said. “So sometimes – I think that’s part of why a lot of NFL teams have gone to so much pure progressions where you just go from one to two to three because it just simplifies that whole process and at some point you know you have to get a completion, and you can’t always determine who that’s to. I know for us, that’s why we coach how you handle yards after the catch, how you handle transition, how you handle when the ball is thrown to you in eight yards or less, how we’re making the most of those opportunities and getting the most yards, getting vertical on that stuff.

“We coach that a lot, namely because those are the teams that it’s really hard to game plan against when you can’t pin-point where the ball is going and the quarterback has to go and distribute it all the way across the field. That would be the No. 1 thing to me.”

One thing Slowik knows he’s likely to see from Jim Schwartz’ Browns defense is single-high coverage. The Browns have played middle-of-the-field-closed coverage at a 64% clip, most in the NFL. Now, Schwartz loves to mix that up with different looks and inverted coverages, but you know what you’re going to get there. The task for Stroud, who missed Houston’s Week 16 loss to the Browns with a concussion, is to wade through all of that with the personnel he has. And that’s tough, because the Texans are missing a lot of their top receivers right now — Nathaniel “Tank” Dell is out, and Noah Brown and Robert Woods are questionable.

Fortunately, Stroud still has world-beater Nico Collins. And this is where the matchup could tilt in Houston’s favor.

Another bit of good news for the Texans is that Stroud has absolutely annihilated single-high coverage this season. Against Cover-1 and Cover-3, Stroud has completed 141 of 228 passes for 2,054 yards, 1,335 air yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 105.4 – only Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson have higher passer ratings against MOFC coverage this season. Stroud is great at challenging single-high with crossers underneath, and quick-to-intermediate out routes to displace cornerbacks playing to the numbers.

And it’s not just Collins. Stroud can find openings against anybody with heavy personnel, as he showed on this 26-yard pass to fullback Andrew Beck against the New York Jets in Week 14. It was a hard crosser underneath the Jets’ Cover-3, and another example of a great defense a step behind what Slowik drew up, and what Stroud executed.

Remember that Mays/Tice statistic regarding how the Browns stack the box as a default reaction to heavy personnel? Schwartz is smart enough to know what his own tendencies are, and how it might be time to switch things up.

CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 24: Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz of the Cleveland Browns looks on during the first half in the game against the Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

“Obviously a rookie, but has command that goes beyond usually the scope of a rookie,” Schwartz said this week of Stroud. “Decisive with the ball, accurate passer, buy some time time, makes big plays down the field. I think when it’s all said and done, the fact that he’s passed for as many yards as he has without turning the ball over is really impressive for a young guy. Usually the cost of doing business if you’re going to throw a lot of yards is you also turn the ball over a lot. It’s been impressive what he’s been able to do. We’re going to have to play tight coverage. We’re going to have to stay after him in the pass rush. We’re going to have to limit run after the catch because he does a good job of giving his guys opportunities to run after the catch, including Nico Collins. That’s one of the things he does best.”

Pair that with Slowik’s quote about why he aligns his passing structures against match stuff that limits YAC, and you have fodder for an amazing matchup.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep into this fascinating matchup.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” previewing every game in the wild-card slate, right here:

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