Tag: C.J. Stroud interception

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans wants C.J. Stroud to keep attacking

Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans would prefer QB C.J. Stroud continue driving the ball downfield so long as he learns from his mistakes.

C.J. Stroud threw three interceptions in the 21-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11. The Houston Texans’ rookie even underscored that he would keep shooting — a la, Stephen Curry — and stay aggressive with his reads.

Coach DeMeco Ryans has no problem with Stroud staying aggressive, albeit with a significant caveat: learning from the mistakes.

“I love C.J.’s attitude about him continuing to shoot like Curry, and that’s the only way you continue to get better,” Ryans told reporters Nov. 20. “You learn from your mistakes, and you continue to attack it, and that’s how I want C.J. to approach the game. I want him to approach the game with an ‘attack first’ mindset, and we’re not going to hold back just because he made mistakes.”

While Stroud had three interceptions, his 27-for-37 for 336 yards and two touchdowns were effective enough to win Houston its third straight and setup a first-place division matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 12 at NRG Stadium.

“He also made a lot of big plays for us in that game,” said Ryans. “So, we won’t let three or four negative plays affect how he plays the game. We continue to trust him, continue to lean on him and his leadership and what he’s done for our offense. We’re in a position that we’re in because of his play, and we’ll continue to lean on him.”

Kickoff with the Jaguars is at 12:00 p.m. Central Time.

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Texans QB C.J. Stroud will continue ‘letting it fly’ after 3 INT game

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud wasn’t particularly affected by his three interceptions thrown in Week 11 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud threw three interceptions in the team’s 21-16 victory over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday at NRG Stadium.

What makes the event noteworthy is the No. 2 overall pick came into Week 11 with just two interceptions chucked for his whole nine-game career. Stroud was the model citizen for ball security entering Week 11.

After such a turnover-laden effort, Stroud told reporters after the game he still intends to play with the same aggressive style when dropping back.

“I’ll be okay,” Stroud said. “And, man, Steph Curry don’t ever stop shooting. I’m going to keep letting it ride and I’ve got no shame in my game. I’ve definitely got to be smarter — no confidence is taken away from me. I’m going to keep letting it fly. There are things where it can go either way and they got the better of me today — that’s just the NFL.”

Stroud acknowledged that his teammates picked him and helped eliminate the cost of his mistakes on the field against the Cardinals.

Said Stroud: “And I think that’s what makes me great — is that those times where you either get away with it or you don’t, or you make the play — you don’t. I’ve been blessed enough to have plays where nobody talks about it because they don’t make the play. But this game, they made the plays and that’s not going to skew my confidence one bit. I’m going to keep being me. I think I’m very confident, not only in myself, but how we’re playing as offense and the whole.”

What Stroud recognized is he is still in the learning process, even though he has had immense success.

“I’m still learning as I’m going, and I’m really blessed to be able to do it with such a special group of guys,” said Stroud. “No, man, my confidence is still there. I’ll just keep doing what I do.”

Stroud finished the game going 27-of-37 for 336 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions, and taking three sacks.

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Twitter reacts the Texans’ 21-16 win over the Cardinals

The Houston Texans held forth against the Arizona Cardinals, 21-16, in Week 11. Twitter was full of comments surrounding the matchup.

The Houston Texans have been put back together. While expectations for playoff qualification may vary from fan to fan, at least everyone can agree the Texans are fun to watch again. No longer are they are moribund franchise waiting for enough draft capital to collect or terrible contracts to expire. The Texans are at least interesting when their slot comes up on NFL RedZone.

Riding a two-game winning streak, the Texans seemed to be favorites against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11. However, Kyler Murray made Houston sweat. The Texans’ 21-16 win wasn’t easy, and it earned commentary from social media along the way.

Here are some of the best remarks from Twitter.

Texans WR Nico Collins says C.J. Stroud did not allow interception rattle him

Houston Texans receiver Nico Collins says rookie C.J. Stroud had a poise following his first career interception that showed all would be right.

HOUSTON — For 10 seconds on Sunday, Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud experienced a feeling that had eluded him during the first five games of his NFL career. He threw his first interception after going 191 pass attempts without one. The second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft had broken Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s record of 176, entering into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints with 186.

On the Texans’ second offensive drive of the game, Stroud dropped back and saw his tight end Dalton Schultz in what he thought was open space until Saints linebacker Zack Braun came from the left side of the field and intercepted the pass. As he tried to make his way up the field, Braun had the ball punched out from behind by wide receiver Nico Collins, and offensive lineman Tytus Howard recovered it.

That was the roughest ten seconds Stroud would experience all game as he would lead his team on a six-play, 59-yard scoring drive capped off by a Schultz 1-yard touchdown pass after the interception on their way to a 20-13 defeat of the Saints to improve Houston’s record to 3-3 heading into the bye week.

“That just shows you what type of dude he is,” said Collins. “He is calm and collected, and that bad play is over with. We got the ball back and time to go score and put some points on the board, and that is what we did. We executed, and it is only going to get better for him, and we are going to continue to have his back and keep growing as a unit.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans has been preaching about Stroud’s resiliency since training camp, and he was not surprised that his rookie quarterback shook off the turnover and proceeded with the game plan set by offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. His execution after the interception that even some of the players forgot it happened.

 “I don’t know what interception you are talking about, we seen Nico knock the ball out, and we kept possession,” said a smiling Robert Woods, who caught a touchdown pass from Stroud against the Saints. “He is a resilient quarterback, just playing football. We were able to stay on the field, fortunately. He is a poised quarterback, always driving the ball downfield, and he didn’t change his demeanor after throwing one. He stayed attacking and pushing their defense.”

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C.J. Stroud says Texans expressed confidence in his play following interception

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud relayed his teammates’ confidence after he threw his first career interception in Week 6.

Not many people experience their first interception the way C.J. Stroud did.

Chiefly no one gets to pass attempt 196 on their career — which is where Stroud was when he chucked the turnover with 6:05 to go in the first quarter against the New Orleans Saints Sunday at NRG Stadium.

Secondly no gets an immediate do-over and keep the drive alive. Thanks to receiver Nico Collins’ strip of linebacker Zack Baun, the Texans were able to keep possession as left guard Tytus Howard dove on the loose ball at the Houston 41-yard line.

Stroud attributed the giveaway to part of the “ups and downs” of the sport. On the sidelines and in the huddle shortly thereafter, Stroud found encouragement from the staff and teammates.

“My teammates were like, ‘You’ve got this, let’s go,'” Stroud said. “I looked back, and [coach] DeMeco (Ryans) was like, ‘You’ve got it.’ I could see it in his eyes, that he cared about how I was going to respond. For me, that meant a lot just for them to have trust and faith in me. And, I’m going to have trust and faith in myself too.”

The No. 2 overall pick was able to learn immediately from his mistake within the drive rather than going to the bench and watching a replay on his tablet. Stroud was able to make the necessary corrections to keep Houston’s drive going. Six plays later, Stroud connected with tight end Dalton Schultz for a 1-yard touchdown to give Houston a 7-0 lead with 3:45 to go in the first.

“Excited that we went down and scored,” said Stroud. “I thought that was really big. A lot of other things I can clean up, like some things I probably did worse than the interception that wasn’t really highlighted. So, for me just getting better.”

Stroud finished the game going 13-of-27 for 199 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and posted an 82.2 passer rating.

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WATCH: QB C.J. Stroud throws first interception but Texans still keep possession

C.J. Stroud chucked his first interception, but it didn’t end up hurting the Houston Texans.

Sooner or later, you knew C.J. Stroud’s streak was going to come to an end.

The Houston Texans’ No. 2 overall pick saw his pass attempts streak to start a career without an interception come to an end at 192 Sunday against the New Orleans Saints at NRG Stadium in Week 6. Linebacker Zack Baun picked off Stroud, but coughed up the football when receiver Nico Collins came to the rescue. Left guard Tytus Howard fell on the football, and the Texans were able to continue their drive despite Stroud’s first turnover through the air.

Stroud made up for his error with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dalton Schultz, who was the target of the interception.

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