Tag: Nico Collins

The Ravens know they’re dealing with a different C.J. Stroud this time around

The Ravens were able to contain C.J. Stroud in Week 1 of the regular season, but they know they’re dealing with a different Stroud in the divisional round.

We all know now that Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is one of the most remarkable rookies ever to play his position in professional football. But Stroud’s NFL debut had its rocky moments. Let’s take you back to Week 1 of the 2023 season, when Stroud had to face the Baltimore Ravens’ multi-faceted defense in Baltimore.

The Ravens won, 25-9, and Stroud completed 28 of 44 passes for 242 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 78.0. Stroud took five sacks. He was pressured on 25 of his 54 dropbacks, completing 11 of 17 passes for 78 yards. He attempted two passes of 20 or more air yards, completing neither. And play-action wasn’t a strength at that point, as Stroud completed four of eight play-action passes for… 26 yards.

“Honestly, just really the little things,” Stroud said after that game, when asked what he learned from the experienced. “It was football at the end of the day. Just getting out of the huddle, getting the plays clean, getting guys lined up and getting the play clock, things like that. I think those are the things that kind of hindered us a little bit. And then, just being more efficient in the red zone. So those are things I would definitely get better on.”

Yeah… so far, so good. Since Week 2 of the regular season, and including his demolition of the Cleveland Browns’ top-ranked defense in the wild-card round, Stroud has become the NFL’s most efficient deep passer, with 35 deep completions in 59 attempts for a league-high 1,213 yards, nine touchdowns, no interceptions, and a league-high passer rating of 143.2. With play-action, he’s completed 77 of 117 passes for 1,416 yards, 10 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 128.7 — only Brock Purdy (141.0) of the San Francisco 49ers has a better play-action passer rating than Stroud’s. And when under pressure since Week 2, Stroud has completed 71 of 137 passes for 903 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 80.0.

The Ravens have seen more than enough to know that the C.J. Stroud they handled in Week 1 is no longer that guy.

“Well, we were really impressed the first game, too,” defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald said Wednesday. “We knew going into the game that — if you remember me talking about it back then – we didn’t feel like you were going against a rookie at that point. So, you’re just seeing the natural progression over the course of the season just being more comfortable in the system. You can tell the system’s growing around [C.J. Stroud], and they’ve evolved as we have as well. I think that’s what you’re seeing, but [I] definitely have a lot of respect for what they’re doing and how he operates.”

“You would think, but not really,” edge-rusher Odafe Oweh said this week, regarding whether Week 1 will be a guide for anything. “I feel like [the Texans] are a whole different team, [and] C.J.  is a whole different quarterback. I feel like we woke them up, and we matured them, and he’s been balling ever since. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and everything, but I feel like everyone on that team is a little different. In the playoffs, obviously, people play harder, so we’ve got to come with a different energy as well.” 

Linebacker Roquan Smith agreed.

“I think they’re definitely improved, but so are we when you look at it. Yes, they do a lot of good things. [No.] 26 [Devin Singletary] is running the ball well. [No.] 7 [C.J. Stroud] is very accurate, and then [No.] 12 [Nico Collins], the receiver, is definitely coming on. The offense is definitely clicking, but we wouldn’t want it any other way. We’re prepared for it, and we’re ready to go to war regardless of who it’s against, and they’re the team that’s coming in here. Business is business handled.” 

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into how Stroud is different, and what the Ravens will need to do to at least contain him.

You can watch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os,” featuring all the most important matchups of the divisional round, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to “The Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

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Ravens will face Texans in divisional round of AFC playoffs

The Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans will face off in the divisional round of the playoffs in a rematch of a Week 1 meeting

The Ravens are back from their first-round bye, and they know their opponent after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Thanks to the dominant play of Josh Allen, Baltimore will host the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium in a rematch of a 25-9 season-opening win.

In that game, rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 28 of 44 passing attempts for 242 yards in his NFL regular-season debut but didn’t lead any touchdown-scoring drives.

Odell Beckham had two catches for 38 yards as he deferred to the rookie Zay Flowers in his debut.

Playing in his first game after a ten-month absence, Lamar Jackson was 17-22 passing for 169 yards and one interception while finishing with a 79.5 rating.

Jackson looked rusty at times but was efficient, had 38 yards rushing, and avoided nasty hits.

This is a different Houston team, and the Texans are flying high after dismantling the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round opener.

Browns’ refusal to adapt on defense cost them dearly against C.J. Stroud

The Browns lost their wild-card game against the Texans because Jim Schwartz, their usually brilliant DC, refused to adapt to C.J. Stroud.

If you were to point to one factor that ended the Cleveland Browns’ 2023 season with their 45-14 loss to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round, you might say that Joe Flacco’s pick-sixes on consecutive drives. That obviously wasn’t beneficial, but it’s important to note that the Texans already had a 24-14 lead before Flacco’s first pick-six with 6:05 left in the third quarter, and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had completed 11 of 16 passes for 236 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 151.0 in the first half alone.

As great as Stroud has been throughout his rookie season, this was a bit of a surprise. Jim Schwartz’s Browns defense came into this game ranked second in Defensive DVOA and second in Pass Defense DVOA, behind only the Baltimore Ravens in both instances. But Schwartz refused to bend to the one reality he had right in front of him — that Stroud was set up well to take advantage of the Browns’ primary coverage concept.

In the regular season, the Browns played single-high coverage — either Cover-1 or Cover-3 on 64% of their snaps, the NFL’s highest rate.

But C.J. Stroud against Cover-1 and Cover-3 in the regular season? Try 141 of 228 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 had higher passer ratings against middle-of-the-field closed coverage in the regular season.

How that played out in this game was in no way beneficial to Schwartz and his players. Stroud faced single-high coverage on 16 of his 21 passing attempts in the game, and at no time did Stroud have to deal with any kind of wrinkle pre-snap to post-snap to muddy the picture and delay his reads and throws.

The worst part may have been that this was the plan going in.

“I think playoffs come down to who can be themselves the best, if that makes sense,” Schwartz said last Wednesday. “Can we be the best version of ourselves versus the Texans being the best version of themselves? I think that’s when it’s all said and done. You’ve got 17 games under your belt. There’s not a whole lot you’re going to pull out that another team hasn’t seen. And really at this point of the year, people are going with what they do best. I think that has a lot to do with it. I really can’t worry about him and how he’ll treat the game.”

Sure, but assuming that a rookie quarterback (no matter how advanced) has already seen everything you might throw at him, so you’re just going to do your thing, no matter how good he might be against it? That’s a bit of a stretch, and in the end, that cost the Browns the game more than anything else.

Edge-rusher Myles Garrett confirmed this after the game.

“[Schwartz] said from the beginning he’s going to ride with what got us here, and he’s not going to change up. There’s not going to be any magic call that’s going to get us out of anything or get us through anything. I guess they were just doing things a little bit different that kept us off balance, and I think just the tempo which they were doing it, whether it was running the ball a little bit differently than we had expected, getting the ball out on time, trying to just delay us enough up front to get the ball to their skill players and make plays. We have to be able to make plays all across the field, not just up front or not just on the back end. It’s all together.”

And that’s the problem — you never want to be behind the schematic eight-ball when you don’t need to be. The play shown above is Stroud’s 27-yard completion to receiver John Metchie with 1:34 left in the first quarter; it was not the first or last time that Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s single-high beaters foiled Cleveland’s attempts to stop them.

This 21-yard pass to receiver Nico Collins with 11:51 left in the first quarter — the Texans’ second offensive play of the game — had Collins running the deep over out of 21 personnel — two backs, one tight end, and two receivers. Noah Brown’s vertical route from the left side cleared safety Juan Thornhill, who had to watch Brown and Collins at the same time, and afforded Stroud an easy read and throw underneath, with cornerback Denzel Ward a step behind Collins.

Stroud’s 76-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brevin Jordan with 12:13 left in the first half was a simple leak to the flat out of 22 personnel — two tight end and two backs — but as Greg Cosell and I detailed in our game preview, the Browns will tend to gear up for the run against heavy personnel (hat tip to Robert Mays and Nate Tice of The Athletic Football Show for the actual numbers) no matter the down and distance. Slowik had to know this, and he had to know that if Schwartz didn’t flip the script, his young quarterback could feast. That’s what happened here.

This is not to malign Jim Schwartz as a defensive coordinator — he’s as responsible as anybody for the Browns’ turnaround this season. But Schwartz may spend some time this offseason wondering why he didn’t tailor his game plan more to Houston’s extraordinary young quarterback — and the offensive genius behind that quarterback’s most meaningful plays.

Texans stomp Browns 45-14, advance to divisional round

The Houston Texans pulled way ahead in the second half to beat the Cleveland Browns.

The magic continues for first year head coach DeMeco Ryans and the Houston Texans after the 45-14 win over the Cleveland Browns in the wild card round.

As recently as Christmas Eve, the Houston Texans were embarrassed by Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco and receiver Amari Cooper in a 36-22 loss during Week 16. After winning the AFC South the last week of the season, they had the opportunity to take advantage.

The Texans certainly capitalized.

Houston beat Cleveland 45-14 in a dominant victory that saw the Texans put together their most complete game of the season on both sides of the ball. They led throughout most of the first half, going to the locker room up, 24-14, and never looked back.

Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud fueled the early lead and he finished with 274 yards and 3 touchdowns against the NFL’s best defense of the 2023 season. His season long connection with receiver Nico Collins and tight end Dalton Schultz was once again on display.

Collins had 6 receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown. Schultz overcame an early drop with a 37-yard touchdown catch before the end of the first half. Joining in the offensive explosion, third-year tight end Brevin Jordan had Houston’s longest offensive play of the season with a 76-yard receiving touchdown on a tight end screen.

It was the best game of the season from offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and the team could seemingly do no wrong. Running back Devin Singletary took 13 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown while pacing the offense before Davis Mills and the backups were able to take over with around 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Of course, there’s no blowout with DeMeco Ryans and his defense playing ravenous football.

If Joe Flacco had been on a Cinderella run, it came crashing back down to earth on Saturday. The third quarter saw Flacco throw consecutive pick-sixes, one to Steven Nelson and the other to linebacker Christian Harris, while facing constant pressure. Flacco finished with 307 yards and a touchdown but couldn’t overcome the two turnovers for scores.

Flacco was pressured on 15 of his drop backs, Will Anderson Jr. had 7 while Derek Barnett had 6. Anderson and Barnett both had sacks while Harris and defensive tackle Kurt Hinish chipped in their own for a total of 4 on the day.

No Browns running back went for more than 30 yards as the defense suffocated Cleveland on the ground and forced them to become one dimensional. Amari Cooper, who had over 200 receptions on the first contest, had just 4 receptions for 59 yards in the rematch as Houston found answers.

It was a dominant victory in what has been an incredible debut season for Ryans and Stroud in turning around the Houston Texans. It’s the kind of win that will inspire major confidence in the divisional round, potentially see coaches like Bobby Slowik have opportunities to become a head coach, and ultimately one that signals the team will a force to consider in Super Bowl conversations for years to come.

The Texans will now await the results of the next 2 AFC playoffs games to see where the playoff road will take them.

C.J. Stroud has been killing single-high coverage all season, and the Browns didn’t get it

C.J. Stroud and the Texans chopped up the Browns’ usually stingy defense in the first half, and here’s how they did it.

Before Saturday’s wild-card game between the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns got started, it was clear that one key factor was going to be how often the Browns play single-high coverage vs. how Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud demolishes one-deep stuff.

The Browns played single-high on 64% of their defensive snaps in the regular season, the NFL’s highest rate. But Stroud against Cover-1 and Cover-3 in the regular season? He completed 141 of 228 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 Middle-of-the-field closed coverage this season.

It took little time for Stroud to show his mastery of single-high stuff in this game. With 11 seconds left in the first quarter, Stroud hit receiver Nico Collins on this fake-toss/Tunnel screen for a 15-yard touchdown.

The Browns had Juan Thornhill as their only deep safety.

Then, with 12:00 left in the first half, Stroud completed this 76-yard touchdown to tight end Brevin Jordan.

This time, Ronnie Hickman was the only deep safety on the bootleg pass.

Not that Schwartz moving to two-high helped much. Stroud’s third touchdown pass of the first half — a 37-yarder to tight end Dalton Schultz — saw the Browns with two deep safeties, and some miscommunication issues. Meanwhile, Stroud was once again showing outstanding deep touch when required.

At the half, Stroud was already setting rookie postseason records against one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses. And offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik is putting together quite a head coach resume.

Texans counter Browns score with C.J. Stroud TD pass

The Texans and Browns were in a tight game after the first quarter

The Houston Texans regained the lead in their AFC Wild Card Game with the Cleveland Browns on Saturday.

The AFC South champs got a touchdown pass from rookie star C.J. Stroud to Nico Collins, who has become a lethal threat.

After the PAT, it was 10-7 Texans at the end of the first quarter.

Houston had scored first on a field goal but Joe Flacco led a six-play, 75-yard drive that concluded with a short run by Kareem Hunt.

Both offenses, particularly the quarterbacks, were seeing early success.

Flacco was 9-of-10 for 129 yards in the first 15 minutes; Stroud was 6-of-10 for 107 yards.

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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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

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How C.J. Stroud’s heroics kept Texans’ postseason hopes alive

In the biggest moment of his young career, Texans rookie C.J. Stroud rose to the occasion vs. Colts to help send Houston to the postseason.

By now, every NFL football fan in the country knows that the Houston Texans are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019. If that information is new to you, you must have missed the rambunctious cheers coming from Houston last weekend when the Texans defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 23-19, to advance to the postseason.

For the Texans to punch their ticket, they needed their fearless young rookie quarterback to have a moment that they believed would happen, that they knew could happen, and watched as it happened. But he could not do it alone. He would also need wide receiver Nico Collins to continue to have the lights-out performance he was having on the day.

With the score tied at 17 early in the fourth quarter, Stroud took the field at 13:27 and began to put on a master class in handling pressure and adversity on the eventual game-winning drive that would have had most veteran quarterbacks folding under the anxiety and stress with so much on the line.

Stroud didn’t get nervous on second down, needing 14 yards to move the chains when the pocket started collapsing around him. The former two-time Heisman finalist from Ohio State scrambled to buy himself and his receivers more time to make a play, a drill the offense works on every Thursday during game preparations.

As former teammate Jacob Martin barreled down on Stroud, he threw the ball toward the Texans’ sideline. To the untrained eye, it looked as if the ball was being thrown away, which was wise given the circumstances, yet Stroud and Collins knew precisely what the plan was when the play began to break down.

“I think it was pressure, so C.J. had to do what he had to,” said Collins, who finished the game with 195 yards receiving and one touchdown. “I seen him scrambling, so I was going to work with him. The same thing we have been doing every Thursday right before practice, scramble dills and off scheduled plays.

“I seen him scrambling and he was about to go to the right, my left, his right, and I was about to go with him and then I seen he was going back so I ran and tried to get in his picture. He just threw it in the air and put enough air under it and I said, ‘Oh yea, I got time to go and get that.’ I got it, laid out and moved the sticks for the team. I felt like that was a big play. We needed it.”

The play even amazed Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik as he watched it unfold.

“I was floored,” Slowik said. “C.J. [Stroud] told me, you can see my reaction on tape. I thought it was a special play by two guys who are just incredible football players. When he let it go, I had an idea of what he was doing. I was standing way in the back, so I can kind of see all of the eligible, and Nico [Collins] happened to break right when C.J. was letting it go, but it looked like C.J. maybe changed where he was going with the ball mid-throw.

“When he first let it go, I thought it was just a safe throw-away, and then as it was hanging in the air, I thought it had a chance, and then Nico made an unbelievable catch. I think I lost my mind for about five seconds, and the guys had to get me back ready to call the next play. It was an incredible play by two really good players on a critical drive in the game.”

Stroud finished that drive without an incompletion, and his final pass to Collins on the day helped put Houston in scoring position as the running back carried the ball into the end zone from three yards out on the next play to give the Texans the lead and eventually the game.

5 statistical takeaways from Texans’ Week 18 victory

Here are five reasons why the Houston Texans took down the Indianapolis Colts to secure a playoff spot Saturday.

The Houston Texans secured their spot in the playoffs in a pivotal victory Saturday night 23-19 over the Indianapolis Colts. Later, they won the AFC South when the Jacksonville Jaguars fell on the road to the division rival Tennessee Titans.

As such, it’s created one of the best stories in the NFL. After winning just seven games the past two seasons combined, head coach DeMeco Ryans has won 10 games and gifted the city where he once played their first playoff game (and home playoff game) since 2019. They’ll get a rematch with the Cleveland Browns, who easily dismantled Houston without C.J. Stroud in Week 16.

Even as the team turns its focus towards the playoffs, there are still some important takeaways from the team’s gutsy performance over the Colts in what was essentially a playoff game. Here are five takeaways looking at the advanced metrics from Saturday’s huge victory.

C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins combine to give Houston Texans the ideal passing attack

C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins of the Texans proved Saturday night that they’re ready to face any defense. Just in time for the playoffs.

Before we get into what the Houston Texans did to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night, we should remind you what quarterback C.J. Stroud did without. The Texans had lost receivers Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, Robert Woods, and Noah Brown to injury — three of their top five receivers on the season. And it didn’t matter one bit. Partially because Stroud was in as much of a zone as we’ve seen from him in his nearly-sure Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, and partially because receiver Nico Collins decided to become some unholy combination of Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans.

In the 23-19 win that put the Texans in the playoffs and eliminated the Colts from the postseason, Stroud completed 20 of 26 passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 134.1. Stroud’s poise in and out of the pocket, ball placement, understanding of reads and coverages, and ability to sustain big plays through a game have been evident all season long, and never more so than in this game. And in his first prime-time NFL contest, Stroud proved it all the way through.

“C.J. – he doesn’t surprise me,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game. “We’ve talked about it earlier in the week with C.J. just being special in these big-time moments. When we need him most to step up and make plays, he has done it time after time throughout the entire year. It’s not surprising to anyone. That’s who he is. He is one of the best passers in this league, and he shows it consistently game in and game out.”

No argument there, and let’s review the details of what both Stroud and Collins were able to do.