C.J. Stroud’s historic rookie season reached its end on Saturday night.
After leading the Houston Texans to the AFC South title and a first-round win over the Cleveland Browns last weekend, Stroud was unable to keep his first NFL campaign going as the Texans suffered a 34-10 divisional-round defeat to the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
Going against a Ravens defense that led the NFL during the regular season with only 16.5 points allowed per game, Stroud completed only 19 of 33 passing attempts for 175 yards with zero touchdown passes – just the fourth time all year between the regular season and postseason that Stroud was held without a touchdown pass.
Stroud had a couple of highlight-reel third-down throws in the first half, a 26-yard pass to Devin Singletary and a 29-yard completion to Nico Collins, and the game went into halftime tied 10-10. Stroud and the Texans’ offense were unable to get anything going in the second half, however, allowing Baltimore to pull away for a decisive victory.
Despite Saturday’s disappointing ending, Stroud’s first season as an NFL quarterback was an undeniable success. He’s a virtual lock to win this year’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award, which will be presented during the NFL Honors on Feb. 8, after leading all quarterbacks who started at least half of their teams’ games during the regular season with 273.9 passing yards per game and a 23-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Although he missed two games with a concussion, Stroud threw for the third-most total passing yards of any rookie quarterback in NFL history (4,108) behind only Andrew Luck (4,374) and Justin Herbert (4,336).
Stroud had multiple record-breaking performances during the regular season. He started his career by attempting 191 passes without throwing an interception, the longest such streak to start an NFL career. He later set the rookie record for single-game passing yards and tied the rookie record for single-game touchdown passes when he threw for 470 yards and five touchdowns in the Texans’ 39-37 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He followed that with one of the best playoff debuts ever for an NFL rookie quarterback in the wild card round, throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns – tying the rookie record for touchdown passes in a playoff game – while leading the Texans to a 45-14 win over the Browns.
Led Houston to 10-7 record and division title
— NFL (@NFL) January 21, 2024
Won first career Playoff start
Led NFL in pass YPG
All as a rookie.
The best is yet to come for C.J. Stroud. pic.twitter.com/fL0jl3XDCy
Stroud’s first NFL season was easily the best season ever for a quarterback who finished his collegiate career at Ohio State. His 4,108 yards and 23 passing touchdowns during the regular season were both the most ever for a Buckeye quarterback, while his 274 yards and three touchdowns against the Browns were both playoff records for a quarterback who finished his career at OSU.
Going into the 2023 season, few expected the Texans to finish the year with a winning record let alone win a playoff game. Stroud was the biggest reason why the Texans exceeded expectations, giving them reason to be very excited about their potential for the future with the former Ohio State quarterback leading their offense.
