C.J. Stroud's High-Level Traits Were on Display in the Biggest Moment of the Season

What more can you say about C.J. Stroud? He finished his rookie season with more than 4,000 passing yards in just 15 games, a 23-5 TD-INT ratio, and a 100.8 passer rating. Each of those numbers are impressive on their own. But nothing from Stroud’s statistics has been as impressive as watching him on film and seeing the poise he plays with in every situation. You forget sometimes that he’s a rookie.

On Saturday night in a must-win game on the road against the Colts (a de facto playoff game), Stroud was outstanding. He completed 20 of 26 passes for 264 yards with 2 touchdown and no turnovers.

And in the 4th quarter with the score tied and the season on the line, he was perfect. He completed all 7 of his pass attempts for 82 yards on Houston’s game-winning touchdown drive, draining 7 minutes and 13 seconds off the clock in the process. More impressively, he overcame multiple negative plays and penalties that put Houston in 2nd-and-20, 2nd-and-14, and 2nd-and-13 situations.

The two plays I’ll highlight below from that final drive tell you everything you need to know about Stroud’s ability to understand the defense (as well as the situation) and see the field.

This first example was the 2nd-and-14 referenced above. The Colts would start in a 2-high look, as they did for much of the night, and then rotate to single-high. This would be man-free robber coverage:

This was a situation where the Texans needed to get some yards to make 3rd down more manageable. Stroud couldn’t just throw the ball away and live to play another down. A 3rd-and-14 would likely have led to a punt in the 4th quarter of a tie game.

So with all of his receivers locked up, Stroud started to move out of the pocket to try and create something.