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Ben Arthur
AFC South Reporter
C.J. Stroud was in the thick of the MVP race in November, a rare feat for a rookie.
His playcaller, 36-year-old Bobby Slowik, has been a hot head-coaching candidate this cycle, despite being a first-year offensive coordinator.
It shows how terrific both have been in the Texans’ stunning 2023 campaign — and they showed up again in the biggest game of the season to date for Houston.
Stroud and Slowik keyed an explosive offense in the Texans’ 45-14 wild-card rout Saturday of the Browns at NRG Stadium. Houston advanced to the divisional round for the first time since 2019, which is also the last time that the franchise was in the playoffs.
Stroud finished the game with 274 passing yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, a 76.1% completion rate and a 157.2 passer rating — the highest for a rookie in any NFL game (minimum 20 attempts). At 22 years old, he also became the youngest starting quarterback to win in the postseason. The Texans had 356 yards of offense and didn’t surrender a sack or turn the ball over against arguably the best defense in the NFL.
For Stroud, it added to what’s becoming a superstar résumé.
For Slowik, it proved to be a terrific audition for a head-coaching job that — either this year or next — seems inevitable.
The Texans’ defense also had an emphatic finish to the game, registering back-to-back pick-sixes in the third quarter. It’s the first unit to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a playoff game since the Seahawks in January 2008. But the dominance was started by an offense that was humming early to put Houston up 24-14 in the first half.
Success on that side of the ball was especially impressive because the Browns boast an elite defense under coordinator Jim Schwartz — even if it didn’t look like it Saturday. In the regular season, Cleveland ranked No. 1 in total defense, passing defense and third-down efficiency, led by Pro Bowl…
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Publish date : 2024-01-14 02:02:17
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