NFL offseason power rankings: No. 8 Houston Texans found a savior in C.J. Stroud

C.J. Stroud led the NFL in passing yards per game (Yahoo Sports/Gregory Hodge)

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If you could boil down C.J. Stroud’s unbelievable rookie season into one clip, it might not be one of his 23 touchdown passes or any other highlight play. It would be an answer to a postgame question from reporters. And it came after a loss.

Stroud did his best against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5, throwing a go-ahead touchdown to Dalton Schultz with 1:49 left. The Falcons rallied and won on a field goal as time expired. The media asked Stroud about that touchdown to Schultz. The answer was stunning.

Stroud talked about how, based on his film study, he anticipated the Falcons being in a coverage they’d used on a big third down earlier in the season, a “quarters, matchy, cover-4 look.” Stroud told Schultz, who was in his sixth NFL season, how to adjust his route to beat that anticipated coverage for what Stroud “thought would not only get us a first down but a touchdown.”

“I’m literally trying to, like, to break down exactly what I want from him in the huddle,” Stroud said. “At first I don’t think it registered, then he was like ‘I get it, I get it.’ Dalton is really smart and made a hell of a route.”

The Falcons called the coverage Stroud anticipated. Schultz beat safety Jessie Bates III, a Pro Bowler last season, for an 18-yard score.

Stroud, in his fifth game, instructed a six-year veteran on how to beat one of the best safeties in the NFL for a go-ahead score, and it worked. Some veteran quarterbacks of many NFL seasons might not have figured that out. A rookie barely a month into his first season did.

“Just being instinctive, trying to…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-22 12:33:27

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