The Houston Texans are set to battle for the right to make their first ever trip to the AFC Championship Game in Sunday's Divisional Round tilt against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
The Texans are 0-6 all-time in the Divisional Round, with losses in each of the past two postseasons, but before this year, those six games had been their only road playoff games. They got their first road playoff win in franchise history this past Monday night with their Wild Card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and now they're aiming for another.
And they're doing it with a third-year quarterback who, all of a sudden, has three times as many career playoff victories as the rest of the AFC's remaining quarterbacks combined.
C.J. Stroud suddenly AFC's most experienced – and successful – playoff QB
Entering the playoffs, the first postseason not featuring the Kansas City Chiefs during the Patrick Mahomes era, there was a commonly held belief that if any year was going to be Josh Allen's year, this was it. But Allen, who entered the postseason with a career playoff record of 7-6, was eliminated on Saturday when his Buffalo Bills dropped a 33-30 overtime nailbiter to the Denver Broncos.
With Allen, who is now 8-7 in postseason play, eliminated, and the Texans having eliminated Aaron Rodgers, who is now 11-11 in postseason play, on Monday night, C.J. Stroud suddenly has the most postseason experience among all remaining AFC starting quarterbacks.
And he has also had the most playoff success.
Stroud has led the Texans to a playoff victory in each of his first three seasons since being drafted No. 2 overall out of Ohio State in 2023, and his career playoff record is 3-2. Only three other quarterbacks had ever started and won a playoff game in each of their first three seasons in the NFL.
While Denver's Bo Nix earned his first career playoff victory on Saturday, he has since been ruled out for the remainder of the postseason with a broken ankle, and the Broncos, as of now, plan to hand the reins over to veteran backup Jarrett Stidham.
Stidham hasn't attempted a postseason pass since the 2018 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, when his Auburn Tigers knocked off the Purdue Boilermakers by a score of 63-14.
Then there is Drake Maye, whose Patriots Stroud and the Texans must conquer in Foxborough on Sunday afternoon if they are to advance to the conference title game for the first time in franchise history.
Maye's first career playoff start, which resulted in a 16-3 victory over Justin Herbert (0-3 career playoff record) and the Los Angeles Chargers, came just one week ago.
It's a strange turn of events, to say the least. But with the usual cast of characters watching the remainder of the postseason from home, it's the 24-year-old Stroud who leads the AFC in terms of both career playoff experience and success.
If he can add to that success on Sunday with his fourth win in six career playoff starts, he can book the Texans a trip to Denver, and if he can add another victory next Sunday, he can book the Texans a trip to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.