It may not have been as bizarre as the 2002 regular season matchup between these two teams, when the Houston Texans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by 18 points despite being outgained 422-47, but it was pretty bizarre, nonetheless.
When you fumble the ball five times and lose it twice, in addition to throwing an interception, you probably should not win a football game. Unless, of course, you have the Texans' No. 1-ranked defense backing you up. In that case, don't be surprised if you not only win it, but do so by 24 points.
That's exactly what C.J. Stroud did on Monday night at Acrisure Stadium against Pittsburgh. No NFL player had ever won a playoff game with more than three fumbles, and the only other player in NFL history to win any game with five fumbles had been Eli Manning, more than 18 years ago.
C.J. Stroud makes history with an NFL playoff record no one saw coming
The good news (aside from the win)?
Manning went on to win the Super Bowl the same season. Like the Texans did on Monday night, the New York Giants benefited from two defensive touchdowns in their December 2007 road victory against the Buffalo Bills. The Giants won that game by a score of 38-21.
On Monday night, Stroud's performance left a lot to be desired, but he still performed far better than Manning did in 2007. Stroud completed 21 of his 32 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown, though he also threw an interception, good for a respectable passer rating of 86.7. He was sacked three times for six yards.
Eli, on the other hand, completed just seven of his 15 passes for 111 yards, and he threw two interceptions, good for a passer rating of 32.2. For reference, your passer rating is 39.6 if you spike the ball into the turf every play. He was sacked twice for 17 yards, and like Stroud, he lost two of his fumbles.
The record for most fumbles in an NFL game is shared by Chad Pennington and Kurt Warner. Pennington fumbled six times with the New York Jets in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005, while Warner fumbled six times with the St. Louis Rams in a loss against the Giants in 2003. The Jets lost by 20, and the Rams lost by 10.
Even in losses, no NFL player had recorded more than three fumbles in a playoff game until Stroud's performance on Monday night. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is the only other quarterback in NFL playoff history to fumble more than twice in a win, having done that in a win over the Miami Dolphins back in January 2023.
The Texans' 30-6 win means that they are now set to travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the No. 2 seed AFC East champion New England Patriots, who defeated the No. 7 seed Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night. The Texans are 1-7 all-time in Foxborough, including 0-2 in the playoffs, but they did win in their most recent trip there during the 2024 regular season.
The game is set to be shown live on ABC and ESPN beginning at 2:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, January 18.