We're now over two weeks removed from the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, where the Houston Texans' season ended for the third consecutive year. And as you surely are aware, the blame hammer has come down on CJ Stroud swiftly and relentlessly ever since his four interception performance against the New England Patriots.
There's no way around the fact that Stroud picked an awfully inconvenient time to have the worst game of his NFL career, but somewhat predictably, the discourse around this admittedly abysmal performance has conveniently left out some details that at least partially explain why things went south so fast.
First, the weather in Foxborough was horrendous, which is par for the course in mid-January. Sure, Stroud played his college ball in Columbus, but the latest he ever played a home game at Ohio State was on the final Saturday of November.
Second, even though the New England Patriots are still being viewed as a fluky Super Bowl participant, it's a defense that ranked 4th in scoring and 8th in yards allowed during the regular season. You can nitpick if you'd like, but there's plenty of talent on that side of the ball, they're well-coached, and in the regular season and postseason combined, they've allowed just 16.6 points per game at home.
Third, and this point may be the most important, Stroud was playing without leading receiver Nico Collins, who was concussed in Houston's Wild Card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now nevermind the fact that the Texans were without Tank Dell and Joe Mixon all season, not having Collins, who ranks 7th in the NFL in receiving yards per game since the start of the 2023 season, was a knockout punch for a Texans offense that was already on rubber legs.
There's no telling if CJ Stroud would've had such a catastrophic performance if Nico Collins had been able to play, but what we can safely assume is that Stroud would've been at least moderately more comfortable if his preferred target in the passing game was on the field.
Unfortunately, Collins could only watch from the sideline as Stroud unraveled in real time, but now after two weeks of separation from the loss, the Pro Bowl receiver still has no doubts about his QB.
"The dude's a baller, man," Collins told Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. "One freak of an athlete. So, I'm excited for next year. Just can't wait to get back on the field with the guys, get back grinding, and continue to be great."
Can Stroud be great again is the $200 million question that the Houston Texans have to answer sometime relatively soon. With a possible extension looming, the Texans can't feel great about making a financial commitment as large as this one to a quarterback who has seemingly regressed over the two seasons since his Rookie of the Year campaign. And for a second, forget the regression... what will this postseason do to CJ Stroud's psyche?
Fortunately for Stroud, he has the entire Texans franchise publicly backing him, with various coaches and teammates speaking out in support of the 24-year-old quarterback.
Nico Collins is the latest Texan to come to Stroud's defense.
"Just keep your head up," Collins said when asked what his message to Stroud has been since the loss. "Like, it's not the way we want to end, you know what I'm saying? Our goal was to go to the Super Bowl, but things happen. Just keep being you, brother. Don't let this one game define who you are. We all know who you are. Keep being a star. Keep being a leader you are. Keep being the light in the room and just keep being you."