The Metchie drop symbolized the offense throughout the entire season. Missed opportunities The 4 sacks: 1 was on a great play by Chop. Fisher did what he had to. 2 were on the new 'LG', one of those 2 could have been JP but Howard had the guilty look. The last one was on predictability. 3rd and short but you have Dare, who hasn't had a non special teams carry in 8 weeks. They're just teeing off. No threat to run it.
I noticed that, I try not to read too much into it but at times he doesn't seem to be having fun......maybe it's just me. He was a game manager yesterday, very efficient. IMO the OC needs to change this off season, it's not helping CJ and at the end of the day that's what I care about
haven't seen the replay yet, but the radio broadcast seemed to think that was 6 had he caught it. One looked like the LDE was offside (and Andre said as much on the radio). Kinda unfair to pin that on Fisher. Again on the radio, Dre made the same point about Dare being a big tell when he comes on. Need to mix in a draw or something as a tendency breaker. You'd think the Texans' defensive coaches would have picked up on it via self scouting over the bye week.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5998805/2024/12/17/nfl-qb-stock-report-rankings-c-j-stroud-texans/ Houston Texans sensation C.J. Stroud had a chance to solidify himself this season among the NFL’s elite class of quarterbacks. The No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft was an easy choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year. During training camp, The Athletic asked coaches and executives which three quarterbacks they’d take to start a franchise from scratch, with Stroud appearing on 16 of 27 ballots. Only Patrick Mahomes received more votes. Instead, Stroud’s projected jump has been on hold. He hasn’t been bad this season, but his performance has dipped — and so has his standing in these rankings. This is the first time Stroud has found himself outside of the top 10. One executive said Stroud has been “not playing anywhere near (as well as) last year” when he was so dominant that he dramatically accelerated the Texans’ rebuild by leading them to their first AFC South title in four years. Two statistics stand out. First, Stroud led the NFL in 2023 with 273.9 passing yards per game, but it has dropped to 232.0 this season, ranking 17th. He also led the league as a rookie by throwing interceptions on 1 percent of his passes, but that’s doubled to 2 percent (16th in the NFL) this season. “I don’t expect C.J. to be a guy who dips and will continue to struggle,” a second executive said. “I think he’ll figure it out, and they’ll figure it out as a team. They have enough weapons. The way they’ve run the ball will take pressure off him.” Stroud’s issues have stemmed from protection problems on the offensive line. He’s already taken more sacks this season than as a rookie (45 to 38), and he’s been sacked on nearly 9 percent of his dropbacks, an increase of about 2 percent. “He’s getting the s— beat out of him,” the second executive said. “He’s been getting hit all year. When C.J. is under pressure, the play is going to drop off. When you’re not comfortable and don’t trust what’s around you, that’s not surprising as a young quarterback. I don’t think he’s regressed. I think he’s just sped up with the progressions and the throws, and that hurts accuracy.” The hits can be impossible for even the best quarterbacks to overcome, let alone the younger signal callers who are still developing. When the Texans lost three of four earlier this season to the Lions, Jets, Colts (win) and Packers, Stroud took 18 sacks and was hit 17 more times. Of course, it also hasn’t helped that top receiver Nico Collins missed five games with a hamstring injury, star wideout Stefon Diggs tore his ACL in Week 8 and running back Joe Mixon missed three early games with a high ankle sprain. So no, Stroud hasn’t dazzled the way he did as a rookie, but it’s also understandable. Add in the defensive adjustments that young quarterbacks face, the lack of pass protection and the injuries around Stroud, and it’s been enough to rock his typically steady composure. “People in the scouting community were interested to see how this offense and the player would adjust in Year 2 when teams had a year to study, adjust and learn what he does well and what he struggles with,” a third executive said. “Now it’s up to the offensive staff and the player to adjust if they can.” It’s also fair to point out that Stroud isn’t the first quarterback to deal with protection and injury issues. But at this stage of his career, that’s a common confluence of factors that result in temporary quarterback regression. “It’s learning how to deal with that,” the second executive said. All the while, the Texans still wrapped up the AFC South division title with three games to play. They beat the Bills in Week 4 and lost to the Packers and Lions by a combined five points, so they’re not too far off. Their next two games, against the Chiefs and Ravens, could change the entire perception around the Texans’ playoff chances. However the rest of the season plays out, no coach nor executive surveyed by The Athletic this season believes Stroud’s rookie year was a fluke. This season is viewed as growing pains for a quarterback who can still mature into one of the league’s best players.
I am still convinced that Slowik is the problem. I don't think the Texan's brass sees it, but almost all of the fans do. Play calling is still predictable, untimely, and uncreative. Adjustments are slooooooow.
Yup. Pretty confident if the changes to the line would have happened when many of us were yelling at the clouds for it to happen, Green Bay is a comfortable win with no Collins. Stroud doesn't go into the Jets shell shocked and doesn't miss the easy throw to Metchie for a TD, which in return Slowik never runs that dumb wildcat. Headed to the Lions game, no ghosts on the field, footwork mechanics don't go amuck for Stroud, steps into throws Texans win by 7. By then it was too late reset, trust the new line and move forward. They have some great defensive fronts upcoming, Chiefs and Ravens. We will see how well the line can hold up. Looking forward to it.
Not sure if Fisher could have handled his guy, but also having CJ roll to the right might have made for an easy throw there as well. CJ might not have felt pressured if he rolls out. I can say it does feel like CJ is really concerned with not turning the ball over (rightfully so). I think last year he played a little looser and was willing to risk it for the biscuit more (& was successful).
I really feel like CJ was told not to take any chances against the Dolphins, and he didn't. There were several windows in that game that we've seen him try (and succeed) at fitting a throw into that he didn't pull the trigger on. Coaches must have felt that the Dolphins couldn't beat us if we didn't gift them possessions. I don't love seeing CJ the game manager, but a W is a W. ETA: man that replay is rough, he has Tank, Schultz, and Nico open at different parts of this play. We've see him rip all of those throws before, no idea why he didn't there.
This pissed me off in real time. CJ got greedy here chasing the big play and probably had his eyes on Nico. The goal here is to 1st down and Shultz and Dell were wide open. CJ last season took what the defense gave him without hesitation.
ehhh he absolutely passed on shorter stuff to take shots last year too, let's not get it twisted, it just worked out better
Time to trade Nico for a 2nd and a busted rb for depth. He was locked in on Nico waiting for him to clear. Like Holliday said the tendencies are the same as last year. Having played 15 games last year and 14 this year the advance passing stats hold up: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/StroCJ00.htmhttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/StroCJ00.htm 95 poor throws last season compared to 71 this year. 38 qb hits taken last year, 39 this year. Cross referenced it with Goff, superior line. He has been hit 49 times so far. Just interesting. Pressures have gone up, mostly from IL. Play action has been pathetic. Nobody taking the bait.
