I'd just like to point out how I called this on September 25th. Although Heismendoza has been so good that now we have no chance of selecting him. GOOD DAY
54% rate. after the first series of the 2nd half, a screen or two could have backed them off a bit. You have to go around Brown twice. All these teams lining up their TE in the backfield and they just dump it off with no defender in sight, reminiscent of the Hammer of Thor play with James Casey. Best we can do is a reverse.
54% pressure rate. Ho lee shiiiiitttt. That 3rd quarter was disgusting. Constant O Line losses which led to immediate pressure within a second of the snap. Dude was superman last night on 3rd down when he needed to be.
The Chiefs basically decided to go max pressure the last 60% of the game and the Texans didn't adjust until way late. CJ made some big time throws and held on for dear life. He deserves mad credit for that.
The best thing CJ did was to not force throws when it wasn’t there. He easily could have done that and has done that before, especially when the game felt like it was slipping away during the third series of the third quarter. CJ was getting clobbered for the third straight series and he kept his composure. He threw the ball away several times during those three series, ate sacks when he had to. Not making those mistakes is what it’s going to take to win.
If CJ can just hit his open receivers, we are fine…He makes the difficult throws but blows the easy wide open throws, and he misses them by a mile sometimes…I just don’t understand Stroud sometimes…
This is a fair point. Consistency is a b****, and QB is the hardest position in all of pro sports. Last night, he missed one easy throw I can remember - air mailed a 15-20 yard pass to a wide open receiver who had sat down in a wide open zone. He also underthrew that ball to Nico Collins that he completed. If it was led just even a little, it is a touchdown. But CJ made several video game plays that only the elite QBs can make when the play/picket breaks down. CJ isn’t a finished product by any means, so it is too early to say this is who he is. But I do know this - you can’t teach the game breaking plays he made. He can become more consistent with routine throws, decision making and such. Not sure he will become more consistent, but it is within his potential outcomes.
I've long held a theory that the vast majority of fans watch their favorite teams and then only a smattering of highlights. And I base this on the number of times fans seem to think their own team's results are wholly unique. QBs miss passes ALL. THE. TIME. Great QBs, having great games, miss wide-open, easy throws. It's why QBs complete ~65% of their passes and not 95%. Stroud airmailed a throw to a wide open Hutch. IIRC, it was in the 3Q after a barrage of blitzes and pressure and his clock was likely sped up. It happens and - unless it happens frequently - isn't really indicative of much. I'm not remotely worried about CJ Stroud.
Missing wide open receivers happened frequently in that game alone, that's the problem. As I see it, standards depend on expectations. If your expectations are that CJ Stroud be a franchise QB, his performance is completely unacceptable. If you are fine with him being the 20th best QB in the league, they are about what you'd expect. My main problem with CJ is the frustrating variance in his performance. A few times last night, he looked amazing making plays that very few QB's can make.....then he'd have several plays that make you question if he has any business being on the field. The back and forth between awesome and dogshit needs to stop.
The missed throw to Kirk and not bombing it to Nico when he was yards past his man for what would have been a TD (Nico still caught it for huge gain) were the only throws I remember being pissed about. I was at the game, it was surreal honestly.
The overthrow to Hutchinson. CJ has developed into a game manager type of QB, nothing like the potential game changer/star QB we saw his rookie year. Maybe he still has time to change into that type, but so far this season has shown CJ is nothing more than a manager. With this defense, hopefully the Texans can still compete for the Superbowl.
This is why I can't on here. Out of CJ's 15 completions. I would say atleast 7-10 were out of structure throws creating due to bad blocking. Game manager isn't the word I would use to describe him. I have to question. Did you even watch the game on Sunday?
Game managers thrive in easy, comfortable situations and, generally, crater when that ecosystem collapses. Did Sunday night at any point look like an easy, comfortable situation? Stroud made plays running for his life - game managers don't do that. The throw he made to Higgins to keep the GW touchdown drive alive was not the work of a game manager. Come on, now...
None of us are better offensive coordinators than Nick Caley - even if Caley is objectively bad, he knows more than we do. They didn't throw screens, I have to guess, because Steve Spagnola, one of the greatest defensive minds in NFL history, took them away. You don't blitz at that rate without having a plan to combat the obvious counter move. Plus, they were on Stroud so quickly, I'm not sure screens had time to develop - it was a madhouse. Whatever you think of Stroud, the offensive line is worse. They were physically overwhelmed Sunday. Average teams should not leak that much that quickly, even with teams sending 7+ defenders.
