Houston’s Stroud and Ryans have transformed a post-Deshaun Watson wasteland

bBefore this year’s draft, most experts had CJ Stroud as the most NFL-ready quarterback available. That may have been a historical understatement. Right now, Stroud is the clear-cut Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite and has helped turn the Houston Texans into a playoff contender.

The Texans had the second pick in the 2023 draft after going 3-13 last year. After the Carolina Panthers made the safe choice of selecting Bryce Young at No. 1, Houston made the obvious move of selecting Stroud with the idea he could start immediately. Oh boy, could he, it turns out! After Sunday 30-27 win on the road over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Texans are now 5-4 and in pole position for the final AFC wild card spot.

To their credit, the Bengals didn’t make it easy — and Houston isn’t a perfect team. After the Texans took a 20-7 lead, Joe Burrow’s second-half magic helped Cincinnati tie the game 27-27 late in the fourth quarter. The Texans needed some luck to survive: Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd dropped what would have been a surefire touchdown that would have put them ahead, but instead they just kicked the field goal to even the score. Stroud then led his team on a game-winning drive that ended in Matt Ammendola’s field goal.

It wasn’t an upset victory, but the Texans were in position to win because Stroud racked up 356 passing yards that day, with both a passing and rushing touchdown. All told, Stroud already has 2,626 passing yards in just nine games. third most in NFL history for a rookie QB. He has thrown 15 touchdowns so far this season, but even more impressive is the fact that he has thrown just two interceptions. One of those came late in the game today, but the poise he showed to lead his team to victory said it all about his leadership.

While Stroud has shown he is ready for the NFL, even the most prepared young quarterback needs the right coaching staff to succeed. Over the past three years, the Texans have struggled to find the right head coach, cycling through Romeo Crennel, David Culley and Lovie Smith in quick succession.

Heading into the new season, they signed San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans – the reigning AP Assistant Coach of the Year – to a six-year contract to replace Smith. In one of his first major decisions, Ryans made the, not necessarily automatic, decision to name Stroud the opening day starter.

Like his QB, Ryans hasn’t betrayed much inexperience yet. Heading into the Week 10 game against the Bengals, the Texans had a whopping 23 players on the injury list, but Ryans seemed unfazed. “We will have our best guys there,” he told the media. “Whoever is available, we’re going to have our best guys and we’re going to play Texas football.”

What exactly is the Texans’ brand of football? Well, it’s hard to define at this point as this roster is still a work-in-progress. A more talented Texans team probably won’t let the Bengals come close to pulling off a comeback victory. On the other hand, a less resilient team almost certainly would have succumbed to the pressure against a postseason-tested Cincinnati squad.

Over the past three seasons, after trading Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for next to nothing, the Texans have been one of those teams that fans expected to lose. They won just 11 games in that span and finally parted ways with disgruntled franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2021 after a series of serious allegations of sexual misconduct. (The Texans eventually managed to trade Watson to the Cleveland Browns for a slew of draft picks, a ridiculous bargain considering there was zero chance Watson would ever play in Houston again.) But Ryans deserves a ton of credit for changing the atmosphere around what had happened. becoming a franchise with a toxic atmosphere.

After several years of futility, it was uncertain how long it would take to rebuild Houston when they drafted Stroud. It’s entirely possible they could have picked an NFL-caliber quarterback to lead a roster that wasn’t ready for primetime. However, the Texans are already one win away from doubling last year’s win total and have a real shot at making the postseason. Not only does the future look bright, the present also seems surprisingly sunny.

MVP of the week

Dan Campbell, head coach, Detroit Lions. As a rule, we typically do not select a head coach for MVP. After all, it is the players who make the most important actions. Sometimes, though, rules are meant to be broken, as Campbell proved on Sunday. With the Lions at the Los Angeles Chargers’ 26-yard line in a tied game with 1:47 left on fourth-and-2, the safe play would have been to call on the field goal unit, hoping for a successful attempt. and then rely on the defense to keep the Chargers off the board.

Instead, Campbell trusted Jared Goff to get those two yards, even though an incompletion would leave the game tied and give the ball back to LA with a chance to win. To the Chargers’ dismay, the move paid off: Goff threw a six-yard completion for a first down. Several Goff knelt later, kicker Riley Patterson scored a 41-yard field goal as the game ended.

The Lions won 41-38 and improved to 7-2 on the season, keeping them a game ahead of the Minnesota Vikings in the win column in the NFC North. Maybe they would have won anyway, but Campbell’s bold move was not just a strategic decision, but a statement of intent for a franchise still looking for its first Super Bowl appearance. Fortune favors the brave.

Statistic of the week

89. That’s how many points the Dallas Cowboys have scored over the course of two games against the New York Giants this season. their 49-17 victory on Sunday. Meanwhile, New York has scored…well, just those 17 points against Dallas after being outscored 40-0 in the teams’ first meeting. Clearly, this is a decidedly one-sided rivalry at the moment. The Cowboys are 6-3, good for a wild card spot if the season ends today. The spiraling Giants have excuses: They’re down their third-choice quarterback and have suffered other significant injuries. But being 2-8 after making the playoffs last season is pretty crushing.

Video of the week

The Josh Dobbs experience continues! After making a huge impact in his debut against the Atlanta Falcons, Vikings quarterback Dobbs continued his winning ways during a 27-19 win about the Saints of New Orleans.

What’s really impressive about this touchdown run is Dobbs’ decision-making as he sees a clear path behind him and then circles around to avoid the Saints defenders before making the final leap into the end zone.

Dobbs’ combination of speed and smarts helped him prove that the Vikings’ hopes didn’t end with Kirk Cousins’ season-ending injury. Minnesota now has a 6-4 record, keeping them in touch with the Lions in the NFC North. Not bad for someone who is so new to his team that he couldn’t find his locker room before the game.

Elsewhere in the competition

— Kyler Murray returned to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Without Murray, the Cardinals would have finished 1-8 this season, which was tied for the worst record in the league. Against the Atlanta Falcons, he helped design a final drive in a 25-23 come-from-behind victory. Of course, he had a little help, as the Cardinals were only in a position to win on Matt Prater’s chip shot, as the Falcons failed to convert on a two-point conversion after scoring a touchdown on the previous drive.

— The New England Patriots traveled abroad, but the change in continents didn’t end their losing streak. Playing in Germany, the Pats lost 10-6 to the Indianapolis Colts – with the game ending with backup QB Bailey Zappe getting the rare victory false peak leading to an intercept – dropping them to 2-8, the worst record in the AFC. It would be bad news if the team wasn’t in dire need of a high draft pick, especially since they don’t seem to have any internal answers at quarterback as starter Mac Jones hasn’t shown any signs of improvement this season.

— Anger of the day! After taking a 17-3 lead over the Cleveland Browns in the first quarter, it looked like the Baltimore Ravens were going to run away with things. However, Cleveland took the lead away and eventually won 33-31 on a field goal in the last second. Along the way, Lamar Jackson’s MVP case also took a hit, as he threw for two interceptions and just one touchdown in the loss. The news wasn’t entirely bleak for the Ravens, who are still 7-3 and in first place in the AFC North, but they missed a golden opportunity to become the AFC’s first eight-win team this season to be with the Kansas City Chiefs on a bye.

— The Green Bay Packers had a chance to take a lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth quarter, but Jordan Love’s potential TD pass was tipped into the end zone by Patrick Peterson and effectively intercepted by Pittsburgh’s Keanu Neal sealing a 23-19 Steelers win. Pittsburgh improved their record to 6-3, keeping them in the playoff hunt, while the Packers fell to 3-6.

— The Jacksonville Jaguars entered their matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on a five-game winning streak. The 49ers, meanwhile, were coming off a two-game losing streak after potentially bringing QB Brock Purdy back from a concussion too early. Purdy looked fine on Sunday, throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-3 dismantling of Jacksonville. The two teams lead their divisions with 6-3 records.