as houston texans accepted buffalo bills On Sunday, one thing became very clear from the jump. That meant Texans QB CJ Stroud was on. One. The Houston signal caller completed 28 of 38 for 331 yards and one touchdown in the Texans' 23-20 victory. But what stood out was Stroud's ability to make things happen on third down. On those money downs, Stroud completed 9 of 14 for 151 yards and moved the chains on 8 of 14 passes.
No matter what the Bills threw at Stroud, he always had an answer, whether it was with his head or his arm.
Why this is important is because the Texans haven't been able to make money on early downs. Houston's EPA per play on early downs is -0.06, but a large portion of that is due to their inability to run the football. However, they are third in EPA per play on late downs, and this is largely due to Stroud being the mastermind behind these money downs. The Bills tried literally everything, and Stroud made it work in more ways than one.
Buffalo gets robbed on this third down, with two linebackers looking ferocious. Houston moves one man to the left side of the formation, then flips the back to the left side as well. With every move, Houston expects man coverage, and that's exactly what they get. With the Bills' blitz approach, no matter which linebacker the center picks up, the opposing “backer” goes into coverage. Stroud saw this and, knowing he was hot off the edge, took the best route back to the flat out of the backfield with the linebackers having to chase from the other side. Easy big play.
In this game, they had a huge lead of 18 points and 9 points in the third. The Texans moved to a 3×1 formation on the right side. At the snap, the Bills rotate into Cover 3, but with a weakside rotation, meaning the top of the screen is less safe. The Texans are running a sail concept, where the slot receiver runs a jerk route to hold on to the nickel defender. Stroud lifts this ball past the nickel defender and the corner kick needs to take a vertical route.
For Stroud, this is just another day in the park. Stroud feathers this day to move the chains. When he entered the NFL, my friend and colleague Mark Schofield said that Stroud was a professional football pitcher and his ability to pass with this touch was always appealing.
This pass was truly incredible and moved the chains again on third down. When Houston moved the slot receiver quickly, the safeties chased him into man coverage. Houston is running WR Stefon Diggs on a bender route, but Diggs has not had an impact yet. With Buffalo in the game up front, their pass rushers got free and Stroud was forced to get rid of this ball a little early.
Look where Stroud puts this ball. After watching this, I stood up like the God of Destruction when Goku mastered Ultra Instinct. This ball is literally placed in the only place you can place it. Houston's No. 7 is a professional ball thrower, guys.
Stroud and Houston will face a Patriots team that will ask for a lot on the money down, especially with star WR Nico Collins on injured reserve. If the Texans are to come out with a win, Stroud will need to make money on second-half downs again.
