C.J. Stroud severely struggled with ball security during the Houston Texans’ Wild Card round game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was credited with three turnovers and also fumbled the ball five total times. They were able to overcome it and still come away with a victory, but the quarterback addressed the issues in the postgame press conference.
C.J. Stroud Responds to Texans’ Ball Security Issues in NFL Playoffs
Stroud had far from his best game during the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs, but the Texans navigated their way to a victory against the Steelers. They will now advance to the Divisional round, where they will travel to take on the New England Patriots, who comfortably defeated the Los Angeles Chargers.
The quarterback was surely a big part of the problem when it came to their ball security issues, as he fumbled the ball five times, losing two of them, and also threw an interception. He discussed this situation during his postgame press conference and the overall performance turned in by Houston.
“We had some problems with the snap, me catching them. Got to find a way to catch them and take care of the ball. We knew off the tape that they did a good job of punching at the ball or get you while you’re throwing.”
“It’s all about moving forward and trying your best to flush it and keep going. I thought every time we had to bounce back, we made more plays, so I’m proud of our guys for having a little bit of resilience in those moments. To finish the game like that was really dope,” stated Stroud.
The Texans’ defense, which ranked second in PFSN’s Impact Rankings for this season, continually bailed out their offense, which made too many mistakes. They held the Steelers to just six points, despite all of the turnovers giving them plenty of opportunities to score much more. They have consistently been a major factor in their active ten-game winning streak, which includes the Wild Card game victory.
Stroud will likely need to take better care of the football if they are going to continue this streak, especially against a challenging opponent in the Divisional round. The Patriots were tied for the best record in the NFL at 14-3 this season, so the Texans will likely need to be much more solid if they are going to have any chance at pulling off the upset.
