Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud led his team to a 22-17 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The game came down to some key moments, including a personal foul call on Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton in the first quarter.
Rather than forcing the Texans into a fourth-and-long situation in the redzone, the Broncos received a personal foul call against them that turned what would have been a field goal into a touchdown to make the game 10-0 early. After the whistle blew on the third down play, Stroud got in the face of Singleton and the linebacker’s reaction drew a flag from the refs.
In his post-game press conference, the young star sent a loud message about what defenders should expect when facing him.
“I’m a man and I’m not going to let someone just come push me, especially in my house,” Stroud said. “You’re not going to just touch me after the whistle, you can clearly hear it. I’m not mad at the dude, he played hard.”
“Like Druski said, I’m gonna stand on business,” Stroud added.
Sean Payton frustrated by costly penalty
Even though Stroud was the initial aggressor, the officials called Singleton for the personal foul in the end due to multiple shoves. The Broncos defender told reporters after the loss that he knew the NFL’s referees favor the quarterback in that situation.
“They’re gonna call it on the quarterback. You know how this league is,” Singleton said.
First-year Denver head coach Sean Payton said his linebacker should have known better than to let a rookie “bait” him.
“Defensively, we’re off the field in a red zone situation, and we let a rookie bait us into a personal foul. That’s four points. Instead of finishing that game needing a touchdown, we’re kicking a field goal to win,” Payton said.
Because of the loss, the Denver Broncos are now 6-6 Broncos, rather than tied with the Steelers, Browns and Colts with a 7-5 record. The Texans, meanwhile, are now 7-5 along with the Colts and chasing the Jaguars’ 8-4 record after Week 13.
After the win, Stroud moved up to No. 8 in the Las Vegas odds for NFL MVP this season. He trails fellow quarterbacks Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, Patrick Mahomes, Tua Tagovailoa and Lamar Jackson, as well as wideout Tyreek Hill.
On the season, Stroud has 3,540 passing yards, 23 total touchdowns and just five interceptions.
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