The Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns are battling it out in the opening game of the 2024 NFL Playoffs, and Texans quarterback CJ Stroud was dominant in the first half.
Stroud threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns as the Texans took control of the game, and fans are going wild:
Panthers fan seeing CJ Stroud put up 236 Passing Yards and 3 TDs in the first half pic.twitter.com/wgW7Szs3jo
— Hud (@Hud_Ramirez) January 13, 2024
CJ stroud got 3 touchdowns in the first half pic.twitter.com/4o1p7L6G3h
— DJ (@mindofgoatdj) January 13, 2024
@ClutchPoints shared the numbers, and they were impressive:
CJ Stroud was ELECTRIC in the first half of his first playoff game.11/16, 236 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, HE IS A ROOKIE
CJ Stroud putting up 3 touchdowns on this Browns defense in the first half, this ain’t normal pic.twitter.com/sfXEKIBTkJ
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) January 13, 2024
CJ Stroud and Bobby Slowik in the first half pic.twitter.com/Xte7WhtFNe
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) January 13, 2024
Early in the fourth quarter, the Texans are crushing the Browns 45-14.
Last week, Stroud and the Texans clinched their playoff berth by topping the Colts. CJ Stroud finished that game 20-26 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. The first play of the game for the Texans on offense was a 75-yard pass from Stroud to Nico Collins for a touchdown, and that got the ball rolling. The performance from Stroud ended up putting him into elite NFL rookie company.
With the two touchdowns and zero interceptions on Saturday, Stroud tied the single-season record for rookies for games with two or more touchdowns and zero picks.
The Texans are peaking at the right time. They won seven of their final 10 games to reach this point. Head coach Demeco Ryans has talked about his team’s mindset. Ryans has set up a culture where the Texans’ players believe in themselves and will not be denied on any given Sunday (or Saturday). That belief and mindset, not to mention landing a talent like Stroud at quarterback, is now paying dividends for the Texans.
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