After falling to 2-4 on the season with their loss to the Seattle Seahawks on “Monday Night Football,” Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud did not mince words when speaking about what went wrong for the offense for most of the night.
Stroud was under duress from the outer, and he failed to ever get into a consistent rhythm throughout.
It was hardly all on him, though.
C.J. Stroud Deflects Blame Inward After Texans’ Loss to Seahawks
GettyC.J. Stroud #7 of the Houston Texans runs the ball against the Seattle Seahawks.
Stroud completed 23 of 49 passes (46.9%) for 229 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception for the Texans against the Seahawks. He also took 3 sacks, but Stroud directed the blame for the offense’s shortcomings inward.
“There’s a lot of things. I think first I gotta point to myself, and missing a couple throws. You just gotta let – I gotta work through the pressure. They were bringing some blitzes. Got to just do some things to run some different schemes. I think it will help. But I just think we just didn’t catch a rhythm. They did a good job of just keeping the shell and then some of those third-and-shorts and plays like that, we just – we gotta execute,” Stroud told reporters on October 21.
“I think it starts with me, and I gotta do a better job of distributing the ball better and, when I have good pockets, working them and making sure I’m getting the ball out on time and to the right guys. So, I look inward. And then, there’s some other things we’ll watch the film and get better at.”
Stroud expounded on how the Seahawks made things difficult for him on the night, his fourth of the season with 1 or fewer touchdowns.
The Seahawks’ going away from their tendencies helped their cause.
Seahawks Broke Tendency vs Texans
GettyC.J. Stroud #7 speaks with Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans against the Seattle Seahawks.
Stroud said the Seahawks atypically ran a Cover 0 blitz with the Texans backed up and behind the chains. He said that “caught us off guard,” and noted the loud environment, but that they have had similar situations in back-to-back games and could lead to “bigger plays” if fixed.
The Texans’ QB called it “tough,” noting the offense was able to move the ball, but that they needed to “score some points” to help the defense.
They “kept us into the whole game.”
Stroud noted that he was often left trying to throw the ball over defenders (rather than into relatively open windows) in the red zone and that it “wasn’t easy down there.” He said the Seahawks “zoned a lot of stuff off, so I was trying to just make plays.”
Stroud and the Texans can certainly point to their issues up front along their retooled offensive line. Stroud took 3 sacks and 17 pressures of his career-high 49 dropbacks, per Wilson.
He has taken multiple sacks in every game this season.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was not oblivious to the Texans’ issues in the trenches, saying after the game, “When we continue to have the pressures that we have until we get it picked up, it’ll keep happening. So, we gotta do a better job of coaching it, and we gotta do a better job of executing it.”
C.J. Stroud Reacts to O-Lineman’s Comments
GettyTytus Howard #71 and C.J. Stroud #7 of the Houston Texans look on against the Seattle Seahawks.
Starting right tackle Tytus Howard spoke candidly after the game, telling reporters the team came out “complacent” and that the offense let the defense and team down.” Stroud again directed the blame back at himself.
“I don’t know what he meant by ‘complacent.’ But I think the type of offense we’re running is like I told y’all, which is ‘death by a 1000 cuts.’ And sometimes when you live by a sword, it’s hard. Because you’re not taking a bunch of deep down field shots, but you’re asked to be really good on first, second down. It’ll be time and time and time again,” Stroud said.
“Something that we just gotta get better at. It’s still new to a lot of us. But yeah, I definitely think we can be better at that, and that’ll definitely help.”
Stroud and the Texans host the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8.
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