Right from the start of the Houston Texans' brutal Christmas Day loss to the Baltimore Ravens, C.J. Stroud was off his game. On Houston's opening drive of the game, Stroud took an awful sack to turn a third-and-5 in Baltimore territory into fourth-and-15, robbing the Texans of a potential scoring opportunity. On the second drive, he missed on a pair of throws that should have been completed, forcing a quick punt. And things didn't get much better from there.
Stroud would go on to complete just 17 of 31 passes for 185 yards and an interception while also taking 5 sacks, posting a 59.2 passer rating and a 13.2 QBR as the Texans were blasted 31-2 in a game that was never remotely competitive.
"Terrible on my behalf. Probably one of my worst games of my whole career," Stroud said, via KPRC2. "Just came out flat. Didn't have any energy. Didn't lead the offense the way I should have. Always got to look at myself in the mirror and be honest with myself and not good enough today. You know, it is what it is. Can't hang my head down, but just got to keep going."
As for what went wrong, Stroud took the full blame, including for not being on the same page as his receivers.
"I just kept missing. Just wasn't making throws. At the same time, I got to find a way to stand in there stronger and make those throws. There was some miscommunication with me and some of the receivers, but ultimately up to me to make the throw when guys are open."
This game came just four days after Stroud and the Texans lost to the Chiefs in a game that saw them lose wide receiver Tank Dell for the remainder of the season to a gruesome knee injury. Baltimore's defense has also been playing significantly better lately than it had earlier in the year. Still, this was Houston's worst offensive day of the season by a significant margin, and Stroud laid the blame for it at his own feet.
