This year has been the toughest of his football career, if you count his three years at Ohio State and his two seasons with the Texans.
Stroud threw a career-high 12 interceptions, including eight in his past eight games.
Many pundits have labeled his drop-off in numbers a “sophomore slump,” a reasonable declaration considering the heights he reached last year when he won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award and led the league in yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio.
But he’s the Texans’ most important player. And for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, they need for him to be on his game to have a chance against the AFC’s elite teams — one of which they’ll play next week in the divisional round depending on how Sunday’s games shake.
The Texans could face any of the top three AFC seeds — the Chiefs, Bills or Ravens.
Saturday’s game showed what was possible, though.
“It’s football, not everything is going to go the right way,” Hutchinson said. “Sometimes you’re going to go wrong, but it’s how you keep bouncing back. (Stroud) is probably the most resilient football player I’ve ever seen.”
TEXANS 32, CHARGERS 12
| L.A. Chargers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | 12 |
| Houston | 0 | 10 | 10 | 12 | — | 32 |
First Quarter
LAC_FG Dicker 35, 9:37. Drive: 11 plays, 57 yards, 5:23. Key Plays: Davis kick return to L.A. Chargers 27; Herbert 10 pass to McConkey; Herbert 15 pass to Fisk. L.A. Chargers 3, Houston 0.
LAC_FG Dicker 39, 6:35. Drive: 6 plays, 12 yards, 2:53. Key Play: Herbert 10 pass to Chark on 3rd-and-19. L.A. Chargers 6, Houston 0.
Second Quarter
Hou_N.Collins 13 pass from Stroud (Fairbairn kick), :58. Drive: 13 plays, 99 yards, 5:17. Key Plays: Stroud 5 pass to N.Collins on 3rd-and-3; Stroud 34 pass to Hutchinson on 3rd-and-16; Stroud 37 pass to N.Collins. Houston 7, L.A. Chargers 6.
Hou_FG Fairbairn 41, :03. Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, 00:24. Key Play: Stroud 27 run. Houston 10, L.A. Chargers 6.
Third Quarter
Hou_FG Fairbairn 37, 4:48. Drive: 10 plays, 46 yards, 5:22. Key Plays: Stroud 11 pass to Stover; Mixon 15 run; Stroud 13 pass to Mixon; Stroud 12 pass to D.Johnson on 3rd-and-22. Houston 13, L.A. Chargers 6.
Hou_Murray 38 interception return (Fairbairn kick), :13. Houston 20, L.A. Chargers 6.
Fourth Quarter
Hou_FG Fairbairn 30, 12:00. Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard, 1:44. Key Play: Stingley 54 interception return to L.A. Chargers 13. Houston 23, L.A. Chargers 6.
LAC_McConkey 86 pass from Herbert (kick failed), 10:38. Drive: 4 plays, 70 yards, 1:22. Houston 23, L.A. Chargers 12.
Hou, Ross returned blocked PAT. Houston 25, L.A. Chargers 12
Hou_Mixon 17 run (Fairbairn kick), 3:42. Drive: 15 plays, 74 yards, 6:56. Key Plays: Hutchinson kick return to Houston 26; Mixon 6 run on 3rd-and-1; Stroud 9 run on 3rd-and-10; Stroud 2 run on 4th-and-1; Mixon 10 run; Mixon 8 run on 3rd-and-9. Houston 32, L.A. Chargers 12.
___
| LAC | Hou | |
|---|---|---|
| FIRST DOWNS | 15 | 20 |
| Rushing | 4 | 8 |
| Passing | 9 | 12 |
| Penalty | 2 | 0 |
| THIRD DOWN EFF | 3-11 | 5-14 |
| FOURTH DOWN EFF | 0-1 | 2-2 |
| TOTAL NET YARDS | 261 | 429 |
| Total Plays | 54 | 70 |
| Avg Gain | 4.8 | 6.1 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 50 | 168 |
| Rushes | 18 | 34 |
| Avg per rush | 2.778 | 4.941 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 211 | 261 |
| Sacked-Yds lost | 4-31 | 3-21 |
| Gross-Yds passing | 242 | 282 |
| Completed-Att. | 14-32 | 22-33 |
| Had Intercepted | 4 | 1 |
| Yards-Pass Play | 5.861 | 7.25 |
| KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB | 4-4-3 | 7-6-4 |
| PUNTS-Avg. | 5-44.2 | 4-45.75 |
| Punts blocked | 0 | 0 |
| FGs-PATs blocked | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE | 76 | 146 |
| Punt Returns | 0-0 | 1-10 |
| Kickoff Returns | 3-76 | 1-28 |
| Interceptions | 1-0 | 4-108 |
| PENALTIES-Yds | 2-10 | 8-86 |
| FUMBLES-Lost | 1-0 | 3-2 |
| TIME OF POSSESSION | 25:35 | 34:25 |
___
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING_L.A. Chargers, Dobbins 9-26, Edwards 7-22, Haskins 1-5, Davis 1-(minus 3). Houston, Mixon 25-106, Stroud 6-42, Pierce 2-15, Ogunbowale 1-5.
PASSING_L.A. Chargers, Herbert 14-32-4-242. Houston, Stroud 22-33-1-282.
RECEIVING_L.A. Chargers, McConkey 9-197, Dissly 2-16, Fisk 1-15, Chark 1-10, Davis 1-4. Houston, Collins 7-122, Metchie 4-28, Stover 4-28, Schultz 2-23, Woods 2-22, Hutchinson 1-34, Mixon 1-13, D.Johnson 1-12.
PUNT RETURNS_L.A. Chargers, None. Houston, Woods 1-10.
KICKOFF RETURNS_L.A. Chargers, Davis 3-76. Houston, Hutchinson 1-28.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS_L.A. Chargers, Henley 6-4-0, Dye 6-2-0, Gilman 5-4-0, James 5-2-0, Mack 4-2-2, Colson 3-1-0, Ford 3-0-0, Fulton 3-0-0, Still 3-0-0, Jefferson 2-1-0, Tart 2-1-0, Bosa 1-1-1, Fox 1-1-0, Jackson 1-0-0, Leonard 1-0-0, Perryman 0-2-0, Ogbonnia 0-1-0. Houston, Murray 4-3-0, Stingley 4-0-0, Al-Shaair 3-3-0, To’oTo’o 3-3-0, Anderson 2-1-1.5, Hunter 2-1-0, Fatukasi 2-0-0, Bryant 1-2-0, Bullock 1-2-0, Edwards 1-1-1.5, Lassiter 1-1-0, Autry 1-0-1, Barnett 1-0-0, Harris 1-0-0.
INTERCEPTIONS_L.A. Chargers, Leonard 1-0. Houston, Stingley 2-70, Murray 1-38, Lassiter 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.
___
OFFICIALS_Referee Land Clark, Ump Paul King, HL Tom Stephan, LJ Carl Johnson, FJ Aaron Santi, SJ Dominique Pender, BJ Brad Freeman, Replay Jamie Nicholson.
After engineering that 99-yard touchdown drive, the Texans’ offense got the ball back once more before the half. And instead of using his arm, as Stroud often does, he used his legs. It was similar to his performance in the College Football Playoff for Ohio State two years ago.
Stroud said after watching the film on the Chargers, he noticed they rarely use a spy to keep quarterbacks in the pocket. He thought that was something he could potentially exploit.
With the pass rush barreling down on him, Stroud escaped two Charger defenders, then scrambled for 27 yards, avoiding several more defenders for a first down in Chargers territory. It was the longest run of his career.
“Once I saw them back up, I just took off and trusted my slow speed,” Stroud quipped. “I thought I felt my joy coming back after I got up, and it’s just one the best feelings in the world. After you make a play, you’re just turned up and your teammates are turned up with you.”
The scramble put the Texans in a position to go up 10-6 at the halftime and much needed momentum. They never trailed after that, extending their lead to 20 points.
The Texans out-gained the Chargers 429 to 261. It was the first time they had gained more than 400 yards in a game since October. They improved to 6-2 all-time in the wild-card round, and will return to the divisional round for the second season in a row. The last time that happened was in 2012 and 2013.
After the game, players smoked celebratory cigars and danced to Kendrick Lamar’s song “Squabble Up,” while referencing former NFL coach Rex Ryan, who on Monday said on ESPN’s Get Up, that the Chargers had a bye week on Saturday.
The room still smelled of smoke 20 minutes later.
Left guard Tytus Howard said the win showed their perseverance as a team, and it started with Stroud, the team’s leader.
“C.J. is a baller,” Howard said. “If you watch the tape you would see that. He’s grown a whole season and he’s faced adversity. And today, he put all that to the side and balled and played a spectacular game.
“But we all know that in the building. We know the type of player he is. And he led us today to a win.”
