National media eating entire plate of crow after ridiculous Houston Texans criticisms

EAT YOUR WORDS

One of the biggest surprises of the NFL season has to be CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans, led by head coach DeMeco Ryans.

But not everyone was high on Stroud and the Texans before the season started, and let's face it, most QBs don't adjust to the NFL as fast as CJ has so far.

But Colin Cowherd seemed to take a shot at Stroud every chance he got before the season. Saying the Texans may be looking to draft another QB after just one year because CJ wasn't as “athletic” as several college QBs set to come out in 2024.

And look at the most athletic QB that was drafted this year in Anthony Richardson. He's already out for the year with a shoulder injury. More often than not, athletic QBs miss time from taking too many hits. While a pocket passer like Stroud is currently the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.

His other concern was the team hiring a defensive-minded head coach, with offense being so important in today's NFL. Well, it only took a handful of games into the 2023 season for Cowherd to change his tune on Stroud and the Texans. He now believes the Texans hit on their QB and head coach.

And Texans OC Bobby Slowik certainly deserves his fair share of credit for how he's coached up Houston's new offense. Which led us to another interesting discussion. If Stroud continues on this path for the remainder of the season, could Slowik be poached from the Texans, taking a quality play caller away from Stroud?

There are plenty of underperforming teams this year that could be very interested in the next hot coaching prospect right off the Shanahan coaching tree. And we've seen QBs regress in situations like this. Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen both struggled after losing their offensive coordinators/play callers. Allen when Brian Daboll left to coach the Giants, and Hurts with Shane Steichen leaving for the Colts.

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How Texans' CJ Stroud got the last laugh on Panthers entire organization

When Bryce Young and CJ Stroud were drafted with the first two picks of the NFL Draft, we knew they would be compared to one another for years to come.

And here we are just 11 games into the season and one quarterback has already seen his head coach fired. Panthers owner David Tepper spoke to the media on Wednesday and discussed his decision to fire Frank Reich, and also set the record straight on how they arrived at the decision to draft Young.

In so many words, Tepper basically blamed the Texans for how the top of the draft played out. He mentioned Stroud by name and said the Panthers were ready to draft him at No. 2 overall until the Texans backed out of the three-team trade with the Bears.

Tepper made a point of saying everyone in their building had Bryce Young as the top player on their draft board, despite rumors about Frank Reich preferring Stroud.

CJ Stroud and the Texans have been so much better than Bryce Young and the Panthers that Tepper clearly felt it was necessary to defend himself, and the decisions he's made for the organization.

In the end, the person that gets the worst end of the deal is Bryce Young. Coaching changes can be very difficult on young quarterbacks. And it looks like he'll have to learn a new offense in his second year when the Panthers hire a new coaching staff.

How fortunate we are as Texans fans to have DeMeco Ryans and CJ Stroud leading the team moving forward.

With all of this in mind, is there a reason Texans fans haven't fully bought in to the new-look Texans? JJ Watt was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show this week and was asked about the team's inability to fill the stadium on Sundays.

As a former player for the Colts, McAfee always thought Houston had the loudest and best fans in the NFL. And while the Texans are 9th in attendance this year according to ESPN, even CJ Stroud has asked for the fans to fill the stadium.

So there is something to it. You can see the empty seats in photos. So why aren't the Texans packing NRG with a shiny new franchise QB?

We believe the recent history of the team is why fans are slowly coming back. McAfee wasn't here for:

Bill O'Brien cussing at fans during games

Trading DeAndre Hopkins away for next to nothing

The Jack Easterby disaster

Deshaun Watson allegedly blaming ownership for why he wanted out

The Deshaun Watson scandal

Firing back-to-back coaches after one season, and the list goes on.

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