CJ Stroud expresses frustration after Texans' embarrassing loss to struggling Jets in prime-time
Nov 1, 2024, 1:56 pm
That was hard to watch. Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images.
C.J. Stroud couldn't believe it. Neither could his Houston Texans teammates.
They were frustrated after a 21-13 loss to the New York Jets on Thursday night when they couldn't get much going against a team that was seeing its season spiral after losing five straight games.
“It’s embarrassing to come out here in a prime-time game and get embarrassed like that is never fun,” Stroud said. “We have to be better in a lot of areas, and that starts with me. There are plays I've got to make, throws I've got to make.”
Stroud completed just 11 of 30 passes for 191 yards for the Texans (6-3), who played without injured receivers Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins. Stroud was also sacked eight times.
“If we want to win, this is not the recipe for it,” Stroud said. “We've got to learn how to dominate and stop learning to just go with the flow.”
It was the first of three consecutive prime-time games for Houston, with a Sunday night home matchup against the Lions on Nov. 10 next and a Monday night meeting at Dallas on Nov. 18.
“We just have to honestly just play football better, execute better, stop pointing the finger and realize at the end of the day this is not winning football,” Stroud said. "We can’t keep squeezing our way by. We are a really good football team. Once we buy into the systems and what is being coached, we have to have leadership to take over.
“This isn’t the end, but it’s definitely a great wake-up call for us to tighten up the ship.”
The Texans got on the scoreboard first on Joe Mixon's 3-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. They also led 10-7 through three quarters, but couldn't close it out as Aaron Rodgers and an eye-popping catch by Garrett Wilson helped lead the Jets to a victory that stopped their skid.
“The most frustrating part is that we were the better team,” right tackle Tytus Howard said. "We let that game get away from us, especially in the second half. We didn’t come back out with the same intensity we had in the second quarter.
“We let a team steal a win from us.”
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans was particularly concerned with the offensive line after Stroud was hit 11 times. The second-year quarterback was on the turf for a few moments and was slow to come off the field after being sacked by Solomon Thomas shortly before halftime.
“Not sure what’s happening up front,” Ryans said. “We’ll watch the film. We gave up eight sacks and every drop back or pass situation looks like we’re in scramble mode. It’s just not good enough. We can’t operate on time. We've got to get that fixed.”
Stroud has been sacked 30 times this season, a total that ranks second in the NFL to Cleveland's Deshaun Watson, who's out for the season.
“We don’t want our quarterback getting hit as many hits as he took," Ryans said. "It’s not good enough. We've got to adjust, change things moving forward.”
After a slow start on offense, the Jets found a rhythm in the second half. Wilson's acrobatic, one-handed grab put New York in front 14-10 early in the fourth quarter. Rodgers' 37-yard TD pass to Davante Adams made it 21-10 with 2:56 left.
“When the passes went up in the second half, we didn’t win those passes,” Ryans said. “It was the same matchup we had in the first half. They made plays in the second half and we didn’t.”
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Texas' Quinn Ewers and Clemson's Cade Klubnik already have a championship history between them.
Both quarterbacks hail from Texas, and in January 2021 they were two of the highest-rated junior recruits in the nation when they met on the biggest stage of high school football in the the country: the Texas Class 6A state championship.
Klubnik got the best of Ewers that day, leading Austin Westlake to a 52-34 win over Southlake Carroll. They meet again Saturday when No. 12 seed Clemson (10-3) and No. 5 seed Texas (11-2) clash in the first round of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
For Klubnik, the first step toward leading Clemson back to a national title begins in his hometown just a few miles from where he grew up and played at a high school that produced NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees, Nick Foles and Sam Ehlinger.
And it promises to be an emotional return. When the Tigers and Longhorns were announced as first-round opponents, a camera quickly found Klubnik with a stunned look on his face as Tigers coach Dabo Swinney hugged him.
Then it was talk of the rematch with Ewers, with even bigger goals at stake this time.
“You know, Quinn and I go way back. We played each other in seventh or eighth grade and so on. My junior year in the state championship game was definitely a very high profile game," Klubnik said.
It was more than “high profile.”
Because of the two star quarterbacks and the pedigrees of their programs, their championship game against each other holds legendary status in a state that has produced too many great college players and games to count.
Klubnik and Westlake had won the state championship the previous year. The 2020 season was delayed by the pandemic, pushing the championship game into 2021. Ewers was the top-rated junior QB in the country, had already committed to Ohio State. Klubnik was ranked the No. 2 QB in Texas right behind him, but was still uncommitted.
Ewers passed for 351 yards and three touchdowns. Klubnik was just as good, with 18-of-20 passing for 220 yards and a touchdown, and another 97 yards rushing.
“That ain't fun when the fastest guy on the field is touching the ball 100% of the time,” Southlake Carroll coach Riley Dodge said that day.
Klubnik's Westlake teammates included Michael Taaffe, who is now a Texas safety, and Ethan Burke and Colton Vasek, who are now Longhorns defensive linemen.
Taaffe this week described Klubnik as his “best friend” that season at Westlake. He noted the school and social disruptions of the COVID season before the championship game.
“There was nothing we could do but throw the football around," Taaffe said. “We had nothing to do but become best friends. We were trying to win a state championship.”
Taaffe did his part in the state championship game, intercepting a pass from Ewers in the second half. He'd love to do the same to Klubnik. And Taaffe and won't pull any punches if he gets a chance for a sack or big hit on his old friend.
“My job is my to take my opponent's soul," Taaffe said. “It doesn't matter if it's my best friend or the guy I hate the most on this planet.
"Cade does everything it takes to try to win. He's going to do whatever it takes. I don't assume there's going to be a lot of sliding out of Cade come Saturday. I don't think there's going to be a lot of stepping out of bounds. Especially if he sees (me). He's definitely going to try to lower his shoulder on me and tell me about it, too," Taaffe said.
After that 2021 state title game, Klubnik and Westlake followed it up with another state championship the next season. Some recruiting outlets rated Klubnik the No. 1 quarterback in the country in 2022.
He became Clemson's regular starter last season. His 33 touchdown passes this season helped revive Clemson after an ugly 34-3 season-opening loss to Georgia. Klubnik had four TD pass as the Tigers won the ACC championship to earn their playoff berth, the program's first since 2020.
Ewers left high school early after that state championship game loss. He declared for college that spring and enrolled at Ohio State. His freshman season of 2021 was spent deep on the Buckeyes bench before transferring to Texas, where he led a Longhorns rejuvenation.
Texas won the Big 12 title last season and made the four-team playoff for the first time. The Longhorns reached No. 1 this season for the first time since 2008 and narrowly lost the SEC championship to Georgia in Texas' first year in the league.
As for facing Klubnik again, Ewers called it “cool.” Back in high school, Ewers had a swashbuckling mullet haircut that flowed from under his helmet. Now the most radical thing about him might be a slightly scraggly beard.
“Me and Cade have a good relationship,” Ewers said. “It's definitely cool to get to play each other again, come full circle.”