The rookie quarterback who guided Houston into the NFL postseason set another record in his team’s opening-round win Saturday and then thanked his “Lord and Savior” on national television.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns in the Texans’ 45-14 victory over Cleveland, sending Houston into a second-round divisional matchup Saturday against either Kansas City or Baltimore.
He tied the NFL record for most passing touchdowns in a playoff game by a rookie.
“I just want to give all glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Stroud said. “It's been amazing being in this city for as short as I've been -- but the love that I've got, I’ve really just been doing it for Houston and the people back home. I'm blessed to be in the position that I'm in and blessed enough to be playing at a high level right now. We've just gotta keep it going. But I'm super blessed.”
Stroud credited others for his success and said the team had put in a “hard week” in practice.
“There's no me without my teammates, my o-line, my tight ends, my running backs, my receivers, my defense,” he said. “We all put it together and when we're playing complementary football, we're going to be hard to beat.”
Stroud has surprised football experts in his rookie season and leads the league in passing yards per game (273). He has 23 touchdowns and five interceptions.
He has been public about his Christian faith.
“I'm blessed enough to wake up every day and to walk, to talk, to interact with people, to play football,” he said in September. “These are all things we take for granted from a day to day basis. But I try to do my best to thank God through all that, because His grace and His mercy; He laid His life on the cross for us -- I really believe that.”
Houston picked Stroud in the first round out of Ohio State. He finished third in the Heisman voting as a senior while leading the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff.
Image credit: ©Getty Images / Carmen Mandato / Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.