Stroud, Texans Rout Browns – Houston, there is no problem with the Texans and they experienced lift off on Saturday against the Cleveland Browns.
The Texans crushed the Browns into submission, 45-14 in the opening game of Super Wild Card Weekend for their first playoff victory since 2019, and who better to put them on his broad shoulders than the rookie signal caller C.J. Stroud.
NRG Stadium was sold out by Thursday, two days before the game. Stroud noted that he could feel a different energy and excitement in the building prior to kickoff.
Until Saturday, all of Stroud’s home games at NRG have underway at noon.
That is his inclination for the reason the stands are never full pregame, as Houston Texans fans tend to file in closer to kickoff.
However, this was special. This was the Texans playing in their first playoff game in four years.
The games was on the heels of the excitement from defeating their division rival the Indianapolis Colts a week ago to lockup a playoff spot, then witnessing the Jacksonville Jaguars fall on their face the next day to ensure an AFC South championship and home game for the Texans.
“This is the first time I’ve seen our stadium kind of full pregame,” Stroud said after becoming the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game, passing Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons. “Of course, we were rocking. It was loud. It was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard a stadium in my life. Pregame, it’s not a lot of people all the time, regular season, because we played so early.
“So now, to finally have an afternoon game, to see the crowd helps us a lot to get the energy going. I appreciate everyone coming out. It was cool.”
The Texans did not take control from the start. It was a back-and-forth affair, with four lead changes by the halfway point of the second quarter.
While the Browns were losing by only 10 point going into the break, 24-14, it all fell apart at the seams starting the third quarter. Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco who started the season on his couch, threw a pair of pick-sixes on back-to-back drives, resulting in a commanding Houston lead that proved to be too much to overcome.
Stroud put on display why he should be named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. In his first playoff game, he was assertive on the gridiron, throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns.
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Texans wide receiver Nico Collins, who had another outstanding day, hauling in six receptions for 96 yards and a score, said they all fed off the crowd.
But Collins, who was drafted in 2021, understands there has not been as much to get behind and celebrate in recent years.
The Texans were one of the worst franchise, winning a grand total of 11 games from 2020-2022 and had the dismissal of two coaches. With Saturday’s wild-card round win over the Browns, they have 11 total wins on the season.
The Texans now await their next opponent, which will be determined by the final two AFC wild card games of the weekend.
And…
Mahomes, Chiefs Advance to Divisional Round with Win Over Dolphins – The defending champion Kansas City Chiefs started their mission to defend their crown by shellacking the Miami Dolphins 26-7 at a bone-chilling Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, in conditions so frigid that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s mustache froze over. It was so cold that Patrick Mahomes’ helmet shattered on a hit.
The temperature at kickoff was -4 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -20 degrees, making it the fourth coldest game in National Football League history, according to the Peacock broadcast. Shots of Reid with icicles in his facial hair have since gone viral on social media.
Despite the brutal conditions, the Chiefs offense took off like a rocket, marching down the field on their initial possession and punctuating it with a sweet 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to wide receiver Rashee Rice. Rice would go on to finish the game with eight catches for 130 yards, the most by a rookie in Chiefs history.
The Chiefs were never threatened, stifling the Dolphins normally high-octane offense completely.
Chiefs’ place kicker Harrison Butker went a perfect 4 for 4 on field goals and running back Isiah Pacheco ran it in for a three-yard rushing touchdown to put the game on ice (literally) in the final frame.
Mahomes ended the game 23 of 41 with 262 yards and a touchdown.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift was on hand and braved the hostile elements donning a #87 Kelce jacket in support of her boyfriend Travis Kelce. Kelce had seven receptions for 71 yards on the night.
At the end of the contest, the mercury dropped like a rock even more and was -9 degrees and felt like -28 degrees, according to the broadcast.
Mahomes made light of the cold weather, saying “It is what it is” when asked about it on the Peacock broadcast after the game.
“We’re in Kansas City, at Arrowhead,” Mahomes said. “We are going to play in some games like this. So, our mentality was to come out here, play football and see what happens.”
Still, Saturday’s adverse conditions are in a rare category, rivaled by the coldest NFL game on record: the December 1967 “Ice Bowl” in Wisconsin, when the Green Bay Packers beat America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys amid -13 air temperature and a -48 wind chill, according to the NFL.
The NFL playoffs continue on Sunday with the Green Bay Packers heading to ‘Jerry’s World’ to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Matthew Stafford will also make his grand return to the ‘Motor City’ where he spent twelve seasons and started his NFL career in 2009, when the Los Angeles Rams take on the Detroit Lions.
On Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers head to a snowy Orchard Park, New York, to take on the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Philadelphia Eagles.
