The (2-8) Arizona Cardinals are on the road against the (5-4) Houston Texans on Sunday. The Cardinals own the Texans first round pick, it was expected for that pick to be a good one because of the Texans being a young team. Houston came into this year with a rookie head coach, DeMeco Ryans, and a rookie quarterback, C.J. Stroud. The Texans are playing much better than expected. If the season ended today, Houston would make the playoffs as a wildcard team in the AFC.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Defensive Minded DeMeco
DeMeco Ryans is in his first season as the head coach of the Houston Texans after spending the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. In 2021, the 49ers had the ninth ranked defense in the NFL, allowing 21.5 points per game. In 2022, the 49ers were the best defense in the NFL. They only allowed 16.3 points per game.
Ryans was selected to be the head coach of what we thought was a rebuilding Texans team. He has this team executing on a high level on both sides of the ball. The Texans have the 16th ranked defense so far this season, allowing 21.3 points per game. The defense isn’t the only unit that is playing well for the Texans.
The Rookie Sensation
C.J. Stroud was the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft out of Ohio State. In his last year at Ohio State, Stroud threw for 3,688 yards, 41 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He has continued to take great care of the ball in the NFL as he has only thrown two interceptions in the first nine games of the season. Stroud has completed 61.6% of his passes for 2,626 yards and 15Â touchdowns.
He has been the most impressive rookie quarterback this season by far. Stroud is not only the leader for offensive rookie of the year but now is part of the Most Valuable Player conversation. This is because Stroud is not only putting up great stats. He is performing well when it truly matters.
The Texans are on a two game win streak and both wins came on last minute drives lead by Stroud. He lead game-winning drives against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals. The former Buckeye has shown the ability to play well in pressure packed situations.
Texans CJ Stroud w/ a Rookie Masterclass yesterday to get the W over the Bucs!
30/42
470 passing yards (NFL rookie record)
5 TDs
147.8 passer rating pic.twitter.com/UuDE0B49kJ— Van (@vanman_1000) November 6, 2023
CJ Stroud is toying with the Bengals defense 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZQ0apynd0U
— Jordan Pun (@Texans_Thoughts) November 12, 2023
The Texans are going to come into this game well prepared on both sides of the ball. They will not beat themselves with turnovers or mistakes on defense. Houston is seventh in the NFL in turnover differential at +4. The Cardinals will have their hands full this weekend with this very well coached and confident young football team.
