Scarlet Sunrise: C.J. Stroud becomes youngest quarterback to win NFL playoff game
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C.J. Stroud becomes youngest quarterback to win NFL playoff game
A record-breaking rookie season continued for C.J. Stroud Saturday. The former Ohio State star, and current Houston Texans phenom, became the youngest quarterback to win an NFL playoff game with a 45-14 win over the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round.
He staked the Texans to a 24-14 halftime lead, courtesy of three first-half passing touchdowns, tying the NFL rookie single-game playoff record in the process. Of his 274 passing yards, 236 came in the first half. Stroud was pulled midway through the third quarter. By that point, the Texans had already cashed in on two pick-sixes from Browns quarterback Joe Flacco.
It was a matchup of young vs. old Saturday in NRG Stadium.
Stroud entered the game at 22 years and 102 days old. Flacco, meanwhile, is 38 and will be 39 Tuesday. He was making his first playoff start in nine years. In fact, Flacco had the second-biggest gap between NFL playoff starts for a quarterback in league history, only behind Doug Flutie (12 years). And, so, not surprisingly the Wild Card bout also marked the biggest age difference in an NFL playoff game that didn’t involve Tom Brady.
As for Stroud, he was 90 days younger than Michael Vick when he won his first playoff game for the Atlanta Falcons in 2002. Shaun King of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers accomplished the feat in 1999 when he was 22 years and 231 days old, and Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers notched his first NFL postseason victory at the age of 22 years and 319 days in 2004.
Here’s another record Stroud rewrote: He’s now the highest-drafted quarterback to win a playoff game in his rookie season. That record previously belonged to Mark Sanchez, who was the fifth overall pick of the New York Jets in 2009.
Stroud’s Texans were already the first team in the Super Bowl era to win its division with both a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach.
Stroud made a name for himself at Ohio State, and the highest-drafted quarterback in program history is still knocking down Buckeyes records the next level.
His 274 passing yards are the most by a former Ohio State signal caller in the NFL playoffs. Stroud surpassed Mike Tomczak, who previously held the record with 205 yards through the air.
As the Texans’ journey from worst in the league to AFC prominence keeps carrying on, so does Stroud’s storybook year under center.
Updated Ohio State coaching staff recruiting efforts as January contact period opens up
Ohio State didn’t get to play in January, but it’s still trying to win the month with the roster that it’s building — for 2024 and beyond.
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The Buckeyes have already retained 11 draft-eligible players, and they’ve reeled in three plug-and-play players from the transfer portal in former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins and former Alabama offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin.
But Ohio State is just resuming its work on the high school recruiting trail. The dead period ended on Friday, and Lettermen Row has updates on where coaches have been since.
Check it out here.
Notebook: After Wisconsin loss, Buckeyes hoops evaluating how to find more offense, close games
Ohio State has dropped two games in a row, and it has been in position to win both of them. The Buckeyes trailed by two points with 1:44 left at Indiana and was up by two points with 5:49 remaining vs. Wisconsin.
“I think that’s the biggest thing is just honing in on those little details,” said Jamison Battle, a fifth-year transfer from Minnesota. “Because in the end, those little details ultimately lead to big things, and that big thing is losing games. So if we focus on those details, whether it’s boxing out, rebounding, be in position for the ice, stuff like that, where those little things are shored up, that’s where games are won and games are lost.”
Ohio State needs to get better at the “little details” on both ends of the floor in Big Ten play. But head coach Chris Holtmann’s squad also, quite simply, needs to find more offense.
Lettermen Row unpacked that in its latest notebook.
Counting down
Buckeyes vs. Akron: 230 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 321 days
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