C.J. Stroud shoulders blame after 4 INTs in Texans' loss to Pats - ESPN

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud shouldered the blame Sunday after one of the worst outings of his career saw the Texans' season end with a 28-16 loss to the New England Patriots.

Stroud threw a career-high four interceptions as Houston's season ended in the divisional round of the playoffs for the third straight year. He went 20-of-47 for 212 yards and one touchdown with a passer rating of 28, the lowest in any game of his career. One of the interceptions was returned for a touchdown, the first of his career.

The loss wasn't all on Stroud, as the Texans' defense allowed three touchdowns, the most from their starting defense since Dec. 21 against the Las Vegas Raiders. But Stroud had a -15.9% completion percentage over expected, the worst mark of any starting quarterback in the divisional round in the past decade, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

«I just feel like I let people down. It hurts, and I'm not used to it,» Stroud said. «I didn't play my best this year. But I'm gonna respond, keep my chest up, my chin up high and I'm gonna just keep battling forward. If God is before me, who can be against me? I'm just gonna rely on that.»

Despite Stroud's four interceptions, all of which came in the first half, coach DeMeco Ryans said he never considered benching the former No. 2 overall pick.

«C.J. is our guy,» Ryans said. «I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed that he could play better, and he did that in the second half. He did play better. We had some positive drives there in the second half. I believed that he would do that, and he did that. As I always tell our guys at halftime, it really doesn't matter what happened in the first half.»

Stroud's turnovers