Wednesday’s Christmas Day contest between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens was purported to feature two of football’s best quarterbacks when the NFL schedule was released this spring. The disparity between both team’s signal callers grows by the week.
Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP who could secure his third this season. He matched the hyped in Wednesday’s nationally-televised tilt. Jackson danced and diced Houston’s defense to the tune of 168 passing yards, 87 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in a 31-2 Ravens’ victory, proving once again why he’s considered one of the most talented quarterbacks in NFL history. Stroud can’t match Jackson’s dominance on the ground. He was still lauded as perhaps the NFL’s best pocket passer as recently as late September. Stroud’s performance continues to decline by the month.
The pure statistics from Stroud detail his struggles clearly enough. He’s tossed eight interceptions compared to eight touchdowns across his last seven games, and he’s failed to throw for 200 yards in two of his last three contests. The tape of Stroud’s step back are more concerning. He increasingly appears rattled by opposing pass rushers, and Wednesday featured uncharacteristic bouts of inaccurate passing on should-be completions to open receivers. Stroud stuggled with two ugly misses early in the first quarter. His struggles snowballed from there, and frustrated mounted in Houston’s second straight loss.
“C.J. just has to keep playing,” Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans said postgame. “There are going to be some misses. He just has to keep playing.”…