The Houston Texans were able to come away with their first win of the season in upset fashion against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud had perhaps his best performance of his career thus far, setting an NFL rookie record in the process.
Rookie quarterbacks are often prone to turnovers as they get up to speed in the NFL. But that hasn’t been too big of a problem for Stroud, who came into Week 3 with zero interceptions on the year.
Stroud continued this streak in impressive fashion against the Jaguars, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He even outplayed Jaguars star quarterback Trevor Lawrence en route to a dominant 37-17 victory.
Rookie to rookie. @CJ7STROUD hits Tank Dell for a 68-yard TD!
📺: #HOUvsJAX on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/UQdQ05hqXN pic.twitter.com/NszwLZjorq— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2023
It is extremely impressive that Stroud has been able to protect the football so well this early into his career. Especially since through three weeks, he has the fifth-most pass attempts in the NFL.
Stroud has thrown 121 pass attempts without an interception, which breaks the NFL rookie record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception, previously held by Warren Moon.
#texans QB C.J. Stroud has 121 pass attempts without an INT through his first 3 starts. It's the most pass attempts without INT in a players first 3 starts in NFL history. Previous record was previously held by Warren Moon (103)
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) September 24, 2023
This stat is obviously exceptional for Stroud, but it also may be a bit deceiving. While Stroud hasn’t thrown an interception yet this season, he has lost two fumbles thus far in the 2023 season.
Regardless, Stroud has shown some very impressive flashes early on in his career, and it looks like the Texans may finally have a quarterback of the future.
He will look to keep his impressive play and his interception-less streak going in Week 4 when the Texans take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.