ARLINGTON – As the old saying goes, “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.” And the Houston Texans are poised tonight to roll into the home of the Dallas Cowboys here on “Monday Night Football” with Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud backing up his … well, non-brag. The Cowboys are 3-6 and are 7-5-point underdogs and are licking some wounds that probably won’t go away in 2024.
The 6-4 Texans, meanwhile, are also sore, as they are coming off a “Sunday Night Football” game against the Detroit Lions in which they blew a 16-point halftime lead on the way to a loss. Stroud is more than confident about rebounding here against the Cowboys. … going so far are to compare his “swag” to that of NBA legend Steph Curry. “I’m not just a game manager.
I can be a game-changer,” Stroud said. “For me, I’m going to keep the swag … Steph Curry can go 0 for whatever, but he is going to keep shooting. That’s me. “I’m just going to keep shooting. Keep trusting myself. Keep trusting the talent God gave me.” That attitude led to Stroud in 2023 having one of the greatest rookie QB seasons of all-time. This year, Stroud has been good, no doubt, having completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 2,371 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. … with what is essentially a prediction that he’s going to be even better – starting tonight.
“One of the biggest things, too, is that my teammates trust me,” Stroud said. “The team still rides behind me, and they still want me to be at the helm and love me through the thick and the thin.” Tonight could be the “thick” for the Texans and the “thin” for the Cowboys, who are on a five-game losing streak at home. That might be especially true if Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has his way.
“Full, complete trust in C.J.,” Ryans said. “Let him go out and rip it, cut it loose, play fast, play fun.”
