The Texans had Davis Mills sitting on the bench.
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Mills went 3-0 as a starter in place of an injured Stroud this season, throwing five touchdowns and one interception.
However, DeMeco Ryans said he never considered making a quarterback change.
“CJ is our guy,” Ryans said, via a postgame transcript. “I thought he could come back in the second half and turn it around. I thought he could play better, and he did in the second half. He played better. We had some positive plays in the second half. I thought he would do that, and he did. Like I always tell our guys at halftime: it doesn’t matter what happened in the first half. You’ve got to take it out, take it out, and you’ve just got to go out there and finish it the right way.”
Stroud didn’t turn the ball over in the second half, but was just 10 of 21 for 88 yards. It wasn’t good enough for the Texans to overcome a 21-10 halftime deficit due to Stroud’s play.
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The Texans now have a decision on Stroud’s future: Is he their franchise quarterback? The first decision is whether he will exercise his fifth-year option for 2027, and then at some point they will have to decide on his long-term future. Stroud is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, but seven turnovers in two playoff games should give the Texans pause.
As ESPN analyst Troy Aikman said during the broadcast, “CJ Stroud has been chasing his rookie success for the last two years. He hasn’t been the same player. We haven’t seen his development. There’s a reason for that, and it needs to be addressed.”