All the poise that C.J. Stroud showed during the regular season more than carried over into his playoff debut.
Stroud threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Houston Texans to a 45-15 trouncing of the Cleveland Browns at NRG Stadium in Houston in the AFC Wild Card matchup Saturday. In leading the Texans to the resounding victory, Stroud, 22, became the youngest starting quarterback to win an NFL playoff game and also set the rookie QB record for most touchdowns thrown in a postseason game.
The dynamic rookie had a near perfect in his playoff debut, delivering all three of his TD passes in the first half — including a 15-yard strike to Nico Collins in the first quarter and a 76-yard bomb to Brevin Jordan and 36-yard hookup with Dalton Schultz in the second quarter.
The Texans would only add to their 24-14 halftime lead as they blew the game open in the second half by generating back-to-back pick-6 touchdowns on Joe Flacco less than two minutes apart in the third quarter.
With the win, the Texans send a message to the rest of the field in the AFC playoffs and also march onto the Divisional Round next week.
Here's how the entire Texans-Browns' Wild Card game went.