FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — One interception after another, C.J. Stroud dug Houston into a deeper hole.
And this time the Texans’ defense couldn’t save them.
A week after Stroud committed three turnovers in a wild-card victory over the Steelers, the Houston quarterback threw four interceptions in the first half on Sunday to hand New England a 28-16 victory and a spot in the AFC championship game.
“Ball security is everything, especially the way our defense has played all year, and it’s something that I’ve done a pretty good job of up to this point,” Stroud said. “I think my whole team trusts me. They believe in me. Today just wasn’t my day, and I’m appreciative of my teammates having my back once again.”
Houston turned the ball over a fifth time when running back Woody Marks — a hero of the wild-card win — fumbled on the doorstep of a potential touchdown while trailing 21-13 in the third quarter.
“We’ve done a great job all year protecting the football and running the ball well. That’s been our formula,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “To come here when we needed it most, and we didn’t protect the ball — it’s tough to think that you’re going to win a game and you turn the ball over five times.”
On a cold afternoon that mixed rain and wet snow, Houston’s top-ranked defense hassled Drake Maye all game, forcing four fumbles (recovering two) and sacking him five times. The MVP contender finished 16 for 27 for 179 yards, but he also threw for three touchdowns.
“When the snowflakes stop, I think it’s a little easier to throw the football, got a little better grip,” Maye said. “I think C.J. probably would say the same thing. We both probably had some throws that were tough, it was tough to get a grip on it.”
The Texans only had 12 giveaways during the regular season and had a plus-17 turnover differential that was second-best in the league. Stroud threw one interception and fumbled five times at Pittsburgh last week, losing two, but the defense also scored a pair of touchdowns in the 30-6 victory.
“For us to come out in these past two games and have the amount of turnovers we’ve had, it’s not winning football,” Ryans said. “So we’ve got to find a way to not have that, clean it up and get it fixed.”
That will be a job for the offseason, with Houston reaching the playoffs for a franchise-record third straight year but losing in the divisional round each time.
“We’ve got to play better football when we get in this moment. For the past three years, we have not,” Ryans said. “It’s not a magical elixir that’s going to happen to get past the divisional round.”
The Texans took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter despite an early interception that cost the them a potential field goal. After forcing New England to punt, Stroud’s next pass was picked off by Marcus Jones and returned for a touchdown.
The 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year was also picked off on the next possession, just four plays later, and again coming out of the two-minute warning. In their last seven possessions of the first half, the Texans had four interceptions, two three-and-outs and one touchdown.
“I think I’m a pretty self-confident person,” Stroud said. “I think when (the mistakes) started to pile up, I tried my best just to stay locked and realizing I’ve just got to be there for my teammates. … I’m just grateful my teammates were picking me up.”
What might have been most damaging was Marks’ fumble at the Patriots 17 in a one-score game. After stripping the ball from Maye at the New England 33, Houston ran four plays before Marks — who ran for 112 yards and a touchdown last week — gave it right back.
Though the Patriots only scored seven points off the Texans’ turnovers, the giveaways also twice took Houston out of position for a field goal and possibly more.
Ryans said he never lost faith in his quarterback.
In a sideline interview at halftime with his team trailing 21-10, the Texans coach said: “C.J. needs to understand: This team has his back. The first half is over. As bad as it looked, we still have a second half to go finish.”
Afterward, Ryans said, “C.J. is our guy. I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed that he could play better, and he did that in the second half. He did play better.”
Only a little bit better, though.
After completing 10 of 24 passes for 124 yards and the four interceptions in the first half, Stroud finished 20 of 47 for 212 yards. More important, he led the Texans to 10 points in the first half and just a pair of field goals in the second.
“We’re in this thing together from day one. It doesn’t change for me,” Ryans said. “When things don’t go your way, you have bad performances, it’s not a time to point fingers or say it’s on one person. … We stick together.”
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