The Houston Texans scraped by the rival Tennessee Titans in Week 15 despite missing star quarterback C.J. Stroud, but it appears Houston will have to manage without its rookie phenom for a second straight week.
Stroud remains in concussion protocol, and is likely to miss the Texans’ Week 16 matchup against the Cleveland Browns. The Texans will continue to monitor Stroud before making a final decision.
If Stroud were to miss another game, Case Keenum would make his second start. In the 19-16 overtime win against Tennessee, the veteran completed 23 of 36 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown and one interception despite not having his top wide receivers in Tank Dell and Nico Collins. Houston trailed 13-0 late in the second quarter, yet rallied to send the game to overtime, where Ka’imi Fairbairn hit a 54-yard game-winning field goal as time expired in the extra period.
The Texans are 7-6 with Stroud starting vs. 8-26-1 with any other quarterback over the last three seasons. The No. 2 overall pick out of Ohio State was on pace to break Andrew Luck’s rookie passing yards record, but missing two games hurts his chances. Stroud threw for 3,631 yards in his first 13 starts, the fourth-most in NFL history behind Justin Herbert, Luck and Patrick Mahomes.
The 8-6 Texans are currently on the outside looking in of the playoff race with the No. 8 seed in the AFC. Houston’s remaining schedule includes Cleveland, Tennessee again and then the rival Indianapolis Colts in the regular-season finale on Jan. 7.
