C..J. Stroud is operating at an elite level this season. Credit: Jack Gorman
The Houston Texans have had leads in the final two minutes of five of their six games this season. The 20-6 loss to the Bengals in Week 2 is the only game in which C.J. Stroud has not staked the team to a late lead. Unfortunately, in the first three of these instances, the defense found a way to lose the game.
Fortunately, in the most recent two, the Texans have been able to secure the win. In Week 5, the Texans led pretty much wire to wire over the Titans, but this past Sunday was feeling a lot more like those three close losses in the first four weeks, where Stroud had generated another 30-plus points and given his team a fourth quarter lead. This time, the Texans’ defense gave up just a tying field goal and left Stroud enough time to engineer a win with no time left on the clock.
The Texans found a way to FINISH the game, and “FINISH” has been a major buzzword for DeMeco Ryans since arriving in Houston as the head coach back in 2023. The team now sits at 2-4 On the season, but could easily be 5-1, and if they were 5-1, Stroud would be right there with Brock Purdy as a leading MVP candidate. At the very least, Stroud is earning the contract extension that he chose to put off for another season this past summer.
Sunday’s win might have been his finest work of the season, and maybe his NFL career, considering the caliber of the opponent and the weather conditions, which were wet and sloppy, something Stroud has struggled with throughout his career. Thus, I wanted to relive the magic one more time, and highlight my four favorite throws from Stroud in the win over Jacksonville. Here we go:
1st-10 at HOU 49 yard line, 6:50 left in Q1 — NICO COLLINS 42-yard catch
It seems like, since Stroud arrived in 2023, that any big win by the Texans usually has a big play to Nico Collins, oftentimes early in the game. Through the years, Collins has torched the Jaguars. On Sunday, he only had 75 yards receiving, but drew a couple pass interference penalties and had this amazing 42-yard catch to set up the Texans’ first touchdown:
CJ Stroud to Nico Collins 🫡 pic.twitter.com/0zEw8fL13w
— LU (@BlackfireLu) October 18, 2026
Jags second year CB Travis Hunter was outstanding most of the day, especially when used on offense, but Collins gave him some teaching moments.
1st-10 at HOU 37 yard line, 0:38 left in Q2 — JAYLIN NOEL 50-yard catch
The Texans got the ball, just after Jacksonville had taken their only lead of the afternoon at 14-10 just before halftime. The Texans were not conservative, looking Deep on the first play from scrimmage, with Stroud finding Noel on what can only be described as one of the most impressive throws of the Stroud Era:
What a catch! 💥
With under a minute to go, Stroud finds Noel for 51 yards on 1st down! 😮
Watch live on 5, Sky Sports, talkSport and NFL Game Pass on DAZN 📺 pic.twitter.com/cT4CDGWYkS
— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) October 18, 2026
Watch that over again — Stroud absorbs a huge hit on his throwing arm and still drops the ball in a tight bucket to Noel 50 yards downfield. That throw flat out looks like A.I. A couple plays later…..
2nd-GOAL at JAC 1 yard line, 0:08 left in Q2 — FOSTER MOREAU 1 yard touchdown catch
….the Texans would find the end zone, with this catch by Moreau, his second touchdown of the day:
Stroud's beautiful TD pass to Moreau even brought a smile to Trevor Lawrence's face. pic.twitter.com/NCaQdJeDgM
— Jeremy Branham (@JeremyBranham) October 19, 2026
The funny thing about this is that Moreau was signed to toughen up the blocking in the tight end room. He was not supposed to be that valuable a receiving weapon, but that one handed catch was impressive.
3rd-2 at HOU 40 yard line, 1:04 left in Q4 — WOODY MARKS 19 yard catch and run
The final one wasn’t necessarily a special throw, as there are hundreds of quarterbacks who can throw a short crosser to Woody marks out of the backfield. The best part of this play, though, is the anecdote behind it, which Marks tells in this video, synched up with the play:
Woody Marks on the play call that got him wide open late against the Jaguars:
“It was just a good call we made. Made a correction on it. We made a little change on it during this week, and it had been open. Shoutout to CJ for making that change.”
Says he wasn’t surprised to be… pic.twitter.com/MIR0esBh5e
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) October 19, 2026
Essentially, Stroud added the little jab step to the left that Marks uses to freeze the linebackers before going out on his route. Not only did Stroud’s tweak make this a productive play, it essentially won the game for the Texans, as it got them into Ka’imi Fairbairn’s field goal range.