C.J. Stroud Gets Candid on Texans' Deflating Loss vs. Seahawks

The Houston Texans came up short of a third-straight win on the season during their Monday Night Football bout against the Seattle Seahawks, 19-27, falling to a bundle of offensive issues, and showing that this scoring unit might be a bit further off than once thought after a pair of dominating prior victories.

Defensively, the Texans met the mark— they caused four turnovers to Seattle's one, held the Seahawks to converting just 2/15 third-down opportunities, led Sam Darnold to having his quietest game of the season, and even got a defensive score thanks to a Will Anderson strip sack.

But it was the offensive side that never saw the operation gel— leading to just one offensive touchdown on the night from a touchdown pass to rookie Woody Marks, and for C.J. Stroud, made for a far from an exemplary night.

Following the game, Stroud shouldered the blame of those offensive woes at the podium, crediting the lapses to a variety of factors, but ultimately pointed the finger at himself.

"It was a lot of things," Stroud said of the Texans' offensive struggles. "First, I've got to point to myself. Missing a couple of throws. I've got to work through the pressure. They're going to bring some blitzes, got to just do some things to run some different schemes, I think would help. But, I just think that we didn't catch a rhythm."

"It starts with me, and I've got to do a better job of distributing the ball better. When I have good pockets, I make sure I'm getting the ball out on time and to the right guys. I look inward, and then there are some other things we'll watch film and get better at."

Oct 20, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) looks to the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

After two weeks of the Texans dominating both sides of the ball, that wasn't quite the story in Seattle, as the Texans quickly fell into a 14-0 deficit early in the night to force them to play from behind throughout the course of the night.

And for a Houston offense led by first-year coordinator Nico Caley that likes to be slow and methodical in moving down thge field rather than relying on big chunk plays to take the top off of the defense, the game script was far from ideal for the Texans to overcome.

Stroud calls it an offense centered around the concept of "death by a thousand cuts," and while that proved to be effective strategy in Weeks 4 and 5, they couldn't continue that trend into Seattle.

"I think the type of offense we're running is, 'death by a thousand cuts,' and sometimes, when you live by a sword, it's hard, because you're not taking a bunch of deep, downfield shots. But, you're asked to be really good on first, second down time and time and time again."

"It's something that we've got to get better at. It's still new to a lot of us, but I think we can be better at that, and that would definitely help."

Now at 2-4 heading back home for Week 8, the pressure is heating up for this Texans offense to get on track before it's too late to make that late-season push.

Stroud seemingly remains committed to the process of constant improvement on his end and for the group as a whole, but it remains to be seen just how this scoring unit can get up to speed after a handful of duds and disappointments in the first half of the year.

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