Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week, the NFL announced Wednesday. The honor comes on the heels of Stroud's game-winning drive to send the club to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.Â
A second-time honoree as Offensive Player of the Week, Stroud finished his spectacular regular season in fitting fashion, as the rookie signal caller completed 20-of-26 passes for 264 yards, two touchdown passes and AFC-best 134.1 passer rating. With the game tied at 17 in the fourth quarter, Stroud engineered a 12-play, 73-yard scoring drive going 7-for-7 for 82 yards in the process. It marked Stroud's rookie-best third game-winning drive and was later cemented as the drive that sealed the Texans as AFC South Champions.
Stroud ended the 2023 regular season completing 319-of-499 pass attempts (63.9 percent) for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns to just five interceptions for a passer rating of 100.8. Leading the way alongside Head Coach DeMeco Ryans, the two became the first-ever rookie quarterback and first-year head coach to capture a division title, while Stroud also became just the third player in NFL history to lead the NFL in passing yards per game and touchdown-interception ratio in the same season, joining the likes of Joe Montana and Tom Brady.
Stroud's honor marks the 57th time a Texan has been named Player of the Week and the 20th time an offensive player has won the award in franchise history. It also sets a new team record for most Player of the Week awards in a single season with six, while being tied for the second-most in the NFL this year.
