HOUSTON — Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud's NFL record for pass attempts without an interception to start a career is over at 192 after he threw a pick early in Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints.
The interception didn't hurt, though, as the Texans ended up with the ball after the play was over.
The pickoff came in the first quarter as the Saints’ Zack Baun stepped between Stroud and his intended receiver. Baun made the interception, but during the return, he fumbled it and the Texans got it right back. They went on to score a touchdown on the drive, jumping out to a 7-0 lead.
Last week, the Houston rookie QB passed Dallas' Dak Prescott, who previously held the record with 176 pass attempts to start his career without a pick.
The record came when Stroud threw his 177th pass to start the season during week five against the Falcons.
In the Texans' week four matchup against the Steelers, Stroud became only the sixth QB in NFL history to throw for at least 1,200 yards with no picks in the first four games of the season. The others all have Super Bowl rings: Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
Watch the play Stroud's streak ended:
If you were curious about the record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception at any point in a career, Aaron Rodgers holds that distinction with 402 straight passes without a pick.
Stroud was selected No. 2 in the draft after many experts predicted he would go first to Carolina. The Panthers chose Bryce Young. After reports emerged that Stroud scored poorly in the S2 Cognitive Test — which measures perception speed, search efficiency, tracking capacity, visual learning and more — there was even some thought he would slip into the latter part of the first round.
The Texans are grateful they didn’t pass him up.
“As a rookie, I would say that he’s really good because he knows when and why, which I think is rare for a rookie,” Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said of Stroud’s ability to read defenses with his eyes. “A lot of times — like in college, he definitely did it. Without a doubt, it showed up on his college tape. It was really neat to see him do it on his (top) 30 visit and our Zooms and stuff with him.
