C.J. Stroud Surpasses Patrick Mahomes While Breaking 21-Year NFL Record with Clutch Performance vs. Bucs

The Houston Texans vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game was close, with the former edging past the latter by 39-37. But that doesn’t tell the whole story as the casual-looking scoreline hides arguably the greatest rookie quarterback performance of all time behind it. Interestingly, Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is currently 4000 miles away in Germany and had nothing to do with the game, but Texans’ CJ Stroud managed to blow him away while crafting a record for the ages.

The Texans came into the game looking for redemption following a loss against the league’s worst-performing team, the Carolina Panthers. They started the game trailing in the first two quarters, much to their disappointment. But when Stroud started talking in the third, the Bucs defense went silent.

CJ Stroud: The greatest rookie QB of all time?

Patrick Mahomes did not expect his hard-fought victory over the Dolphins and the resulting headlines to be shattered this quickly. 22-year-old CJ Stroud broke Mahomes’ record, the NFL record, and won the much-needed Buccaneers game single-handedly. But what did he do to earn the high praise?

Well, Stroud recorded a 470-yard game with 30 for 42, 5 touchdowns, and a near-perfect 147.8 passer rating, all at the age of 22 years and 33 days. The first part accounts for the greatest performance ever in the league’s history, by a rookie quarterback. Marc Bulger, a Rams rookie QB, with 453 yards and 4 touchdowns, held the previous record who set it back in 2002.

But the more impressive part was that QB Patrick Mahomes, the best in the league currently, didn’t escape Stroud’s wrath either as he saw his record of registering a 450+ yards game at the youngest age get smashed by one whole year and a month. Mahomes for context, was 23 years and 63 days old when he played the game.

Everyone’s beloved CJ Stroud is here to stay, and that’s a statement. With a lot more to unfold in the season, who knows how many more rookie records are in danger from the Texans QB? We can expect a few more at the very least.