The Houston Texans continued their underdog story on Saturday when they blew out the Cleveland Browns 45-14 in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

They had already finished the regular season in a rush to claim first place in the AFC South, but they took things to another level versus Cleveland.

Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 16 of 21 pass attempts and threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns, adding to the amazing story he has put together this season.

The Texans will take on Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round, and Jackson was effusive in his praise for Stroud, per Sarah Ellison.

“From my experience, he played a lot better than I did from my rookie game, I’ll say that. … He did great. He did great,” Jackson said.

Lamar Jackson was asked about CJ Stroud's first playoff game as a rookie: "From my experience, he played a lot better than I did from my rookie game, I'll say that. … He did great. He did great."

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) January 16, 2024

During the regular season, Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he showed that he likely has the clutch gene as well.

He is not afraid of the big stage or big moment, and this Saturday’s game will present him with a big stage to further prove his abilities.

Jackson didn’t play nearly as well as Stroud did when he was a rookie, and in his first playoff game, he completed fewer than half of his passes in a six-point loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

He had two touchdown passes in that game, but both of them came in garbage time after Baltimore had already fallen behind 23-3 in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens had the NFL’s top-scoring defense in the regular season, so Stroud will have his hands full this weekend, as will DeMeco Ryans, his head coach.

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