Swanson: Chargers-Texans prediction? I just hope everyone has fun
EL SEGUNDO Theyre going to play a football game Saturday in Houston and I hope its a good one.
Forgive me Chargers fans who would prefer a cakewalk, but what I want is a down-to-the-wire instant classic, edge-of-our-couch-cushion sports distraction at its finest.
Id like to see C.J.
Stroud, the Houston Texans slumping sophomore quarterback from Rancho Cucamonga, rediscover the magic of his rookie year and sprinkle it all over the field at NRG Stadium.
Lets see the Chargers improved and impressive defense have to dig deep.
And for their offense which has momentum fully on its side like its Chargers super-fan Merrianne Do to be forced to keep up its ridiculous production of the last month : 108 points in the past three games?! Yes, I know Jim Harbaughs team is charging in having three consecutive contests while the host Texans (10-7) are falling backward into this AFC wild-card matchup , winners of just one of their past three.
And that, no, thats not exactly the recipe for a great escape from reality.
But if theres some back-and-forth on the menu, Id order some of that.
A healthy side of intrigue will do.
A little taste of thrill? Oh, youre telling me they might be all out of that? Because thats what hot-take server, former NFL coach Rex Ryan, is saying about whats on the Chargers plate Saturday: I never realized they get a bye .
Oh wait, they gotta play [the Texans].
Whats the difference? Rude.
But Id ask Ryan, politely, to please check again.
Because Stroud might be only 23, but hes ridden this roller coaster before , been thrown about on these loops a lot.
Been booed and cheered, booed and cheered.
And with a talent like him, what comes down is bound to go up again.
He was the man at the Ohio State, right? Twice he earned a place among the Heisman Trophy finalists, but because he went 0-2 against Harbaughs Michigan teams, that annoys the Buckeyes fans who dont care that in those games their quarterback went 65 of 97 (67%) and threw for 743 yards and four touchdowns.
Theyll complain that Stroud didnt win any College Football Playoff games.
And protest: Dude didnt even win a Big Ten title! Never mind what he did in Ohio States Rose Bowl 48-45 victory over Utah to cap the 2021 season: 573 yards and six touchdowns, tallies that set or tied school and Rose Bowl records and fell just 3 yards shy of the record in any bowl game.
Tough crowd, football fan bases.
Fickle and easily frustrated, forever wondering: What have you done for me today? The fact that last season Stroud was the NFLs Offensive Rookie of the Year ? That he completed 64% of his passes for 4,557 yards, 26 touchdowns, just five interceptions, and had a passer rating of 101.2? That he diced up the Cleveland Browns, 45-14, in their wild-card game? Irrelevant, your honor.
Because in the court of public opinion, Stroud again has much to prove after the pressure picked up, on and off the field, in his second NFL season.
This year, hes completed 63.2% of his passes for 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
He has a passer rating of 87.
And he delivered a lump of coal on Christmas, completing 17 of 31 throws for 185 yards and an interception.
Houston got bah-humbugged and blown out by the Baltimore Ravens, 31-2.
Stroud got booed.
Not his first roller coaster ride, remember, Stroud took the 20,000-foot view of the boo birds that day: People are entitled to their opinions and they care about the game.
Their emotions matter, so I understand, he said.
This is not my first time and it probably wont be my last.
This is not something to internalize and point the finger at yourself but it is something that you can use to motivate you, to not want those moments anymore.
I got plenty of football left in my career hopefully, God-willing, and I know this is going to be a story Ill tell one day that helps me in the long run.
Its part of life.
You hit a lot of valleys and you have a lot of mountaintops.
Thats football.
Not just a game, but just a game.
Our favorite arena to tests peoples mettle, and from which to draw perspective as Stroud, so prescient as a rookie and wise beyond his years now, seems to.
So, no, the Chargers (11-6) arent treating this like a bye; theyre expecting it to deliver.
Whatever Stroud has done lately, they know what hes capable of on any given ...
Saturday.
Thats why Harbaugh gushes about Strouds courage, why the coach not only raves about him being a great guy and a tremendous competitor, but why he also has such vivid memories of watching Stroud on tape for the first time as a Rancho Cucamonga High School standout.
I was like, Wow, really intrigued, said Harbaugh, who was then the Wolverines head coach.
And then flew out to Los Angeles, got in a rental car and drove up to Rancho Cucamonga.
Just watching him play in person from the side, and then I started watching from the end zone ...
this guys the real deal.
Hes gonna go all the way.
Wish we would have got him to come to our school.
Its why the Chargers first-year defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, under whom that unit has allowed quarterbacks to complete just 58.9% of their passes for 5.8 yards per play, wants you to know the Bolts will have to take care of business against Stroud and his squad.
C.J., man, hes a great arm talent, rhythm player, said Minter, who also coached at Michigan against Stroud.
Really like the talent.
He can sit back there and deliver throws.
He can stand in pressure, get the ball over people.
He can make every throw.
He throws an elite deep ball.
He can throw on the run going both directions.
He can avoid rushers.
Theres not a lot he cant do.
So, we have our hands full.
Major challenge.
And, yes, please.
In the midst of the wildfires wreaking real catastrophe, thats the kind of hands-full, major challenge we want.
A few hours of high-stakes, no-stakes normalcy, with winners and losers except all thatll be lost is a game and even the miserable parties at the end will have to admit, this was good, this was fun..
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