Tom Krasovic: C.J. Stroud joins Justin Herbert as QBs confounded by Patriots in playoffs

Now C.J. Stroud can commiserate with Justin Herbert.

The Texans’ quarterback, Stroud, 24, had a bad AFC divisional playoff game Sunday on the same field where Herbert, 27, had a bad playoff game a week earlier. Stroud’s team fell 28-16 to New England, a week after the Patriots beat the Chargers 16-3.

The Patriots were responsible for a good chunk — but not all — of each young quarterback’s misery.

New England’s defense stuffed each ground game, putting more heat on the passing attack. Second-year QB Drake Maye, 23, outplayed both the Chargers’ Herbert and the Texans’ Stroud. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson, competent blocking and receivers led by KayShon Boutte and Stefon Diggs bolstered Maye.

Now 15-3, coach Mike Vrabel’s Patriots will head to Denver for the franchise’s first AFC championship game in seven years.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft gets a Maine lobster dinner for his efforts.

Patriots scouts promoted by Kraft have built up the roster. Giving the team a franchise QB, Eliot Wolf drafted Maye in 2024. Kraft and Wolf hired Vrabel, a top-10 head coach and defensive expert who’s rising again, last January.

Even so, it was striking to see Herbert and Stroud appear overwhelmed — not just so-so — in New England.

Stroud’s performance was so errant, compounding his frenetic outing in the first-round win at Pittsburgh, that it may reverberate for a while.

The third-year QB threw four interceptions in the first half. He made several other inaccurate passes. He often looked unsettled. If Texans coach DeMeco Ryans had benched Stroud at halftime and replaced him with Davis Mills, the move wouldn’t have screamed panic. The deficit was 21-10.

Texans leaders will have more to consider this offseason, when Stroud becomes eligible for a long-term extension.

The Texans have a top-tier defense, most of which will return next season. Other pieces are in place, including more top-150 picks in the next draft than possessed by any of this year’s other 13 playoff teams.

But if Stroud cannot grow through his struggles, the Texans will be in a bind.

Stroud shone as a rookie three seasons ago, even earning MVP votes. The team’s blocking in 2024 was often abysmal. Injuries have set the QB back, too, in the past two seasons. A concussion sidelined him for three games this season.

An intense refresher on fundamentals would seemingly benefit Stroud, whose game has deteriorated. So would talent upgrades within the blocking unit.

Herbert’s performance in the Chargers’ wild-card-round loss is worth further review.

Thursday, former NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan put out an 80-minute coaches’ film breakdown of it.

The deep dive confirmed that Herbert didn’t cash in on several good chances. O’Sullivan found no fewer than seven plays in which Herbert “turned down” a good opportunity to pass to a teammate. Many of those chances were well downfield. A few involved receiver Ladd McConkey.

“I don’t recall Justin Herbert playing like this ever in the NFL,” said O’Sullivan, who runs The QB School website. “This game is giving me flashbacks to Oregon and me scratching my head.”

Several times, the ex-QB used phrases such as, “Why didn’t he throw that?” and “Just throw it, just throw it.”

O’Sullivan praised the Pats’ defense and noted the Chargers’ inability to run the ball. He said he didn’t love the play design of Greg Roman, who has since been fired as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator.

But O’Sullivan often came back to Herbert. “I’ve got no clue what Justin Herbert is seeing, if I’m being totally honest,” he summarized.

When the playoffs arrive, a quarterback’s challenges often go up. He’s apt to face an above-average defense that also has gone to school on a full season’s worth of film. The weather often poses more problems. Sunday in Foxboro, Mass., it served up wet snow flurries.

Maye has found turbulence, too, if to a far lesser extent.

Against a healthy, above-average Chargers D, he had an interception, two fumbles (one lost) and made a few errant throws. Sunday, he had four fumbles against a very good Texans defense, losing only one of them.

Maye put up better statistics during a sublime regular season in which he led the NFL in several categories, including completion rate (72.0) and quarterback rating (113.5). Also, he rushed for four TDs.

But in each playoff game, Maye rebounded from his miscues and made several effective plays.

In the AFC title game, he’ll face a fast Broncos D that forced five turnovers Saturday against Josh Allen and the Bills.

Maye’s QB counterpart, unfortunately, won’t be Bo Nix. Drafted nine spots after May went third in 2024, the 25-year-old suffered a broken ankle Saturday late in the game-winning drive he led against the Broncos.

The NFC’s Seahawks look too powerful for either the Patriots or the Broncos.

But there’s a lot to like about where Maye and the Patriots stand, seven years after Tom Brady led them to victory in the AFC finale at Kansas City.

NFC showdown set

The Bears and Caleb Williams gave us more thrills.

But the Rams set up the better NFC title match after Harrison Mevis hit a 42-yard field goal that beat the Bears 20-17 in overtime at frigid Soldier Field.

The Rams and top-seeded Seahawks will meet for a third time this year after splitting two regular-season games that went down to the wire.

“We’ve been waiting, man,” said Rams defensive end Jared Verse.

Williams pulled off an all-time play to force overtime. Facing fourth down from the Rams’ 14, he dropped back some 20 yards and winged a TD pass to tight end Cole Kmet. The touchdown pass to Cole Kmet traveled 51.2 yards in the air, the longest completed pass by air distance in the red zone in the nine-year Next Gen Stats era.

Rams safety Kam Curl’s interception of Williams in OT set up the winning drive that featured catches by Colby Parkinson, Davante Adams and Puka Nacua.