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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Bryan Manning

Texans’ playoff win over Browns has Commanders’ fans buzzing about Bobby Slowik

Bobby Slowik Commanders CJ Stroud Texans Browns (Organization) Ben Johnson Washington Houston (Organization) Adam Peters DeMeco Ryans

At this time, one year ago, the Houston Texans held the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. A few months later, Houston selected Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud with the No. 2 pick, and the rest, they say, is history.

On Saturday, Stroud led the Texans to a 45-14 blowout win over the Cleveland Browns in the AFC wild-card round. Stroud completed 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

Houston made two franchise-altering moves last offseason: Tabbing then-49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as head coach and drafting Stroud. The Texans would see Stroud quickly emerge as one of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks in 2023, passing for over 4,000 yards, 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions.

But, most importantly, Stroud and Ryans led Houston from worst to first in the AFC South. Houston won three games in 2022 and 10 in 2023.

Another critical part of Houston’s resurgence is offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. The 36-year-old followed Ryans to Houston from San Francisco, where he served as a protege under Kyle Shanahan for several seasons. Slowik’s offense in 2023 looked a lot like Shanahan’s. And his role in Stroud’s development has made him a hot candidate for some of the head coaching vacancies around the NFL.

One of those vacancies belongs to the Washington Commanders. The Commanders, like Houston one year ago, hold the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Washington hired Adam Peters away from the 49ers as general manager on Friday and will ramp up its search for a head coach next week. Peters obviously knows Slowik well from their shared time in San Francisco.

How strong of a contender will Slowik be in Washington’s search?

Commanders’ fans were certainly watching Saturday’s game between the Texans and Browns, wishing they had a franchise quarterback like Stroud. They were also impressed with Slowik.

 

 

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