Baker Mayfield and C.J. Stroud had completely different circumstances going into the 2023 campaign. Although Mayfield was supposed to serve as a stopgap until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could acquire their franchise quarterback, Stroud was seen as the Houston Texans’ future quarterback. However, as the season went on, it became clear that there wasn’t really much of a difference between the two signal-callers.
With a 10-7 regular-season record, Stroud turned the 3-13-1 Texans into the AFC South Champions, putting together maybe the greatest rookie campaign in history. The Texans put up 45 points against one of the best defences in the league as Stroud and company took advantage of the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. After a thrilling run that culminated with a Divisional Round loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Houston was eliminated from contention for the AFC Championship game.
This year, the Buccaneers also shocked the NFL. The Buccaneers came together at the perfect time and finished the season as NFC South Champions with a 9-8 record, despite their slow start to success. In the postseason’s Wild Card Round, Mayfield led the team to an unexpected victory over the Philadelphia Eagles; like the Texans, the team was eliminated one game short of the NFC Championship.
Due to their achievements, Mayfield and Stroud were selected as Pro Bowl alternates, and their numbers were called when other quarterbacks chose not to play. On Thursday, February 1, 2024, the Pro Bowl Games got underway in Orlando, Florida.
The competitions on Thursday night included dodgeball, tic tac toe, high stakes, best catch, closest to the pin, and precision passing. In terms of accurate passing, Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith, and Mayfield competed for the NFC, while Tua Tagovailoa, Gardner Minshew, and Stroud represented the AFC.
With 26 points, Stroud led the AFC, followed by Minshew with 21 and Tagovailoa with 16 points. Hurts scored seventeen points, Smith scored twenty, and Mayfield scored an NFC-high twenty-four.
Mayfield and Stroud faced off in the championship match, with the victor earning three conference points as the grand prize. The quarterbacks had six chances to hit a target before switching throws. Mayfield took advantage of Stroud’s first target miss and gained the upper hand.
Stroud steadily tied the score by working from behind. The AFC Pro Bowl coach, Peyton Manning, advised the Texans signal-caller to take a chance on his sixth and last throw, which was to hit the 10-point marker. For Mayfield and the NFC, the rest was history when Stroud missed the 10-point attempt.
Leave a Reply