Ryans on Texans' comeback home win over Tampa Bay: 'We talked about it at the half, no matter what happens, we come back in here with the dub'

Houston Texans' rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud had a week of turnaround, moving from a loss against the then-winless Carolina Panthers to a record-setting performance that justified Houston's decision to invest in him. This performance propelled Houston to its fourth win overall.

"We talked about it at the half, no matter what happens, we come back in here with the dub,” said head coach Demeco Ryans after the enthralling 39-37 victory over Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov. 5.

In his eighth career start, Stroud delivered a 470-passing-yard, five-touchdown performance. This yardage set a new single-game rookie record according to NFL's website report, surpassing former record holder Andrew Luck who held the record at 433 yards. The report also placed Stroud as the front-runner for the 2023 Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

However, during this match, Texans were missing veteran kicker Kaimi Fairbairn due to a quadriceps injury reported by ESPN and run by Houston ABC affiliate KTRK News. Running back Dare Ogunbowale stepped up to fill Fairbairn's place and even managed to nail an actual field goal attempt with just 8:45 left in the game.

The game was reminiscent of one played on popular Madden NFL video games given its high score and concluded with Texans halting Tampa Bay's final kickoff return attempt. As reported by KTRK News, Texans will face Cincinnati Bengals on their turf on Nov. 12.