C.J. Stroud Sends Parting Message to Broncos LB Alex Singleton: 'I'm a Man'

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans may not have uttered it out loud, but one decision he made in Week 13 telegraphed how little he respected Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos' offense. In the Broncos' 22-17 loss to the Texans, Wilson and company never converted a single third down on 11 attempts. 

Nursing a three-point lead deep into the first quarter, Ryans faced a decision after the Broncos stopped C.J. Stroud and the Texans on third down, bringing up a 4th-&-2 from Denver's 7-yard line. Instead of ushering the field-goal unit onto the field, Ryans kept his offense out there. 

The Broncos had two possessions up to that point, both of which were a three-and-out. Even if the fourth-down try was unsuccessful, Ryans liked his defense's chances of forcing another quick punt and getting the ball back at worst. 

Ryan's decision nearly backfired, as the officials blew the 4th-&-2 dead with a false-start penalty on the Texans, which would have resulted in a 4th-&-7 from the 14-yard line. Faced with that decision, Ryans likely relents and kicks a field goal, which would have extended Houston's lead to 6-0, although it's possible he would have still kept his offense on the field. 

Either way, the point became moot as Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton paid no heed to the whistle, blasting through a gap in the Texans' line, and rushing Stroud in the backfield, pushing the quarterback and getting into his face. Stroud retaliated by bowing up and blasting Singleton with a helmet-to-helmet response as a mini-scrum ensued. 

The officials threw a flag — but not on Stroud for initiating helmet-to-helmet contact. The yellow laundry was called on Singleton for unnecessary roughness, which some Broncos fans decried, but if the linebacker had kept his poise and pulled up at the whistle, Stroud wouldn't have retaliated and drawn the officials' scrutiny. A quarterback will always get the benefit of the doubt from the refs. 

So instead of accepting a false start penalty that would have moved the Texans back five yards on fourth down, Broncos head coach Sean Payton could only watch as the refs gave Stroud a new set of downs half the distance to the goal. Two plays later, Dameon Pierce hit paydirt, and the extra point extended Houston's lead to 10-0. 

After a night to sleep on it and having watched the tape, Payton was displeased with his veteran linebacker's lack of comportment. 

"Defensively, we’re off the field, and in a red-zone situation," Payton said on Monday via conference call, "we let a rookie bait us into a personal foul. That’s four points."