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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Conor Orr

The Texans Have Young Cornerstones on Defense Just Like on Offense

How about a Texans column that only mentions C.J. Stroud twice?

Stop the tape at the 9:35 mark of the fourth quarter, with Houston up by five points, coddling a dwindling lead and Russell Wilson dropping back to try to hit on a moon ball to Courtland Sutton in the seam with some open space. There’s Derek Stingley Jr., making up for the advantage in leverage Sutton clearly has, cutting across the receiver and going airborne. The still frame makes the second-year defensive back look like some combination of a prima ballerina and trampoline instructor. He is soaring. He is also tracking a ball backward that he may have slightly misjudged. No matter. This is simply what Stingley does now, for the fourth time in three games, he has broken a quarterback’s heart. This time, it was not a tipped ball, it was pure feel.

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