After starting the season 0-3, the Houston Texans went on to finish 12-5 to secure a spot in the 2026 NFL Playoffs. It’s easy for the kudos to go to the players and coaches, but C.J. Stroud and his teammates are crediting their success to something far greater.

Heading into Monday’s matchup against the Steelers, Texas quarterback C.J. Stroud spent most of his time at a recent press conference discussing his salvation instead of gridiron schematics.

“I just got to give God the glory, man,” Stroud said. “I look back at my life, I look back at everything I’ve been through. I know he’s had his hand on me, even in times where it doesn’t feel like it.”

Stroud made it clear, though, that the team isn’t praising God in hopes of winning more football games.

“I don’t want it to ever be confused. I don’t think God is like, ‘The Texans are going to win,’ but I think regardless of win or loss, He gets the glory, and that’s up to us,” Stroud said. “And that’s just worship.”

Stroud has been open about his faith throughout his career. Even as a college standout and a two-time Heisman finalist for Ohio State, faith was integral to him. In 2023, he told Fox News that faith kept him “grounded.”

“It’s what’s kept me grounded even through my season,” Stroud said. “Football has a lot of ups and downs, it has a lot of twists and turns, but at the end of the day, it’s all about your foundation. And something that’s set my foundation is my faith. It’s something I’m not perfect in, but I try to work everyday to be better, and I definitely think that’s what saved me. If it helps encouraging anybody to help them in their lives, whatever they’re going through, then I’m all for it.”

Now, ahead of this year’s playoffs, he has turned his podium into a pulpit.

“It’s just not because we all follow Jesus that we just win every game. I think it shows the world when you lose and you’re not doing well, how you profess your faith or how you go about your life when things aren’t going great is the testimony,” Stroud said.

It hasn’t always been a smooth road for Stroud in the NFL. In 2023, he missed games late in the season due to the NFL’s concussion protocol. He missed three games earlier this season with a concussion as well. Still, his faith remains strong.

“You don’t really learn on mountain tops. You know, you really, most of the time …  you learn in valleys.”

This season, however, has been a success for Houston Texans’ Head Coach Demeco Ryans and Stroud, who both had their best regular-season finishes as the team’s coach and signal caller.

“The Lord has really had his hand on this team from our head coach all the way down to our players,” Stroud said. “I’m just really grateful God has put us together on this 2025-2026 Texans team.”

“The light is shining bright on the Texans, but that light is really reflective of our guys’ belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Ryans also said.

Stroud now prepares to go against the four-time NFL MVP, Aaron Rodgers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC Wild Card showdown, where faith will remain the motivating factor for Stroud to achieve greatness.

“It’s not because we want favor from the Lord, even though you know that would be nice,” Stroud said. “I think Him giving us our talents, our abilities, and these jobs … He’s more than worthy of all the worship.”

Kickoff between the Texans and Steelers is at 8 p.m. ET Monday night.

A man who says he was acting as security for now-captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro says the force demonstrated by American troops was unlike anything he had ever seen, and that the Venezuelan forces were no competition.

Speaking in Spanish, the man says the Americans came in undetected by Maduro security and killed hundreds of men, despite the fact that they were badly outnumbered.

“Those 20 men killed hundreds of their men, and none of those [American] soldiers were injured,” a man translating the Venezuelan insider said.

“It was a massacre,” the insider detailed. “We were hundreds, but we had no chance. They were shooting with such precision and speed … it seemed like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute. We couldn’t do anything.”

The man said the Americans were using technology that cemented the mismatch, including the use of what he described as “a very intense sound wave.”

“Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside,” he said. “We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.”

An insider from Venezuela’s security forces says US troops were like nothing they’d ever seen — overwhelming firepower, advanced tech, total dominance. After Trump’s Fox News warning on taking on the cartels, Latin America is watching how powerful US forces truly are. 🇺🇸🇻🇪”

⸻… pic.twitter.com/GKqlkDDcRw

— Anttsinc (@anttsinc) January 9, 2026

The account from the perspective of Venezuelans has been highlighted by many, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, as a warning to anyone daring to engage the United States military. The details of the 88 minute raid on Venezuela have been outlined by American military officials, who say it was one of the most complex missions ever pulled off by the country.

“Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us,” he continued. “We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.”

WATCH: How to Take Out a Dictator in 88 Minutes

The insider said the rest of the world should think twice before messing with the United States.

“I’m sending a warning to anyone who thinks they can fight the United States,” he said. “They have no idea what they’re capable of. After what I saw, I never want to be on the other side of that again. They’re not to be messed with.”

The man said Mexico is already reevaluating its actions with the United States. “No one wants to go through what we went through,” he said. “Now everyone thinks twice. What happened here is going to change a lot of things, not just in Venezuela but throughout the region.”

🚨This account from a Venezuelan security guard loyal to Nicolás Maduro is absolutely chilling—and it explains a lot about why the tone across Latin America suddenly changed.

Security Guard: On the day of the operation, we didn’t hear anything coming. We were on guard, but… pic.twitter.com/392mQuakYV

— Mike Netter (@nettermike) January 10, 2026