{"id":525664,"date":"2026-01-18T18:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T18:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/525664\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T18:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T18:05:14","slug":"cade-stover-helps-push-houston-in-nfl-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/525664\/","title":{"rendered":"Cade Stover helps push Houston in NFL playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cade Stover didn\u2019t let a broken right foot keep him from helping push the Houston Texas into the second round of the NFL playoffs today.<\/p>\n

Those of us who covered him during his high school football and basketball days at Lexington High School are not surprised.<\/p>\n

Toughness and intensity are as attached to him as his burning desire to return to his local farm when the season <\/a> is done.<\/p>\n

I have often told people that when Stover plays, it \u201cjust sounds different.\u201d I look forward to seeing that continue when he helps lead the Texans (12-5) into New England (15-3) in the divisional round Sunday at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Lexington High School graduate missed two months of the season after injuring his foot in the season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams. That break required surgery and forced him onto the IR.<\/p>\n

It was a tough injury for a second-year pro who had hoped to become a bigger part of the Houston passing game this year. He had four catches against the Rams before he was hurt.<\/p>\n

During his rookie campaign, he had 15 receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown, and was positioned to smash those numbers early into the year.<\/p>\n

A lot of that was shelved when his foot was broken.<\/p>\n

Stover clearly used his time wisely over the next several weeks, anxious to get back on the field as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

The former state \u201cMr. Football\u201d and Ohio State star returned on Nov. 16 in a 16-13 win against the Tennessee Titans, a victory that moved the Texans back to .500 at 5-5.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeels great, just happy to be back,\u201d Stover told KPRC 2.<\/a> \u201cJust to get turned loose, happy to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stover and the Texans have not lost since. <\/p>\n

In fact, Houston comes into today\u2019s game riding a nine-game winning streak, including a 30-6 playoff win at Pittsburgh on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n

The value that the 6-foot-5, 251-pound tight end brings to the Texans cannot be measured just based on receptions and yards. In nine games this season, he has 12 catches for 76 yards.<\/p>\n

Ironically, his biggest value to the team this season has come through the one skillset naysayers questioned when Stover was coming into the league \u2014 his blocking.<\/p>\n

Stover simply moves people in the run game. He is aggressive and willing to put his body into a defenders. He competes to the whistle. He excels at blocking linebackers and defensive backs in space and on the perimeter, using speed and athleticism.<\/p>\n

But Houston has also found a way to deploy Stover\u2019s toughness as a QB in short-yardage \u201cTush Push\u201d players, a position he hasn\u2019t played since his days with the Minutemen.<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t expected to run as he did during his senior year at Lexington when he rushed for 1,497 yards \u2014 and also posted 178 tackles. A \u201ctush push\u201d is aimed at one or two yards, at best. He ran for three yards on four attempts Nov. 30 in a win against Indianapolis. He ran once for four yards against the Steelers.<\/p>\n

But, like blocking, Stover accepts any task that helps his team win.<\/p>\n

(Cade Stover explains how his involvement as QB in the \u201cTush Push\u201d began late in this season.)<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Stover called Houston\u2019s shot when he returned to the field in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready to go,\u201d Stover said. \u201cWe\u2019re exactly where we want to be. Obviously, it\u2019s a little harder than we wanted to make it, but everything we want is still there.\u201d<\/p>\n

What he wants most now is to spring an upset at New England on Sunday, a win that would move him one game away from his childhood dreams in Lexington of playing in a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cade Stover didn\u2019t let a broken right foot keep him from helping push the Houston Texas into the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":525665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[124085,1322,4345,2505,233499,1232,358,3187],"class_list":["post-525664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-cade-stover","tag-featured","tag-houston","tag-houston-texans","tag-lexington-high-school","tag-nfl","tag-texas","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115917431004833869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}