The Houston Texans host the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the playoffs this year in a rematch of the two sides’ Week 16 bout. Cleveland got the better of Houston in that one, 36-22, but did so against Case Keenum and not C.J. Stroud.
This time around, the Texans will have their rookie quarterback under center and with a – mostly – healthy roster. They also better understand a Browns team that is now 4-1 in their past five games and 4-1 with Joe Flacco from Weeks 13-17 (he sat in Week 18).
Head coach DeMeco Ryans explained that two major things sank Houston in Week 16: penalties and giving up big plays on defense.
“Looking back at our first game against the Browns, it was a lot of self-inflicted penalties,” Ryans said. “We made big plays; they were negated by penalties or just mishaps on our part. Again, we have to play clean football versus a really good team. You can’t go out and make mistakes, or they’ll capitalize on it, and they’ve shown that time after time after time.”
The Texans finished the game with 10 penalties for 76 yards. Four were on the offensive line in the first half and then a few defensive pass interference calls set up touchdowns for the Browns.
Alternatively, the team also failed to thwart breakout plays on defense that allowed the Browns to jump out to a huge lead.
“We gave up too many explosive passes and Amari [Cooper] had an outstanding game,” Ryans added. “Watching it again, he had some of the best catches I’ve seen all year, even though guys were in coverage and in position, he still made unbelievable catches. He had an outstanding game, so we just have to be in position to cover him better. We have to make plays to get off the field on third-down as well.”
Cooper exploded in this game with 11 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns. His yardage broke a four-year career-high for the wideout, while the 11 receptions rank tied for fourth in his career in a single game. Cooper caught a 75-yard bomb from Flacco in the second quarter to put Cleveland up 14-0 and added five catches of at least 13 yards. All 11 of Cooper’s receptions were for first downs as well.
In total, the Texans also gave up 26 first downs – tied for the most they’ve given up in a single game all season. Houston allowed six third-down and four fourth-down conversions in the contest.
The hope for Houston is that they’ll be fully healthy in this one – especially on defense. Will Anderson Jr. returned in Week 17 and tallied two sacks, but fellow edge rusher and team sack-leader Jonathan Greenard hasn’t played since he injured his ankle three snaps into the Browns game.
Stroud playing should shake things up as well, although the Browns still have one of the best defenses in the NFL and No. 1 secondary in yards allowed.
