Browns: Evaluating the opponents for the 2021 NFL Season
By Chad Porto
Week 2 -Texans (Home)
There’s an old saying that some people use to express doubt over a given circumstance. Granted, there are many, but for this specific entry, the one we’re going with “…eat my hat.” As in, if Deshaun Watson ever plays again for the Houston Texans, I’ll eat my hat; and folks, I have a baseball cap collection. So I have the hats to eat. Watson’s troubles are just beginning, and even if he’s not formally charged, which seems to be impossible at this point with the mounting accusations, it’s hard to see the NFL not taking a stand somewhere down the line.
So the odds that Watson is even on the team, let alone not suspended by Week 2 remain pretty high. The Texans are as much of a one-man team as anyone in the NFL can be, and if Watson isn’t there, the team has no shot of beating the Browns. Even if Watson, the Texans are anything but a team on the downturn.
The Texans were a top 13 team in total yards gained last year with 6,006, but of that 5,267 were directly a result of Watson. They may have upgraded their running game significantly though. They added David Lindsey and Mark Ingram. Unfortunately, they’re still very weak on the offensive side of the ball.
The team already had a hard enough time scoring points (19th in the league), and if Watson isn’t on the team, then what does that leave you in Houston? Defensively they were among the league’s work, top three in most yards given up. They brought in Shaq Lawson, Christian Kirksey, and Tavierre Thomas to help out, but they seem like stopgaps at best and not very consistent ones either.
Expectations: You have to feel bad for David Culley, it feels like the Texans knew Deshaun Watson was going to fun afoul along the way and hired Culley as a one-season stop gap until they can draft his true replacement. The Browns better not lose to this depleted team.