The Cleveland Browns faced off with the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The Browns defeated the Houston Texans 31-21 in a game that was far too close. The Texans came to play and did their damndest to upset the Browns in Cleveland. Houston was almost able to do just that, going into halftime tied 14-14.
The Browns, despite some mistakes (mostly on defense), got ahead in the second half and were able to fend off the Texans’ offense. Mostly and almost exclusively because their starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, was forced out of the game at halftime due to a hamstring injury.
Houston was stuck with a rookie quarterback at that point and had to get creative with their offense. Despite struggling with older talent and a rookie quarterback, the Texans were still in the game heading into the final few minutes of the fourth quarter.
A late field goal missed secured the outcome for Cleveland and sent them home with a win.
The Browns’ offense has proven once again that they can score on anyone as long as they stick to the game plan. A game plan that saw Mayfield take over for the first three quarters, leading the team down to the field for four touchdown drives.
Fans should be happy with the way the offense played, as they did just about everything right and save for some rookie mistakes, this team would’ve been perfect all day and it’s not like the Texans defense wasn’t stout or capable. They absolutely were, it was just the Browns’ offense is never down for long.
3 Good
Baker Mayfield
Through the first two and two-thirds quarters, Baker Mayfield missed a pass to David Njoku (I think), which could’ve been a miscommunicated situation, and threw an interception that Anthony Schwartz caused by stopping short of his route. That was it. For a quarterback who was dogged for his accuracy by some, he had completed 88% of his passes through the game up until that point and had completed 80% of passes for the season. He also rushed for his first and threw for his first touchdowns of the season.
Dedication to the run
The Browns started very slow, with a lot of short gains and even a tackle for a loss or two. Usually, this would’ve caused the coaching staff to give up on that facet of the game plan but they didn’t. The Browns continued to march on and eventually those short gained turn into back-breaking first-down dashes.
Stepping up
The tight ends stepped up today. With Anthony Schwartz being unreliable with his route-running, Donovan Peoples-Jones being taken out of the passing game, and Jarvis Landry leaving due to an injury, it was up to the tight ends to make plays and make plays they did. David Njoku, Harrison Bryant, and Austin Hooper had 11 combined receptions between them with Hooper leading the way with five of them. Bryant was arguably the most impressive, having two big catches and showing off his athleticism all game long.
3 Bad
The defense
Before Tyrod Taylor went down the Browns defense did absolutely nothing to warrant their jobs. They gave up two touchdowns to the Texans in the first three drives. They were able to force a three-and-out on the last drive of the second half but that had more to do with Houston trying to end the half than advance the field position. Then the second half started, without Taylor, and all of a sudden they were able to start getting three and outs.
Anthony Schwartz
We’re starting to see why he fell as far as he did in the NFL Draft. Besides the fact he bobbles balls (twice against the Chiefs with one being a drop), he doesn’t know his routes or his responsibilities. In the second quarter against the Texans, Schwartz pulled up short on a pass from Baker Mayfield, allowing for an interception to occur.
Offensive line
The offensive line in the first half got roasted, and there’s no denying that. Jedrick Wills was getting beat on the edge, and Jack Conklin was making read mistakes for most of the game. He also had two holding calls that hurt the team. When Wills left, presumably due to his ankle injury, and was replaced with Blake Hance, the line seemed to return to form and started rolling on the Texans’ offense. For context purposes, if any of the other 31 teams had an offensive line that played like the Browns’, it’d be seen as a “good game” but this offensive line is held to a much higher standard.
In conclusion
The Browns are rolling offensively. They’ve done everything they needed to do and have proven that the issues they may have on offense are negated by the depth they have. It took Nick Chubb nearly half the game to get going, in part due to sloppy line play but eventually, they made some corrections, got guys settled, and by the time the third quarter was about to end, the offensive line returned to form.
The receivers are not producing as hoped and Anthony Schwartz has proven that he’s far more of a project than we may have thought. The good news is that Baker Mayfield is throwing the ball well, maybe as good as anyone in the NFL. Both of his two interceptions were not throwing mistakes but caused due to extenuating circumstances. Against the Chiefs, he was hit while he was throwing, and against the Texans, his loan interception came when Schwartz stopped abruptly instead of trying to make a play on the ball.
The big issue that is facing this team is the defense, still. Even when Tyrod Taylor left the game, the Texans were still competitive against this team. Either the Texans have the best coach in the league in David Culley or the Browns’ defense is as bad as ever. Letting this team keep it close was bad enough but to get beat by guys like Brandon Cooks is not a good look.
What made it worse was how easy it was for Taylor to pick on Denzel Ward through the first two quarters. While we’ll never know, I have no doubt this game looks very different if Taylor doesn’t go down hurt. The Browns’ defense is a wreck, and there are no excuses left for it.