How Houston Texans just made emphatic statement in historic playoff thrashing over Browns

TEXANS ON TAP

Rookie C.J. Stroud became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game after throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns, and the Houston Texans returned two interceptions by Joe Flacco for scores in a 45-14 rout of the Cleveland Browns in a wild-card matchup Saturday.

Stroud, the second overall pick in the draft last April, is also the highest-drafted rookie QB to win in the postseason. He picked apart Cleveland’s vaunted defense, throwing touchdown passes of 15, 76 and 37 yards

At 22 years and 102 days old, he passed Michael Vick, who was 22 years, 192 days old in 2002 when his Falcons beat the Packers.

Stroud threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns before halftime as the Texans built a 24-14 lead. The defense took over after that, with Steven Nelson and Christian Harris returning interceptions for touchdowns on consecutive drives in the third quarter to extend the lead to 38-14.

With the Texans up 45-14 with nine minutes to go, Stroud’s work was done, and he was replaced by Davis Mills.

Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, Stroud’s stellar play and the leadership of first-year coach DeMeco Ryans transformed the Texans (11-7) from NFL laughingstock to AFC South champions.

Flacco, who turns 39 in three days, came off the couch to go 4-1 as a starter to end the regular season and lead the Browns (11-7) to just their third playoff appearance since their 1999 expansion rebirth, but second in four seasons under coach Kevin Stefanski.

Playing in his 17th postseason game but first in nine years, Flacco couldn’t continue his magical run under the bright lights of the playoffs.

Be sure to watch the video above as we react to the Texans' huge win!

Most Popular

The Texans are down two playmakers. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

It's no secret that the Texans' offense hasn't been the same since Stefon Diggs went down with an ACL injury midseason. To make matters even worse, Houston lost Tank Dell for the year, suffering a catastrophic knee injury against the Chiefs just a few weeks ago.

In an attempt to replace that production, the Texans took a flier on the talented and temperamental Diontae Johnson, who has worn out his welcome with now four NFL teams.

That's right. Aaron Wilson is reporting that the Texans have cut Johnson and elevated Jared Wayne from the practice squad.

This move is disappointing on so many levels. Houston desperately needs a playmaker to pair with Nico Collins, that's why they took a chance on the disgruntled receiver to begin with.

And while it's fair to blame Johnson for displaying displeasure about his role in a playoff game in which his team won, there are two sides to every story.

I certainly don't put this on the Texans. Johnson has proven many times to be a bad teammate, and who wants to deal with that during a playoff push?

But the Texans did only target Johnson one time in the game, which he caught and led to a field goal. While receiver John Metchie got most of the playing time despite losing a fumble on the first offensive possession of the game, costing the Texans three points.

Metchie almost had another fumble shortly after the first one, but luckily the refs ruled an incomplete pass on the play. My guess is Johnson correctly thought he was a better option than Metchie, who hasn't done anything of significance at this point in his NFL career, and was playing like the moment was too big for him.

As Metchie was making mistakes, I found myself looking for Diontae on the field and wondering why he wasn't getting more opportunities with Metchie looking like a disaster.

What's even more concerning was Nico Collins not receiving a target until the second quarter, but that's a story for another day.

As we look back at the stat sheet, Johnson was only on the field for 16 snaps, by far the fewest of Texans receivers. Robert Woods and Xavier Hutchinson played a much bigger role than he did.

If the Texans could do things over, planning to get the ball to Collins and Johnson early could have gotten the offense rolling, instead of waiting for the broken play that sparked CJ Stroud and the offense in the second quarter.

But instead, the former Pro Bowler had almost no role in the game, complained about it following a huge win, and is now off the team.

He could have been a very valuable asset against the Chiefs, who will likely take away Collins, forcing Stroud to go to his other options. Now, those options will be players that couldn't crack the starting lineup on any decent team.

Plus, tight end Cade Stover broke his collarbone against the Chargers, and has been placed on IR. It might not seem like a big deal losing Stover, after all, he hasn't been a very big piece of the offense this year.

But he hauled in four passes against the Chargers, the second-most on the team, tied with Metchie. Which also shows you how much Houston needs help at receiver.

At the end of the day, the friction with Johnson probably couldn't have been avoided. It's hard to get newly acquired players comfortable with a new offense and quarterback. Especially if he has an attitude.

But the Texans did know his frustration with the Ravens was all about his role, or lack there of. One can't help but wonder what might have been had the Texans decided to get him the ball early, to try to get some buy-in from a talented player they desperately needed.

There's a reason Jared Wayne (who collided with Dell in KC, ending his season) is being added from the practice squad, and Johnson is a former Pro Bowler.

And kudos to Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans for taking a chance on Johnson. Often, this franchise has avoided rolling the dice on a volatile player.

They gave it a shot, it didn't work, and they cut him. It was a low risk move worth trying that didn't pay off. And for Johnson, good luck finding another team.

This dude clearly prioritizes complaining over winning football games. Have fun explaining your antics to other teams when trying to get a contract next season. If you can't play for John Harbaugh or DeMeco Ryans, that says a lot about the player.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM