For the first time In four years, the Houston Texans are going to the playoffs and will face off against the Browns.

These two teams played each other recently on Christmas Eve, and it wasn’t much of a contest, as Cleveland scored early and didn’t trail the rest of the game.

Houston was without some of their best players the last time these two squared off, so the Browns are essentially playing a better Texans team this time around.

As it currently stands, the Browns are a two point favorite to win this game, but some key factors could lead to a potential upset occurring at NRG Stadium.

Bring Joe Flacco back to reality

Joe Flacco’s comeback has been nothing short of a miracle from a narrative perspective. The 38-year-old has a 4-1 record as the Browns starting quarterback and has resurrected his career.

Narrative’s aside, Flacco has played like an average quarterback at best from a number’s perspective with 13 touchdowns to 8 interceptions and has a total QBR of 48.4 since joining the Browns.

Certainly numbers not to write home about, and it has been proven that Flacco preforms poorly under pressure this season. With the news that both Will Anderson Jr. and Jonathan Greenard have retuned to practice and could potentially play Saturday, Cleveland may have their hand’s full trying to contain the Texans pass rush that has proven the ability to get to quarterbacks with ease.

If Houston’s defense can put pressure on Flacco throughout most of the game and force him to make mistakes, it would give the Texans a huge advantage.

Contain Cleveland’s other playmakers

The Texans secondary didn’t have an answer for Cleveland's receivers in their previous matchup and will look to better contain them this time around. Amari Cooper set a franchise record with 265 yards receiving yards, scored two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion, and David Njoku was able to get separation easily and scored a touchdown for the Browns as well. I don’t envision Cooper having a performance close to his last outing against the Texans, and Njoku has proven he can be ineffective at times like he was earlier this season. Better coverage packages will be put in play to limit both of these players' effectiveness for Saturday's game.

Another athlete the Texans will have to contain is the potential defensive player of the year Myles Garrett. Easier said than done, but Houston’s offensive line has to step up and limit his impact. Garrett had a relatively quiet game against Houston the last time they played, as he only recorded 3 tackles and zero sacks. That’s not to say he isn’t capable of taking over a game. But if Houston were to guard him similarly to the way they did on Christmas Eve, it would give the Texans offense more time to work and move down the field with ease.

Trust the guys that got you this far.

When the Texans hired DeMeco Ryans last year to become their next head coach, they knew he could potentially change the culture and turn this team into a winning organization again. But I don’t think anyone could have foreseen this coming to fruition so quickly. It made perfect sense for the former Texans’ linebacker to return home to coach the team that drafted him after his successful tenure as the 49ers defensive coordinator. Ryans has been the perfect coach for the job as he led the Texans to a 10-7 record, improving from 3-13-1 last season, and has shown he can be Houston’s coach for years to come. Ryans is a true leader of men, and has gotten the best out of his players time and time again this season.

Texans rookie C.J. Stroud has had a phenomenal start to his NFL career, passing for 4,108 passing yards (third-most by a rookie all-time) and throwing only five interceptions this season. The 22-year-old proved he is ready to be a franchise quarterback for years to come and doesn’t seem to be afraid of the bright lights. Stroud got his first taste of a win or go home situation last week against the Colts and performed admirably. As long as the former Ohio State quarterback can play up to his offensive potential, there is no reason to believe he couldn’t lead the Texans to victory against any team they face.

Although Stroud doesn’t have his favorite target, Tank Dell, for the rest of the season, Nico Collins has more than stepped up to become Houston’s number one wide receiver. The 24-year-old had a career-high 195 receiving yards last week against the Colts and finished the year with 1,304 total yards. Collins has proven he can be the best receiver on this team and has developed great chemistry with Stroud.

Final thoughts

At the end of the day, the Texans are playing with house money. Making the playoffs this season exceeded everyone’s initial expectations, but now they are here and anything can happen. If Houston can play up to their offensive potential and put pressure on Joe Flacco, there is reason to believe the Texans can't walk away victorious on Saturday.