Texans blueprint: 3 pivotal factors to secure victory in clash with Browns
Jan 12, 2024, 2:00 pm
The Texans host the Browns this Saturday at NRG. Composite Getty Image.
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.
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How Jim Crane responds to this could be Astros most important moment
May 8, 2024, 11:25 am
Alex Verdugo homered and tied a career high with four RBIs, powering the New York Yankees past Justin Verlander and the skidding Houston Astros 10-3 on Tuesday night.
Anthony Volpe and Giancarlo Stanton also went deep off Verlander as the Yankees won their fourth straight. They've totaled 20 runs in the last three games after scoring just eight in a five-game span that ended Saturday.
Volpe finished with three RBIs and Juan Soto had three hits.
“Obviously, you’re not going to run out offensive nights like this every night, especially against a guy like Justin,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But they are capable of that. They’ve got balance.”
Verdugo, batting cleanup between Aaron Judge and Stanton, accounted for New York’s first four runs with a three-run homer in the first and an RBI single in the third against Verlander (1-1).
“Sometimes it’s a little bit humbling when you’ve got Judge up there looking down at me and then you’ve got Stanton back right behind me,” a grinning Verdugo said. “I’m like the small guy in the group. But honestly, man, I love it. I really do. I feel like I add enough contact in there that I can either move over some guys (or) get the job done.”
The four-RBI game was the second of the season for Verdugo and fifth of his career. He also made a nice sliding catch in left field of a sinking liner by Jeremy Peña to end the sixth.
“We’re seeing the kind of player he is (on) both sides of the ball,” Boone said. “He’s been excellent. He’s been clutch.”
Verlander lasted five innings and gave up seven runs — the second-most he’s allowed in 37 regular-season and postseason starts versus the Yankees. He yielded eight runs in Detroit’s 13-9 loss on Sept. 1, 2008.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner permitted eight hits and walked three Tuesday night. The 41-year-old Verlander, who missed the first three weeks of the season recovering from right shoulder inflammation, has allowed 27 baserunners (17 hits, 10 walks) over 16 1/3 innings in his last three starts.
“If I’m being brutally honest with myself, the last couple games, probably in particularly, the walks showed me I was a little off,” Verlander said. “And sometimes it takes you facing a team that knows you intimately, and vice versa, to send you back to the drawing board. I think these guys showed me today that I’ve got some work to do.”
Volpe hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Stanton led off the fifth with a 421-foot drive to left field that was clocked at 118.8 mph off the bat. Judge and Jon Berti also had run-scoring singles for the Yankees.
Luis Gil (3-1) allowed just one hit — Kyle Tucker’s first-inning homer — and walked four with five strikeouts over six innings.
“Definitely was a point in the game where I told myself I’ve got to keep this game right here,” Gil said through a translator.
Trey Cabbage had a two-run single in the ninth for the Astros, who matched a season low with three hits. Houston has lost three straight to fall to 12-23 — tied for the fifth-worst record through 35 games in franchise history.
“Pleased about our walks. We walked six times, something that we’ve been trying to get better at — be more selective,” manager Joe Espada said. “We just couldn’t get that much offensively.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: DH Yordan Alvarez crumpled to the ground in pain after fouling a ball off his left leg in the third. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth. ... RHP Cristian Javier (neck), who threw 3 1/3 innings Saturday in a rehab start for Double-A Corpus Christi, will return to the Houston rotation this weekend. … RHP Jose Urquidy (right forearm) threw to hitters and is expected to begin a rehab assignment soon.
Yankees: RHP Gerrit Cole (right elbow) threw in the bullpen for the second time since he was injured in mid-March. … INF Oswald Peraza (right shoulder) began a rehab assignment by going 2 for 3 with a home run for Class A Tampa. Boone said Peraza, yet to play this season, will need a spring training-like ramp up of minor league games before returning to the Yankees. … RHP Nick Burdi (right hip) struck out all three batters he faced in his first rehab appearance for Triple-A Scranton. … INF DJ LeMahieu (right foot) is feeling better and participating in baseball activities. Boone said LeMahieu will travel with the team for this weekend’s series against Tampa Bay and could get at-bats at the Yankees’ minor league complex in Florida.
UP NEXT
The three-game series continues Wednesday night, when Yankees LHP Carlos Rodón (2-2, 3.68 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Spencer Arrighetti (0-3, 8.27).