The Houston Texans got this season’s NFL playoffs off to an explosive start when they romped to a 45-14 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud added to his growing reputation as he threw for three touchdowns, while the two second-half pick-sixes from the Texans' defense sealed a huge win as the Texans booked their spot in the Divisional Round.
Here’s what we learned from Saturday night’s Super Wild Card Weekend clash in Houston.
C.J. Stroud is the real deal
C.J. Stroud’s superb rookie season shows no signs of slowing down after the number two overall pick in last year’s draft took to playoff football like a duck to water. The statline - 16/21 passes for 274 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions before he was allowed to take the last few series' off - was impressive enough, but the poise that Stroud showed against the NFL’s number one ranked defense was something special.
Stroud took no sacks, made no real mistakes and he’s no longer just an excellent rookie quarterback, but one of the best passers in the league.
DeMaco Ryans and his staff dial up the win
Prior to this season, the Texans had won just 11 games over the past three seasons. Saturday’s win over the Browns saw them match that mark this season as DeMeco Ryans led the Texans from worst to first in the AFC South and now has them up before delivering a first playoff win for four years.
Ryans has built an excellent coaching staff around him, with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik deserving plaudits for coming up with a gameplan to unsettle the aggressive Browns defense, who fell for fakes and screen passes on several occasions. There are seven head coach openings across the league right now, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Slowik following in Ryans’ footsteps and go from acclaimed coordinator to one of the top jobs.
What next for Joe Flacco?
Joe Flacco’s late-season renaissance was one of the more unlikely storylines of the season. After spending last season in and out of the Jets starting line-up, the 37-year-old returned for a 16th NFL season in November when he signed for the Browns following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury.
After becoming the first player in NFL history to have 250 yards and multiple passing touchdowns in each of his first five games with a franchise, the old ‘is Joe Flacco elite’ debate was back. The Super Bowl XLVII MVP certainly improved the Browns and was a key part of their push into the playoffs, but against Houston his gunslinging ways caught up with him.
Passes that in recent weeks were going for touchdowns instead fell into the hands of the Houston defensive backs and the Browns were unable to make the kind of mid-game adjustments they needed to change the course of this game after his early turnovers.
Flacco is a free agent now and it will be interesting to see what happens next. His play this season has shown he still has something in the tank, but Cleveland will not be looking to move on from Watson just yet.
Was the Browns defense overhyped?
While Flacco might have given Cleveland the impetus they needed to qualify for the post-season, it was the Browns defense that was the bedrock of their campaign. But while they were top-ranked unit in the NFL, the numbers did not quite tell the full story.
Cleveland's stats on the road were poles apart from their home showings, as they allowed almost 30 points and 330 yards per game away from home, and again, this homesickness was felt. In eliminating the threat of Myles Garrett, who had just two quarterback pressures, the Browns D was toothless and acts as a reminder to look at all stats in context.
Texans are showing no fear
After wrapping up their win on Saturday, the Texans were handed an extra-long wait to see where they are heading next weekend. Due to the Bills-Steelers clash being postponed for 24 hours, Houston had another extra day to ruminate and plan for their next opponents, as they still don’t know whether they will face Kansas City or top-seeded Baltimore next.
But Saturday’s victory means we can be confident that whoever they face, this young Texans side won’t fear anyone as they are not just in the playoffs to make up the numbers.