Browns Impressive In Win #10.

The Cleveland Browns are now 10-5 on the season after Sunday’s 36-22 win over Houston in a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. 

The Browns’ defense played like it was a home game shutting out the Texans for the first three quarters, as the only Houston TD was the result of a kickoff return. The home team was held to just 250 yards, most of which came in the fourth quarter, when Cleveland took several starters out on both sides of the football. 

Cleveland came out firing on offense, with Joe Flacco hitting Amari Cooper for a 53-yard strike on the first play of the game, a portent of things to come. 

Cooper wound up setting a team record for receiving yards with 265 and grabbed two of Flacco’s touchdown throws. The veteran QB’s other favorite target, TE David Njoku, caught the other. 

As for Flacco, it was another eye-popping performance, completing 27 of 42 throws for 368 yards, his third straight 300+ yard game. He did throw two interceptions, one on the last play of the first half, when on a different day, Kevin Stefanski would have opted for a field goal, but more on that later.

We continue to be amazed that with all of the injuries to quarterbacks around the league that no one thought to get Joe Flacco. True, he hasn’t been a starter since 2019 with Denver, but he knows how to play. He’s seen pretty much everything in his career. 

It is probably the move to multi-dimensional quarterbacks that kept him at home this season, but it looks like Flacco and the Browns are a match made in heaven. And Stefanski is maximizing the talent that the veteran has.

As for the defense, it was the 7th time this year Cleveland has held an opponent to 250 yards or less, and as we said before, 157 of those came in the 4th quarter, which started with the Browns in the lead, 36-7. 

Za’Darius Smith was the star with two sacks, but Myles Garrett had two tackles for loss as well, and the unit got interceptions from Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and a newcomer, veteran Duron Harmon. 

While there is plenty of hoopla surrounding Flacco, never forget this defense is the motor behind the success of the 2023 Cleveland Browns. We’ve been a fan since 1965 and it’s the best defense the Browns have ever had in that time.

Now, it wouldn’t be a Browns game without injuries, and this time it was the kicking game as both Dustin Hopkins and Corey Bojorquez suffered leg injuries, the former on the kickoff return for a touchdown. 

Hopefully, neither will miss any time, but we are sure this week will involve trying out both kickers and punters. And with the years both of them have had, there will likely be a drop off in performance. 

The Browns have a short week with a game against the Jets Thursday night, but the anticipation going into the contest because a win put Stefanski’s squad into the playoffs for the second time in four seasons. 

They don’t need any other scenarios to happen. Win and in. We are sure it will be a wild night on the lakefront.

The coach also moved into a tie for 5th on the franchise wins list for coaches, tying Bill Belichick, who needed 80 games whereas Stefanski needed 65. 

Next up is Marty Schottenheimer with 44.

Through all the injuries, this football team has remained unflappable and resilient. Hopefully, there is more to come.