The Texans and Browns are set for another meeting Sunday, and this one comes with plenty of baggage and even more pressure. Houston is 3-5, Cleveland is 5-4, and the teams will meet for the fifth time since 2020. The Texans hold an 8-7 edge in the all-time series, and the last matchup was a lopsided one: Houston hammered a Joe Flacco-led Browns team 45-14 in the 2023-2024 AFC Wildcard round.
There’s also a notable first attached to this game. It will be the first time C.J. Stroud and Deshaun Watson are on the same NFL field as opponents.
Both teams are trying to steady themselves in the second half of the season and stay in the mix for a lower AFC playoff seed. Houston opened 0-4 and spent the early part of the year dealing with one of the league’s worst defenses.
Cleveland, meanwhile, raced out to a surprising 5-2 start and even spent time atop the AFC North. Now each side is trying to build momentum in its own way.
Ryan O’Leary, Cleveland Browns analyst and site expert for Fansided’s Dawg Pound Daily, joined Toro Times this week to break down the matchup from Huntington Bank Field.
For Cleveland, the mood after last week’s 23-22 loss to the New Orleans Saints is still upbeat. The Browns already reached what O’Leary called their best-case scenario by getting to five wins before their Week 11 bye, and they are guaranteed to enter that break at .500.
After Sunday, they also have three straight home games from Weeks 12 through 14. O’Leary noted that Cleveland should be an underdog against Houston, but said the Browns are basically playing with house money after entering the season with the NFL’s second-youngest roster and an over-under projection of 5.5 wins.
The quarterback situation remains a talking point, too. Asked whether Todd Monken was right to go back to Deshaun Watson after Shedeur Sanders’ relief work against the Saints, O’Leary said, “Definitely.”
He praised Sanders for settling in after a rusty first half and said the rookie was excellent in the fourth quarter and overtime, giving Cleveland chances to win. Still, the Browns lost, and O’Leary pointed out that they are 5-3 under Watson.
Sanders, he said, gave Monken and team leadership something to think about, and that discussion could grow louder if Watson struggles against Houston. Even so, O’Leary said it makes sense to stick with Watson until his play forces a change.
The AFC playoff race also came up, with the Patriots, Raiders, Ravens and Texans all in the mix with Cleveland for the seventh seed. O’Leary made his case for New England as the team with the strongest argument after the Browns.
He pointed to the Patriots’ 5-1 record against AFC opponents, their head-to-head win over the Raiders, and their ability to stay afloat despite what he described as the worst injury luck in the league. He also highlighted Drake Maye, saying that like Stroud, he is one of the best young quarterbacks in football.
O’Leary added that New England should be difficult to catch as it gets healthier and its conference record continues to matter.
When it came to the Texans, O’Leary did not hide where he stands. He called the threat level “midnight” and described Houston as a streaky team that Cleveland would prefer to catch on a downswing.
That is not how the schedule lined up, though, after Houston’s win over the Chargers. O’Leary said the Browns are having trouble running the ball on offense and stopping it on defense, while also dealing with two rookie starters on the offensive line, including at left tackle.
He also noted that Cleveland has been outscored by 55 points in first quarters and leads the NFL in penalties. With a first-year head coach in Todd Monken facing DeMeco Ryans and Matt Burke, O’Leary said plainly that he likes the Texans in this matchup.
He laid out three Cleveland keys to pulling the upset. First, the Browns have to stop the run after getting gashed weekly, including by former practice-squader Audric Estime last week.
Even with an elite secondary led by Denzel Ward and Grant Delpit, and even without Myles Garrett, O’Leary said the defense has to prevent Houston from controlling the game on the ground. Second, Cleveland has to protect Watson.
He has been sacked 33 times, the most in the league, and he missed Week 9 with a concussion. Houston is tied for the NFL lead in sacks, and Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter could wreck the afternoon if the Browns can’t slow them down.
Third, Cleveland has to play from ahead. Houston ranks 11th in first-quarter scoring, while the Browns sit 31st.
O’Leary said Cleveland’s habit of falling behind early will not work here, because a multiple-score deficit would let the Texans unleash their pass rush and make life miserable for Watson and company.
If the Browns are going to win, O’Leary made it clear what that script has to look like: control the ball, stay ahead, and force Stroud to work against Cleveland’s secondary.
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