The Cleveland Browns were able to hold on and defeat the visiting Houston Texans in an overall ugly game.
It was another Cleveland Browns home game impacted by severe weather conditions (no graupel this time). Neither team was impressive on either side of the ball and it really came down to a few plays at the end which led to the Browns victory.
Cleveland’s offense was the duo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Chubb and Hunt combined to rush for 230 yards and 1 touchdown, Chubb’s 59-yard rush in the 4th quarter essentially iced the game for Cleveland. Even though the final numbers are impressive, there were a few times before the 4th quarter when the offense struggled. At times the offensive was predictable and Houston was able to force punts on three of four drives spanning from midway through the 1st quarter until just about 10 minutes remaining in the 3rd. Cleveland was able to put things together for one touchdown drive in the beginning of the 4th which was enough for Cleveland to come away with the win.
Baker Mayfield was a complete non-factor in this game. The Browns quarterback completed 12 of 20 passes for 132 yards and was sacked once. This is the second consecutive game in which Mayfield has failed to throw a touchdown pass. Luckily for Cleveland, they were able to score on the ground minimalizing the impact of Mayfield’s ineffectiveness. Too many times Mayfield was throwing behind receivers which led to tough catch attempts and incompletions. There is a reason that Cleveland ran the ball 38 times compared to just 20 passes and not all of them are weather related.
The Browns defense got some help from the weather as Houston’s offense laid an egg. The Texans did score really quickly in the 4th quarter which made the final result come into question briefly, but they were kept in check for the most part. The sub-par weather conditions were able to play enough of a role that the normally reliable Deshaun Watson was not able to carve up a lackluster secondary.
The Browns are now 6-3 for the first time since 2014, a year in which they only won once more the rest of the season. Cleveland has a legitimate chance to eclipse the 7 wins of the 2014 team as they continue their quest for their first playoff appearance since 2002.
