Cleveland Browns’ defense falls flat vs. Houston Texans

The Cleveland Browns defense collapsed against the Houston Texans.

The Browns quarterback sat quietly in the visitors’ locker room, playing to coordinator Jim Schwartz’ yearlong mantra of “effort, composure and meanness.” The Browns’ No. 1 defense played their worst game of the year in their biggest game of the year.

Cleveland’s defensive player of the year led to a quarterback birdie pass and zero sacks against Houston’s rookie. Cleveland’s impressive rebounding allowed Houston’s receivers to make big plays reminiscent of the failures that plagued the team last season. And Cleveland’s previously strong and accurate defenders continued to notice the actions of Houston’s ball carriers.

“We picked a bad day and had a bad day,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “It’s just sad.”

There is? And it was. The upstart Texans advanced to the wild-card round on Saturday with a 45-14 victory over the Browns, a humiliating loss that could have been worse. A Houston tip caught a low fumble early in the drive, and had Stroud not left a zone pass wide open in the second quarter, Texas would have had a chance to score 60 points. . “We didn’t come,” the Pro Bowl cornerback said, “we should have come, but we didn’t.”

Entering the playoffs, the Browns looked like they had the ability to make a deep run. Cleveland’s defense has been a top priority in the postseason. The Browns shut down a top offense in October. He probably would have won the MVP in November. And in December, they advanced to the playoffs with a stunning performance.

But when it really mattered in January, Cleveland’s defense faltered. Stroud completed 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns before the game-tying interception early in the fourth quarter.

The Browns defense gave up 286 yards in the first half, including Brevin Jordan’s 76-yard catch and run. Photo: Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire

Browns quarterback Joe Flacco’s string of six touchdowns ended any hopes of another comeback in Cleveland. But Stroud primed the Browns defense long before that. The Texans’ 24 points in the first half were the most the Browns defense has given up this year. Houston’s 286 yards were the most by Cleveland in the first half of the season. “They beat us up,” Dalvin Tomlinson said. “I never thought I’d say that. “We didn’t play football at our level.”

Houston found Cleveland’s weaknesses early and often. They isolated the 6-foot-2 Collins from Newsome for a 38-yard completion that set up their first field goal. The Texans later picked off rookie safety Ronnie Hickman, who failed to connect with Schultz on an easy 37-yard pass. Houston benefited from the offensive play of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoa, the only Cleveland player to do his best on both sides of the ball, making four tackles. In the first quarter, the Texans faked a ball to the right, pulling Owusu-Koramoa and other Cleveland linebackers. That opened up a reverse screen for Collins, who went on to score Houston’s first touchdown. On the first play of Houston’s next possession, Stroud punted. Instead of sticking with Brevin Jordan, who looked like he would block the play, Owusu-Koramoa went after Stroud with defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo. Stroud threw the ball to an open Jordan, and cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. caught it. They ran for a 76-yard field goal. The Texans took a 17-14 lead and never relinquished it. Well, make sure we don’t do anything. Or it doesn’t make us do anything.”

The Browns couldn’t do much against the youngest quarterback (22 years, 102 days) to win a playoff game in the Super Bowl era. The Browns didn’t carry their woes into the postseason and didn’t show up when it mattered most. “It’s really amazing,” Newsom said. “I still c

an’t believe it’s real.”