The Houston Texans will have a gut check on Sunday in Cleveland.
Following an impressive showing in week one against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Head Coach David Culley and his team start preparations for a far tougher opponent in week two against the Cleveland Browns.
While the Houston Texans looked like the far superior team In last Sunday’s game, one should take that with a grain of salt due to the level of competition they were facing. There were impressive performances from many players in week one from Tyrod Taylor to Mark Ingram, Brandin Cooks, and so many others. Can they repeat their performance against one of the best teams in the league?
Going into this weekend’s matchup vs the Browns there are many battles to watch all over the field that will determine the final score in the game. Whether it be offense, defense, or special teams there’s no doubt the Texans will need to play at or above their performance vs Jacksonville to pull off a massive upset in week 2 of the NFL season.
The Browns are facing the pressure of avoiding an 0-2 start, as teams who start with that record have a historically tougher chance at making the postseason. There has been pressure from Browns fans as their Defensive Coordinator, Joe Woods couldn’t beat Kansas City in back-to-back games.
Here are three crucial battles to watch all game long while the Texans take on the Cleveland Browns. If the Houston Texans can pull off a big win on Sunday, then the talk of high draft pick will need to cease.
Brandin Cooks vs Denzel Ward
After an absolutely masterful performance in week one vs the Jaguars, one would anticipate the Browns sending their best corner to follow Brandin Cooks all game long. In week one it was evident when Tyrod Taylor was pressured his go-to target was Cooks. Expect Cooks to be targeted early and often against Cleveland as he quickly becomes Taylor’s go-to receiver.
Cooks recorded five catches for 132 yards, including a long catch that set up a Philip Lindsay touchdown. Cooks’ average depth of target (aDOT) was 18.9 yards, and this is one of the ways the Browns lost the game against the Chiefs last week.
The match-up of Cooks and Ward is extremely intriguing, both players are experts in their craft. It remains to be seen if Cooks gets the best of Ward early on how Ward responds or vice versa. Both players love to trash talk so don’t be surprised if they have to separated multiple times during the game.
Two absolute dogs at their positions going head to head In week two can’t ask for much more than that. With Cooks seeming to have a chip on his shoulder this year much like the entire Texans team does. Look for Cooks to be extremely aggressive early on in this game. This will be a fantastic matchup to keep an eye on.
The Houston Texans defensive line vs Cleveland’s rushing attack
While it may not be player vs player the ability for the Texans to slow down, the Browns running game will decide if the Houston Texans can compete against Cleveland on Sunday.
The Browns possess arguably one of the best one-two punches in all of football with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt at running back. Both players are physically dominant runners of the football while possessing break-away speed in the open field. Keeping the time of possession while Houston’s offense sits can be a lethal factor in a game between teams like these.
It is absolutely vital in this game that the Houston Texans do everything they can to keep the Browns behind the sticks to force Baker Mayfield to beat them. The Texans defensive line looks vastly improved from a year ago with a plethora of players in Lovie Smith’s 4-3 defense where they consistently rotate fresh body’s in at the Defensive line.
Fresh bodies will be needed against Cleveland’s two-headed monster. On the other hand, if the Texans can slow them (Chubb and Hunt) down they might just shock the world on Sunday afternoon. A Chubb fumble ended up starting the Chiefs comeback last week. Houston has to force another one this week.
Laremy Tunsil vs Myles Garrett
Get your popcorn ready. Talk about a massive match-up of two of the best at their positions. With the Houston Texans moving Tytus Howard to left guard, their game plan for the rushing attack to be the priority seems obvious.
Running behind Tunsil and Howard which normally would be a huge advantage for the Texans given the talent of both players but against Cleveland’s defense and Garrett it won’t be so easy.
Garret since arriving in the league has established himself as an absolute wrecking ball for opposing offenses whether it be sacking the quarterback or stopping any attempt to run to the left side. Tunsil’s ability to hold his own against Garrett will be incredibly important to the outcome of this game.
If Tunsil can hold his own and allow Howard to assets in any cleanup needed to allow the Texans running game to continue to impress following their performance in week one. That will help set up the play-action passing game which is where Quarterback Tyrod Taylor had his most success against Jacksonville.
If those two things can happen (in addition to the two reasons prior), the this Texans offense will be able to hang with the Browns to the final whistle with a chance to steal one on the road. Garrett is extremely talented and hard to stop this match-up will be incredible to watch.