The Cleveland Browns are having one of their better seasons this year, currently 7-4, and with the league's best defense, the team is having a shockingly good year despite not having a real quarterback under center for any point so far this year. Even when former Houston Texans quarterback and the most-disliked player in the league, Deshaun Watson was under center for the Browns, he still didn't look good.
Now the Browns are likely to be starting Joe Flacco on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, and no one thinks that's a "good" idea. It's the best idea the Browns have, but starting Flacco in a game in 2023 doesn't make sense. It did in 2013, but it stopped being a good idea not that long ago.
Flacco hasn't been a "good" quarterback in the league since 2017, if we're being honest, and the desperate Browns are going to be super desperate with the start of Flacco.
And if you're a Houston Texans fan, you should be rooting for Flacco and the Browns to faili. The Texans don't have their own first-round pick this year, making any talks of a tank unnecessary, as the Texans wouldn't benefit from purposefully losing.
They do, however, have the Browns first-round pick. It came over in the same trade that sent then-Texans quarterback Watson to the Browns. Now the Texans have the possibility of finishing with a winning record, while still getting a top pick in the NFL Draft.
The more the Browns lose, the higher their pick becomes. And good news for the Texans, the Browns are facing a tough schedule to close out the season. Across their final six games, they have five teams vying for the playoffs still. And with the New York Jets getting back Aaron Rodgers sooner rather than later, the Browns may be lucky to go 3-3 down the stretch.
They have tough outs against the Los Angeles Rams (this week), the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Houston Texans, all teams who are likely to be favored, and then they have to deal with the Chicago Bears, Jets, and Cincinnati Bengals as well. None of these will be easy games for the Browns.
The Browns falling apart down the stretch will only help serve the Texans get a better draft pick and that's what we should all be wanting to see happen.