Browns Season Comes To An End In Lopsided Wild Card Loss To Texans

Despite coming entering Super Wild Card Weekend as slight favorites, the Browns saw their magical 2023 season and Super Bowl dreams come to a crushing end at the hands of Houston Texans

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

The Browns found that out first hand on Saturday, after a 45-14 dismantling by the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

The NFL's best defense all season long turned into a pumpkin on the biggest stage, giving up 360 yards of total offense and a whopping 31 points, excluding two pick-sixes that shouldn't be credited to that unit. There were blown coverages. Bad tackling. It looked more like Joe Woods defense on the previous two seasons than Jim Schwartz dominant group.

Speaking of the two pick-sixes, whatever magic fairy dust Joe Flacco brought with him to Cleveland when he joined the team in Week 12, it seemed to have run out at the worst possible time. The soon to be 39-year-old finished the game 34-of-46, 307 yard, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was outduled by the youngest rookie QB to win a playoff game on the opposite side.

With C.J . Stroud back under center for Houston after missing the two foes Week 16 matchup due to a concussion, the looked like it was going to became a good old fashioned Texas shootout, early on.  

Houston struck first on its second drive of the game, after Stroud hooked up with Nico Collins for 38-yard pass that set up the offense in a goal-to-go situation. They'd settle for a field goal, taking a 3-0 lead with about 5:30 to go in the first.

The back-and-forth was on. Cleveland answered with a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, with Kareem Hunt doing the honors. What followed were three more consecutive touchdown drives with Devin Singletary, Hunt, and tight end Brevin Jordan doing the honors for their respective teams. When the dust finally settled on the frenzy of scores, Houston held a 17-14 lead.

The Texans would add another touchdown near the end of the half – Stroud's third through the air – tying the record for touchdown passes by a rookie in a playoff game. At the break the likely offensive rookie of the year was 11-for-16, for 236 yards and those three scores. He set franchise records for passing yards in a half in Texans playoff history. The three touchdowns were already the most in a game in Texans playoff history as well.

While Stroud and Houston's offense was the story in the first half, their defense took the baton in the second half putting the game away in the third quarter with those a pair of pick-sixes on back-to-back drives. At 38-14, Browns fans knew their team's fate was sealed.

Cleveland got its worst Flacco performance. Its worst defensive performance. Its worst performance all around when it could least afford it.

It was a season marred by countless injuries, including four different starting quarterbacks. Against all odds the Browns scratched and clawed their way to 11-6 and the top Wild Card spot in the AFC. It's a memorable season regardless of Saturday's outcome, but it all came crashing down sooner than anyone in that lockerroom expected.