The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Fight for playoff spot resumes
Chubb, Teller, Hooper to return to lineup
The Browns find themselves in an unusual situation as they face the Houston Texans on Nov. 15 at FirstEnergy Stadium. It’s mid-November and they are still playing meaningful games.
And this is exactly the type game the 5-3 Browns cannot afford to squander if they plan to still be playing meaningful games a month from now.
Houston carries a 2-6 record into the 1 p.m. kickoff. The Texans are three-point underdogs, but a look at the teams that have beaten them — the Chiefs, Ravens, Steelers, Vikings, Titans and Packers — shows Browns Kevin Stefanski isn’t using the normal coach-speak when he says: “We have a really good football team coming into our building.”
On the plus side, running back Nick Chubb is back after missing four games recovering from a knee injury. Right guard Wyatt Teller is back after missing three weeks recovering from a calf injury. Tight end Austin Hooper is back after missing two games recovering from an appendectomy.
“He’s an amazing athlete. He’s very accurate when he gets out of the pocket. We’re aware of all of that. ...” – Browns linebacker B. J. Goodson, on Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson
None of the three is going to help the Browns contain Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, although they can keep him on the sideline with a grind-it-out running attack.
Watson has thrown 17 touchdown passes and five interceptions. With 197 rushing yards on 40 carries, he is the Texans’ second-leading rusher behind David Johnson. David Johnson is out with a concussion, which means Houston’s primary back vs. the Browns will be former Browns running back Duke Johnson.
Linebacker B.J. Goodson says Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods “put together a pretty great scheme” to minimize Watson’s ability to take off and run, but Goodson wouldn’t share details.
“I played with Deshaun before,” Goodson said on Zoom. “He’s an amazing athlete. He’s very accurate
when he gets out of the pocket. We’re aware of all of that. He presents challenges, and I’m looking forward to competing against him.”
The offense is facing its own challenges. Defensive end JJ Watt gets well-deserved notoriety. But he isn’t the only pass rusher to be concerned about. Watt has a modest four sacks this season. Zack Cunningham and Whitney Mercilus have
three sacks apiece.
“Obviously J. J., his play speaks for itself,” Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “He’s been a great player for a long time so he’s one of those guys you always have to know where he is on the field. They do move him around. They do that very well to where you can’t just call certain plays knowing that you’re going to chip and help every play. They have other guys that are playing really well right now.”
Stefanski says it would be a “disservice” to concentrate on anything other than the Texans this week when asked about the playoff picture. But that doesn’t mean others can’t look at the playoff situation.
The Browns stumbled in the game before their bye, losing, 16-6, to the Raiders to fall to 5-3.
Seven teams from each conference make the playoffs — the four division winners and then the next three teams in each conference. Currently the AFC playoff teams would be the Steelers (8-0, AFC North leader), Buffalo (7-2, AFC East), Indianapolis (6-3, AFC South) and Kansas City (8-1, AFC West). Baltimore (6-2) and Tennessee (6-3) would have the next two seeds, leaving the Browns, Dolphins and Raiders, all at 5-3, vying for one spot.
That loss to the Raiders could end up knocking the Browns out of playoff contention if it comes down to a tiebreaker between those two teams.