Takeaways from Browns-Texans playoff game: Houston delivers huge message by crushing Cleveland

Houston Texans running back Devin Singletary (26) celebrates scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter in an AFC wild-card game at NRG Stadium.

The Houston Texans continued their incredible season on Saturday with a 45-14 domination of the Cleveland Browns, sending them to the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs.

After winning just 11 games over the previous three seasons (combined), the Texans emerged out of nowhere to win the AFC South and look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Here are three takeaways from their Saturday win.

1. The Texans look legit

Who could have ever possibly imagined this in the preseason? The Texans not only won, they put on a masterclass on both sides of the ball.

Offensively the Texans did what they have done for most of the season with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. They made big plays, they ran the ball well when they needed to, they protected the football and they put up big numbers all over the field.

Stroud averaged 12.7 yards per attempt, threw three touchdowns and completed 76 percent of his passes against one of the NFL’s top pass defenses.

But for as good as the offense was, the defense was just as dominant. They hit Browns quarterback Joe Flacco all day, scored two touchdowns on back-to-back pick-sixes in the third quarter and their other top-five pick (Will Anderson Jr.) outshined Cleveland’s Myles Garrett coming off the edge.

The AFC is wide open this season and the Texans look to have as good of a chance as anybody to come out of it.

2. The Browns defense really underwhelmed

The Browns defense has been regarded as one of the best units in the NFL this season, but they completely no-showed in the biggest game of the season.

Garrett was a non-factor and mostly invisible, they allowed big plays all day and were gashed for more than 360 total yards. It could have been more had the Texans not taken their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter and benched Stroud when the came became a blowout.

As strong as their reputation was coming into this game, there were a lot of red flags that maybe should have been paid attention to more. The first is that while they were first in yards against, they were only 13th in the NFL in terms of allowing points.

They also had the NFL’s worst red zone defense and had allowed 28 points or more in six different games. That includes four games where they allowed more than 30 points.

They seemed like more hype than substance.

3. Joe Flacco’s turnovers should have been a bigger concern 

Flacco was a great story and bailed the Browns offense out when they needed it. But he also had problems protecting the football. The Browns offense turned the football over more than anybody this season, and Flacco was a big contributor to that with eight interceptions in his five starts, throwing at least one in every game he played.

Turnovers ended up playing a huge role on Saturday as he threw back-to-back pick-sixes in the third quarter to take a 24-14 game and turn it into a 38-14 rout in the blink of an eye.

The Browns were fortunate to overcome their turnover issues during the regular season. Those issues played a big role in them getting crushed in the playoffs.

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