The Cleveland Browns will face the Houston Texans for the second time in less than a month.
This time, however, it’ll be for a chance to keep their season alive.
That’s why HC DeMeco Ryans wants to make sure that things go way differently from the way they did in their first encounter of the season when Amari Cooper went off for 265 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
Nonetheless, NFL Network’s James Palmer reports that stopping Cooper won’t be the main point of emphasis ahead of this weekend’s Wild Card round bout.
Yes Amari Cooper went 🍌 vs the #texans the last time these two met. 11 for 265 and 2 TDs. But DeMeco Ryans is concerned with getting is defense off the field this Sunday. That means stopping the run. My report @nfltotalaccess on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/fQ4DnYJ5CO
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 10, 2024
According to Palmer, Ryans was quite frustrated with his team’s poor tackling vs. the Indianapolis Colts.
He wants to get the defense off the field early and often, meaning he wants them to stop the run.
The Browns have proven to be more than capable of pounding the rock on the ground and committing to the running game if need be, and Ryans doesn’t want his defense to get so worn out again.
Ryans wants C.J. Stroud to get a chance to do his thing, which wasn’t possible in their first game because he was out with a concussion.
The Texans still managed to put up points on the scoreboard, but they didn’t have an answer for that Joe Flacco-Amari Cooper connection.
This is going to be an epic chess battle between the two Coach of the Year frontrunners, and it’s a shame to know that one of these teams won’t stay in the race, but that’s also the beauty of the playoffs.
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