00:00 Here's the interesting part for me.
00:04 I know Joe Flacco has been absolutely brilliant at quarterback.
00:07 I do think they'll be able to throw the football, but one of the calling cards for the Houston
00:10 Texans guys throughout the season was they don't really let you gash you on the ground
00:14 under 100 yards per game, about three and a half yards per carry.
00:17 Last week, Jonathan Taylor went absolutely berserk going against that defense here.
00:21 So that run defense is a little bit leaky.
00:23 Chances are Cleveland's going to be able to exploit that as well.
00:26 I like Cleveland in this game.
00:27 I think the line is short here, but short in a good way for Cleveland, where you win
00:30 it by a field goal, you get the win in cover, and you move on.
00:32 I just trust Cleveland a little bit more, Kevin, than I do the Houston Texans.
00:35 I think the line has been difficult for me to justify because it still is Joe Flacco,
00:41 who was out of the league a little about a month and a half ago, laying a number against...
00:45 Look, I know CJ's a rookie.
00:47 The kid was an MVP candidate.
00:49 I think if I had a ballot, I don't, but if I did, he probably would finish inside the
00:52 top five.
00:53 I'm crazy.
00:54 I think he had a better season than Lamar Jackson.
00:55 Nobody agrees.
00:56 It doesn't matter.
00:57 But that's how I feel CJ Stroud, who led the league in touchdown interception ratio, performed
01:01 this year, threw for over 4,000 yards on the season.
01:05 So that is a real advantage because also, I mean, Joe Flacco has three more interceptions
01:10 on the season than CJ Stroud, playing in a third of the football games there.
01:14 And those are the things when you get into the playoffs that you worry about, right?
01:17 The idea is, "Oh, rookie quarterback mistakes are coming."
01:19 CJ hasn't made those mistakes.
01:22 I think the key, and you talked about thinking this could be an under here, this Browns defense
01:27 has to come back to life.
01:29 The Browns defense went from looking historically great for the first two months of the season
01:34 to very vulnerable during this run here that we've seen over the last month or so, really
01:40 during the Joe Flacco era of this team.
01:43 And again, that's the bit of worry here.
01:46 I as well lean towards Cleveland.
01:47 I think they have advantages in just the experience column.
01:51 I think Miles Garrett can still take over this game because, and I know it's been the
01:55 case all season long, but the Texans offensive line is still not 100%.
02:00 But I'm lining this up today where this isn't, and rightfully so, it's a short line here.
02:07 This Browns defense has to step up here today because they're going to be covering for one
02:12 or two Joe Flacco mistakes.
02:14 They can't afford the big play.
02:15 And you saw that throughout the regular season in particular spots, right?
02:20 One game early on, it was the 39-38 win on the road in Indianapolis, right?
02:24 At that particular point, we never thought that a team could potentially could put up
02:29 38 points on that secondary.
02:31 Statistically, they're very good.
02:32 They're only giving up 167 passing yards to opposing offenses.
02:36 But look at the games at the end of the regular season, as good and as much success as Flacco's
02:42 had.
02:43 I mean, the Jets put up 17 points on them with Trevor Simmons.
02:45 So you can't say that CJ Stroud and this offense that's averaging 245 in terms of the passing
02:51 attack can't potentially move the football.
02:53 I am curious to see how Cleveland attacks.
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02:58 (upbeat music)
