QB Joe Flacco had two critical interceptions on back-to-back offensive drives in the third quarter that put the game almost out of reach for Cleveland. While the Browns were marching down the field in the third quarter, Flacco’s pass was intercepted by CB Steven Nelson, who ran for 82 yards on the returned for the touchdown. Then, as the Browns got the ball back, they went for it on fourth-and-2. Flacco threw a pass intended for TE Harrison Bryant but was picked off by LB Christian Harris and returned for a touchdown, giving the Texans a 38-14 lead.
The Texans sealed the win early in the fourth quarter on their first offensive drive of the quarter. On the third play of the fourth quarter, QB C.J. Stroud handed the ball off to RB Devin Singletary, who ran for 19 yards into the end zone, giving the Texans a 45-14 lead.
However, the Browns defense struggled from the jump, as the unit gave up three touchdowns in the first half. They gave up a deep pass from Stroud to Collins for 37 yards and the third touchdown of the game to give the Texans a 24-14 lead. Both times the Browns offense scored, the defense gave up big plays and scoring drives to the Texans. Houston scored on a 76-yard touchdown run in the second quarter following RB Kareem Hunt’s second touchdown of the first half.
Hunt put the Browns on the board in the first half. Hunt caught an 11-yard pass from Flacco into the end zone for his second touchdown of the first half.
On the second offensive drive of the game, Flacco connected with TE David Njoku for a deep pass for 45 yards and moved them downfield. It eventually set the Browns up in the red zone after a pass to Cooper. Hunt then ran up the middle off a solid block from Wyatt Teller into the end zone for the touchdown.
Hunt put the Browns on the board in the first half with two touchdowns. He finished the game with 26 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown, as well as 9 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Even as the Browns defense struggled on defense collectively, Owusu-Koramoah gave the Browns a boost. He had seven tackles in the first half of the game. Owusu-Koramoah finished the game with eight tackles and four tackles for loss.
The Browns gave up 236 passing yards in the first half to the Texans. Rookie QB C.J. Stroud completed 11-of-16 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. Stroud finished the game completing 16-of-21 passes for 274 yards.