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Cleveland Browns heading to Houston to open playoffs against AFC South champion Texans
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- Cleveland Browns heading to Houston to open playoffs against AFC South champion Texans
CINCINNATI — Ogbo Okoronkwo wasn't able to play when the Browns beat his former team, the Houston Texans , in his hometown on Christmas Eve. The Browns defensive end was battling a pectoral muscle injury.
The storybook season the Browns have had will give Okoroknwo a second chance when they meet the Texans in Houston at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in an AFC wild card game.
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"I mean, I sort of knew," Okoronkwo said after a 31-14 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals in the regular-season finale Sunday, his first game back since the injury in Week 14. "I read the script, so I knew I was going to miss that game. So the writers, they're doing a fantastic job."
Okoronkwo was joking about reading the script, but it's certainly an added layer to the Browns' third playoff appearance. While he and his teammates didn't deal have any real drama surrounding their game in Cincinnati, at least in terms of playoff implications, they had no clue who their opening-round opponent was going to be until many of them were already back in the locker room after the game.
The Browns (11-6), who were locked into the No. 5 seed, had to wait to see who won the AFC South. That came down to the Jacksonville Jaguars ' 28-20 loss Sunday at the Tennessee Titans , which ended as the Browns and Bengals players were still milling about on the field moments after their game.
That opened the door for the Texans (10-7) to take the division title. Houston put itself in that spot with a 23-19 win at the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night.
Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Jonah Williams (73) blocks Cleveland Browns defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo (54) in the first quarter during a Week 18 NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.
"Just all week we had to just take care of what was in front of us," said linebacker Sione Takitaki , one of several key Browns players who did not play against Cincinnati. "We were playing the Bengals, so we focused on that. But it feels good to kind of start preparing for the next team. … It's Houston. OK. Yeah, so it's exciting to start preparing for those guys and really get back to that."
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The Christmas Eve trip to Houston was a special one, with the Browns winning 36-22 to set up a win-and-in opportunity on Dec. 28 against the New York Jets . And the win over the Jets allowed the Browns to play Sunday's regular-season finale as if it was a glorified preseason game.
"I mean, it's good because the whole year this is what we've been striving to get to is the playoffs," said receiver David Bell, who had two touchdowns on four catches for 68 yards against Cincinnati. "Unfortunately, like I said, we wanted to finish the season off on a good note, but we know that we have a second season upon us that a lot of teams don't get that opportunity.
"So by us just finishing this season and transferring over to the postseason, our main focus is Houston right now."
Houston's main focus in the rematch will no doubt be on a different receiver, one who didn't play against the Bengals but very much did play in the first meeting with the Texans. Amari Cooper set a single-game franchise record with 265 receiving yards against the Texans on 11 catches, with two touchdowns.
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper (2) hauls in a pass for a touchdown as Houston Texans cornerback D'Angelo Ross (37) defends Dec. 24, 2023, in Houston.
Cooper also sustained the heel injury that kept him sidelined against the Jets and, to a lesser extent, the Bengals on a 75-yard touchdown catch. However, he at least played against the Texans.
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Houston had a rather sizeable vacancy on its offense the first time around, as rookie and former Ohio State standout C.J. Stroud missed the game while he was in concussion protocol. That left Case Keenum to start and play most of the game, and he finished with just 62 yards and two interceptions.
"I mean, you could kind of tell by the season that C.J. is having right now," said defensive end Alex Wright , who had a sack in his fourth consecutive game to raise his season total to five. "So he's my pick for Rookie of the Year. So, I mean, it's the fact of the matter is the chemistry that he has with his players while he's out there. That's the biggest game changer."
Stroud has made a strong case to be the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year in helping Houston go from 3-13-1 a year ago to 10-7 and AFC South champions. The No. 2 pick in last April's draft completed nearly 64% of his passes for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 100.8 passer rating.
It wasn't just Stroud who was absent in the first matchup. Two key defenders missed essentially the entire game as well.
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Rookie defensive end Will Anderson Jr. , who had seven regular-season sacks, missed the game due to an ankle injury. Defensive end Jonathan Greenard , who led the Texans with 12.5 sacks, left after two plays and has not played since because of his own ankle injury.
"A huge difference," left tackle Geron Christian Jr. said of the Texans' pass-rush duo possibly returning. "I mean, they real good rushers. Grennard, we came into Louisville together, so I've been going against him since 2015. I mean, Will is a good player as well. So, I mean, if they got those two guys back, I mean, it's going to be obviously another obstacle. But, I mean, we just got to do our job honestly."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns opening AFC Wild Card round against Houston Texans
