NOTHING TO GET WORKED UP ABOUT
By STEVE KING
Steve King does a quick review of the Browns 29-13 loss in Houston on Sunday.
Not particularly surprising, but still disappointing.
That’s the best way to describe the Browns’ lopsided 29-13 loss to Houston on Sunday at NRG Stadium – lopsided because the Texans rolled to a 23-0 halftime lead and then put it on cruise-control from there.
The Texans, of course, are one of the best teams in the AFC, and they proved it with the domination in every phase of a Cleveland team that went into the game with a two-game winning streak. The Browns are now 4-7-1 with four games to play.
The Texans (9-3) are also – by far – the hottest team in the NFL, having now won nine in a row. To do that in a league that prides itself on creating parity, is extremely impressive.
So, then, the fact the Browns lost to them by 16 points is not a shock. But that, as mentioned, they got blown out in the first half is surprising, and disappointing. The game was billed as a measuring stick for the Browns as to where, exactly they are at this stage of their development. With that, then, it’s evident that they still have a whole lot of work to do even though they’ve made plenty of progress already this season.
What is also disappointing is the way they lost, helping the Texans – as if they needed any help – with a comedy of ultra-costly errors reminiscent of a good number of their games the previous two seasons when they posted a combined record of just 1-31.
While Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for a whopping 397 yards, he had three first-half interceptions that came at the worst possible time. He rebounded nicely in the second half, which is a positive, but by then, the damage had been done and the game was way out of reach.
Mayfield is going to be good, but it’s going to take a bit before he’s consistently so. There is going to be some more sputtering.
Gregg Williams has done a nice job overall since taking over as Browns interim head coach – he’s 2-2 – but a loss like this means he still has some work to do to impress General Manager John Dorsey that he’s the man for the job when the club names its full-time coach shortly after the season ends in a month.
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