The Browns won their third straight championship.December 24, 2023 4:39 p.m23_
WEB_HEADSHOT_KELSEYRUSSOstaff writerPosted in week 16.
The Browns’ hopes of making the playoffs this weekend were extinguished before they even took the field, but they added their all-important 10th win with a victory over the Texans on Sunday. 36-22. And they did it impressively through the air.
Veteran QB Joe Flacco connected with WR Amari Cooper from the first play to the last play of the fourth quarter to go on to win the game.
Cooper became the Browns’ all-time leader in receiving yards entering Sunday’s game.
The Browns are currently 10-5 on the season.
highlight:The Browns’ offense capped a special final day play with a two-point conversion pass attempt from Flacco to Cooper that gave the Browns a 36-7 lead after RB Kareem Hunt ran to 1 yard for the team’s fifth touchdown of the day.
With the loss of Dustin Hopkins to a spinal cord injury, the Browns had to rely on two-point conversions after touchdowns and found a way to recover those attempts.
However, the Browns defense showed some downtime in the fourth quarter as they allowed back-to-back points to the Texans.
Houston made a field goal with 6 minutes, 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
A fumble recovery led to another Texas rush and eventually their second touchdown of the quarter with 4:15 left.
After allowing the Texans to score a 98-yard touchdown, the Browns defense gave up 15 points in the fourth quarter.
The Browns defense had several stops and key defensive plays throughout the game.
With less than two minutes left in the third quarter, C Duron Harmon caught a pass from QB Case Keenum and recorded his second interception of the day.
The second came in the final 30 seconds of the first half when DT Shelby Harris fumbled the ball and Keenum deflected a pass that ended up being intercepted by L.B. on 1st and 10. Intercepted by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoa.
The passing game paved the way for the Browns’ offense.
Flacco connected with Cooper for a 7-yard touchdown pass to the end zone in the third quarter to give the Browns a 28-7 lead.
Flacco connected with Cooper twice on deep passes in the first half. In the second quarter, Flacco connected with Cooper on a 75-yard pass.
Flacco threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Cooper on the first play.
A few plays later, RB Jerome Ford took a direct charge and ran 4 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.
Flacco also connected with TE David Njoku on a 21-yard pass late in the second quarter.
The Browns then attempted a two-point conversion as rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson caught the ball and ran into the end zone for a successful conversion, giving the Browns a 22–7 lead.
Game participants:Joe FlaccoFlacco threw for 300 yards for the third straight time.
He finished Sunday’s game 27-of-42 for 368 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.amari kuiperIt was a day to pay tribute to Cooper.
The Flacco-Cooper connection paid off in Sunday’s game. Flacco found Cooper for two touchdowns that day.
Cooper was targeted 15 times in the game and finished with 265 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 11 receptions.
His 265 yards broke the Browns’ single-game rushing record.Cooper also passed for 1,000 yards with a 53-yard pass on the game’s opening drive.
Cooper has back-to-back seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards and is the first player in Browns history to have back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Cooper has 1,250 receiving yards this season after Sunday’s game. Game Stats:
The Browns finished the game with 418 total yards compared to the Texans’ 250 total yards.
What does it mean? Even if the Browns don’t clinch a playoff spot in Week 16, a win against the Texans is important.
They had their first 10-win season since the 2020 season.
This was the last season the Browns made the playoffs. Since the 2020 season, the Browns picked up their 10th win in Week 15 against the Giants.
It’s been a little bit of progress in road games as they’ve won three straight.
The Browns have struggled on the road, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the defense showed the same level of dominance as at home.
As the game wound down came a defensive slide with several backups.
