The Cleveland Browns aren’t one of the top-10 play-action passing teams in the NFL, but they still rely on the technique to advance their offense.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield is tied with Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow for the 12th-most play-action passes in the NFL. There is no chance the Browns will curtail their play-action passes against the Houston Texans in Week 10.
Defensive end J.J. Watt has seen play-action plenty of times in his career, and he knows what he has to do against the Browns.
“You just have to trust your keys,” Watt said. “Obviously, the number one goal is always stopping the run. You always want to stop the run. We’ve been more effective at times than other times this season in doing that, so we really want to do that.”
Stopping the run is part of the Texans’ problem on defense in 2020. Houston surrenders 159.5 rushing yards per game, the most in the NFL, and is second-worst in the league with a 5.1 yards per carry surrendered. If the Browns are able to get their running game going with backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, it will open up the play-action game for Mayfield.
“You also have to trust your keys and do your job and make sure you’re doing your job in the confines of the defense before — obviously if you fly up the field and try to stop the play action, it makes a pretty big gap in the run game for you,” Watt said. “You’ve got to be smart in what you’re doing and calculated when you take those risks.”
The Texans are hopeful they stop the Browns’ play-action game enough to give their offense a chance to dictate the pace of the game as Houston seeks their third win of the season and their first two-game winning streak of the year.