The Houston Texans will be up against one of the more impressive 4-7 teams in the NFL this week in the underrated Cleveland Browns. With pieces on both sides of the ball that will present problems for the 1-9-1 Texans, the Browns are a squad that can surprise opponents, as evidenced by their win over the defending AFC champion Cincinnatti Bengals in late October.
Houston will need to have a rock-solid gameplan in place if they intend to make waves against Cleveland in this matchup, and their new starting quarterback Kyle Allen has a good idea of what it might take to secure his team their second win of the season. Especially against their stingy secondary, he made it clear that two factors would be the difference between success and failure for his unit in the passing game.
“You need timing and anticipation to beat guys like that,” Allen explained. “The way those guys play, they play with their eyes on the quarterback. They’re reading drops. They’re reading route combinations. They’re both very good players and they get put in good positions to make plays. They’ve got good guys on the edge, good guys on the outside. They’ve really got good guys throughout the whole defense, but those corners are especially good players.”
Cleveland might not be the most established team in the conference, but with players like Denzel Ward, Myles Garrett, and Grant Delpit on their defense, they can make life difficult for any quarterback trying to make his way down the field. Given the absence of a running game in Houston’s game plans in recent weeks, it would seem that Allen’s preparation will need to be perfect to avoid an embarrassing outcome in this game, but with nothing to lose, he may prove to have what it takes to pull off a herculean feat in this Week 13 matchup.