Three weeks ago, the Houston Texans couldn’t stop Amari Cooper. The veteran Cleveland Browns wide receiver torched Houston’s secondary to the tune of 11 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco.
Cooper’s performance extended the Browns’ first-half lead to 14, a lead Cleveland never relinquished in the 36-22 win in Week 16. The Texans didn’t have C.J. Stroud under center in that one, but that might not have been enough to change anything after Flacco and company finished with 418 total offensive yards and five touchdowns.
This time around, the Texans will surely have learned from the mistakes of the past. Houston defensive coordinator Matt Burke noted this week that the defense didn’t do a good job at taking away the Browns’ explosive plays – including Cooper – and that if the wideout has another good performance, “it’s going to be a long day again.”
Matt Burke on taking away explosive opportunities from Browns this weekend #Texans
Amari Cooper torched Texans for 265 yards, 11 catches & 2 TD’s week 16, including catches of 53 and 75 yards. pic.twitter.com/KxY3ey42SV
— Shaun Bijani (@ShaunBijani) January 10, 2024
Cooper isn’t the only player the Texans need to key in on. Running back Jerome Ford can break off a run on any play, while David Njoku has proven to be one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the league this season. Those three should be the biggest threats to the Texans in the wildcard round, but hindsight to what happened three weeks should aid Burke’s defensive gameplan for the match.
The Texans should have the majority of their defensive starts back for this game, though, with defensive lineman like Will Anderson, Jonathan Greenard, Maliek Collins and Sheldon Rankins expected to play.
