If the first half of the Houston Texans’ wild card against the Cleveland Browns was all about offense, the second half started with all defense.
Texans cornerback Steven Nelson scored on an 82-yard interception return touchdown nine minutes into the third quarter, followed almost immediately by linebacker Christian Harris’s 36-yard pick-six just two minutes later on the Browns’ next drive. That pushed the Houston lead to 24 points with four minutes left in the third quarter.
Before this game, Houston’s defense hadn’t returned an interception for a touchdown. Now, they have two.
The first came with six minutes left in the third as the Browns were driving down the field. Texans defensive lineman Derek Barnett pressured Joe Flacco enough to where the Browns quarterback tossed an under-thrown ball that Nelson easily intercepted. The work came after the pick, though, as Nelson weaved through opponents and teammates alike on his way back for the 82-yard touchdown.
The @HoustonTexans first pick-6 of the season came at a pretty good time.
📺: #CLEvsHOU on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/jM781VisSx pic.twitter.com/h5pC52nrZu— NFL (@NFL) January 13, 2024
That was Nelson’s fifth interception of the season.
On the ensuing drive by the Browns, Harris read a short pass by Flacco on a 4th-and-2 and had open green for the touchdown.
READ THAT ‼️ pic.twitter.com/Ubhy0LFLTr
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 13, 2024
The offense had done most of the heavily lifting in the first half to give Houston the 24-14 lead. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud threw three first-half touchdown passes – to Nico Collins, Brevin Jordan and Dalton Schultz – and his 236 first-half passing yards were the most by a rookie since the NFL merger.
