The Houston Texans pulled off quite a surprise in Week 1 by making Urban Meyer wonder whether the NFL is really for him. They can go for another shocker this week, as they go up against the Cleveland Browns, who are seeking to come back stronger after a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Check out our preview of this game below.
How about Tyrod Taylor and those Texans? With all the controversies surrounding Houston and the fact that talented quarterback Deshaun Watson won’t be on the field for Week 1, the expectation was that the Texans would falter this season. The jury is still out for the Texans, but they certainly impressed a lot of people by defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars the way they did in Week 1’s 37-21 home win. Taylor can look forward to continuing his success in Week 2 against his former team. The Browns’ defense was supposed to have improved, but its lack of consistency on that end of the field was exposed last Sunday by the Kansas City Chiefs. And don’t sleep on the Texans’ defense either. Houston’s stop unit welcomed Trevor Lawrence to the NFL with three interceptions and a sack that led to a 13-yard loss for the Jags.
The Texans are 3-1 against the spread in their last four games overall.
The Browns still could not get the better of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. But it looked that way for the most part of their 33-29 loss to Kansas City on the road in Week 1. Cleveland took it to the reigning AFC champions. The Browns’ defense was humming, particularly their ground attack. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt combined for three rushing touchdowns. As a team, the Browns had 153 rushing yards on 26 carries. The Texans crushed the Jags early last week, which led to the latter abandoning a run-heavy attack, but Cleveland will keep on giving the ball to its talented running back duo no matter what. Houston’s going to have headaches all game long trying to contain Chubb and Hunt. That said, watch out for Baker Mayfield to pass the ball more this time around, especially if Odell Beckham returns.
The Browns are 3-0 against the spread in their last three games.
