The blinding excitement behind the comeback story that was Joe Flacco’s, the Cleveland Browns quarterback, papered over one fatal flaw.
Turnovers. More specifically, interceptions. And Flacco threw two of the worst kind in the third quarter of Saturday’s AFC wild-card game against the Houston Texans, a 45-14 drubbing by Houston. The AFC South champions won their first postseason game since the 2019 playoffs.
With Cleveland trailing 24-14 more than halfway through the third quarter, Flacco dropped back on first-and-10 from the Houston 34-yard line. Texans defensive lineman Derek Barnett pressured Flacco from the veteran’s throwing side. The quarterback appeared to try to throw the ball away. But it landed in the belly of Houston cornerback Steven Nelson. The ninth-year cornerback sprinted down the sideline with Texans defenders transforming into blockers to clear his path. Eighty-two yards after he caught it, Nelson put the Texans up by 16.