The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Browns vs. Texans Recap

The Cleveland Browns walked away victorious in their home opener against the Houston Texans. 

Here's my three big takeaways.

The Good: The Offense

I can't give this award to just one player. The offense was grooving on Sunday, even without Odell Beckham Jr. and with Jarvis Landry for just two snaps.

Baker Mayfield threw only two incompletions, and one of them was an interception where Anthony Schwartz quit on his route and was chewed out on the sidelines by Kevin Stefanski. After that pick, Mayfield didn't have another incompletion.

Per usual, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are the legs that make this thing go. Chubb averaged 8.6 yards per carry, good for 95 yards and a touchdown. Hunt rushed 13 times for 51 yards.

Also, shoutout to Demetric Felton. The rookie sixth-round pick gadget man took a screen pass to the house and was Cleveland's leading receiver with 51 yards.

The Bad: The Defense

The Houston Texans are a veteran team on their way to becoming masters at covering the spread. They're 2-0 against the spread.

When Tyrod Taylor went down with a hamstring, the Browns still couldn't get much pressure on the rookie Davis Mills. Joe Woods and the defensive coaches need to get in a room and figure things out as it pertains to the soft zone.

Sure, it's easy to beat a team like the Texans, especially when their boneheaded coach punted the ball away after declining a penalty on third down. But on third down, the Browns need to find a way to get off the field.

Oh yeah, it would also be cool to find a way for that Myles Garrett fella to get a sack or two.

The Ugly: Injuries

Both teams definitely felt the impact of injury on Sunday. I feel like a big part of that could be a direct result of the September heat that was felt in Cleveland.

The Browns lost Landry to a sprained MCL that will leave him sidelined for at least a few weeks. Landry's been an ironman throughout his career, missing just the 2020 game against the New York Jets as a close-contact to someone with COVID-19 as the lone missed game of his eight-year career.

The Browns also saw Jedrick Wills be replaced at left tackle by Blake Hance. Defensive tackle Malik McDowell was also helped off the field due to an injury.