Cleveland Browns: 4 players to watch on the Texans in Week 2
The Cleveland Browns will look to get in the win column for the first time this season on Sunday against the Houston Texans.
In Week 2, the Cleveland Browns are set to host the Houston Texans on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium after falling to Kansas City in Week 1. The Texans are coming off a victory over No. 1 overall pick, Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Many people had the Browns and Texans at complete opposite ends of the power rankings heading into the season. Both are at the opposite ends of the standings after Week 1 and if the Browns want to get a win, they have to take this Texans team seriously.
While Houston might not finish with as many wins as Cleveland at the end of the season, they still have players that the Browns have to find an answer for this Sunday.
Here are four players to watch on the Texans against the Browns.
4. Tyrod Taylor, QB
The Texans had a ton of offseason turmoil at the quarterback position with all the off-the-field issues Deshaun Watson. He was a healthy scratch in Week 1, but the Texans didn’t miss a beat.
The reason?
Former Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
He isn’t as good as Watson, and nobody would ever claim that, but he certainly played like him against the Jaguars, leading the Texans to their first opening-week victory since 2016.
Taylor was 21-of-33 for 291 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed the ball four times for 40 yards.
He was surgical, picking apart the Jags defense, finding seven different receivers, five of which had two or more receptions on the day.
His go-to receiver was Brandin Cooks, who hauled in five passes for a game-high 132 yards. His two touchdown tosses went to running back David Johnson and Danny Amendola.
Taylor is no Watson and he is certainly no Patrick Mahomes, but he does things similar to what Mahomes does. He is able to escape the pocket when it collapses and make plays with his feet. If the Browns want to limit what Taylor can do, they have to finish when they apply pressure.
As Coty Davis of Texans Wire said, Taylor proved he can be the “plan-A” quarterback for the Texans in 2021.