3 Houston Texans to watch against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13
By John Suchan
The Cleveland Browns face the Houston Texans on Sunday and while the storyline will be focused on Deshaun Watson, these three Houston players can’t be ignored
On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns will play the Houston Texans and while the primary story is that Deshaun Watson will be making his Cleveland debut there are several Houston players to watch closely as well. The Texans have struggled this season and have a lowly 1-9-1 record, but don’t fool yourself into thinking this game will be easy.
Houston has nothing to lose at this stage of the season and will likely put a lot of extra effort into trying to win this one — especially with the return of Watson. Here are three players that will likely be counted on for the Texans if they want to pull off the upset.
3 Texans to watch against Browns in Week 13
Kyle Allen, QB
Kyle Allen will get his second start of the season against the Browns Sunday. His first came last week against the Miami Dolphins in their 30-15 loss. Allen didn’t have an ideal game either in which he was sacked five times and intercepted twice.
This should be a great opportunity for the Cleveland defense to try to create havoc in the backfield. Alan has started 18 games in his career. Back in 2019, he started 12 games for the Carolina Panthers. He’s also had a stop in Washington with the Commanders where he started four games.
Allen does have experience and could always have a better game than expected, but at this point in the season with the Texans struggling don’t look for Allen to turn things around against the Browns.
Dameon Pierce, RB
A rookie from the University of Florida, Dameon Pierce has had a good to start his NFL career. To this point in the season, he’s totaled 788 yards and has scored three touchdowns on the ground. In the last two games, though, he has been bottled up where he’s only had a total of 16 yards on 15 carries.
Cleveland’s defense hasn’t had a good year when it comes to stopping opposing running backs. They did at least have a decent stand against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, so maybe that can be the start of something good. In this game, Pierce will likely be used at the beginning of the game we’ll see where that leads the Texans. They may abandon the run if they get down early.
Pierce has been one of the highlights of the Texans’ season. With the Browns’ poor run defense Pierce could get back on a roll. Up until last week’s win against the Buccaneers, Cleveland had been outrun and six of their previous seven games. If they can stay away from that pattern, they’ll be in good shape to bottle up Pierce.
Nico Collins, WR
Houston’s best offensive threat, Brandin Cooks, has been sidelined for the last few weeks. In his place, Nico Collins has taken on his role as one of the main wide receivers. Collins has been pretty consistent over the last three games, catching at least five passes in each.
Collins is a 6-foot-4 wideout that can use his height to his advantage, and I expect to see Kyle Allen try to target Collins early to get him in a rhythm. If Cleveland’s secondary has breakdowns as they’ve had throughout the season, Collins could pose some issues for them.
