Wildcard weekend preview (Browns @ Texans)

This weekend kicks off the 2024 playoff season with some great wild card round games. The Baltimore Ravens won the one seed in the AFC so they will rest up and watch from home. The Ravens and their leader, Lamar Jackson had an amazing year finishing with the best record in the NFL. The Ravens finished the regular season with a 13-4 record. The Ravens will play at home on their road to the playoffs as they await their second round matchup. 

The San Francisco 49ers won the one seed in the NFC. The 49ers had a great year finishing with a 12-5 record. The 49ers Finished the season averaging 398.4 yards on offense that's good for 2ed in the league. The 49ers were also a top 4 team in both rushing and passing yards per game. After losing 3 in a row the 49ers closed the season on a 5 game win streak. In that stretch they beat a great cowboys team 42-10 at home. The 49er will get some much needed rest for their star back Christian McCaffery. They will host home playoff games throughout the playoffs as they make a run at the super bowl. 

Saturday 4:30pm Browns @ Texans 

The Texans will kick off the wild card weekend with a home playoff game vs the Browns Saturday at 4:30pm. This is the first playoff game for the Texans since 2020 where they beat the Buffalo Bills in OT. The Texans are coming off winning their last 2 games vs the Titans and Colts to get into the playoffs and earn the rights to host a playoff game. 

CJ Stroud has been the story in Houston. Stroud walked in as a rookie and played like a veteran. Stroud finished the year with 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns. Stroud completed 63.9% of his passes. Stroud led the Texans to a 10-7 record with a 6-3 record at home winning the AFC south. 

On the other sideline the away team, the browns, come in as the 5 seed. The Browns finish the regular season with a 11-6 record. The Browns finished 2 games short of the Raven in the AFC North. The story of the Browns is adding veteran and super bowl winner Joe Flacco as starting quarterback. 

On one side you have a rookie QB making his first playoff start on the other side you have a super bowl champion with tons of playoff experience. Flacco has played in 5 games this season with the Browns going 4-1. 

The Browns come in with the best yards allowed per game defense. The Browns also come into this game only allowing 164.7 passing yards per game. This is good again for the best in the NFL. This will be a huge factor in this game as CJ Stroud and the Texans will try to air it out.

The Texans come in as a 1.5 point favorite at home. The Browns struggle away from home with a 3-6 record on the road. The Browns have the better defense and the experience on their side. But with CJ Stroud and his weapons outside while playing at home I love the Texans with win this wild card match up