The Cleveland Browns bring their struggling offense to Reliant Stadium to take on the Houston Texans. No one seems to think the Browns will be able to score enough points to win the game, however.
NFL Picks And Predictions Week 9: Browns Vs. Texans
Can Colt McCoy and the Cleveland Browns compete with the Houston Texans? A round table of experts on the internet don’t think so.
Every NFL expert on ESPN.com picked the Houston Texans to win, as did every expert on CBSSports.com.
Peter King of Sports Illustrated doesn’t give the Browns much of a chance, either:
Andre Johnson hurt his hamstring Oct. 2 against Pittsburgh. The team said at the time he'd either be out a few days or three or four weeks. This is the fifth week without Johnson being back to normal, and it looks iffy whether he'll play. Why is there no panic in the Houston streets? Because the Texans have learned to play well without Johnson. With him starting, they've averaged 27 points a game this year; without him starting, they've averaged 25.
Houston 27, Cleveland 12
Peter Schrager, like everyone else picks Houston to win but thinks the game will actually be close. Just kidding.
Cleveland at Houston: The Texans are 28-2 under Gary Kubiak when running the ball 30 times in a game, something they did in last week's win over the Jaguars. They're also 3-0 in the AFC South for the first time in franchise history and the defense has held opponents to less than 200 total yards in consecutive weekends for the first time ever. It's tempting to take Colt McCoy in his "homecoming" trip to Houston, but he's struggled in Pat Shurmur's short-passing offense of late and there's just not enough firepower on that offense to keep up with Houston. Everyone in the media tripped all over themselves while praising the Cleveland front office back in April for their draft day trade, but couldn't this team use Julio Jones?
The pick: Texans 28, Browns 13
For more on the Cleveland Browns, visit SB Nation’s Browns blog Dawgs by Nature. For more on the Houston Texans, visit SB Nation’s Texans blog Battle Red Blog.
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