The upcoming Browns game, 11/6/2011
 

The 5-3 Texans will be hosting the Cleveland Browns this Sunday in a noon matchup. The Texans will be looking to go three games over .500 for the first time in team history. The Texans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-14 last Sunday at home.

Cleveland is led by 2nd year QB Colt McCoy (1,618 yards, 9 TD, 5 INT, 76.4 rating) and may also utilize RB Peyton Hillis who is day-to-day with a hamstring injury. The Browns great strength is their defense which currently ranks 5th in total yards given up per game (2nd in passing but 26th in rushing). They can probably expect to see a healthy dose of the Texan running game. Cleveland is coming off a 20-10 road loss at San Francisco.

TV = CBS (channel 11 local), noon CST

Announcers = Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

Favorite = Texans by 10.5 to 12.5

A bigger spread than the Jags game. I'm cautiously optimistic. One thing I know about McCoy is that he lacks the zip on the fastball that would beat deep coverage. His specialty is West Coast throws in the flat so the Texans should sit on the short routes and dare McCoy to beat them deep.

If AJ is healthy enough to activate, I hope they use him sparingly or as a decoy. Let him have a game where he can test the hamstring without getting the full load of a normal game. That way, he'll be fresher for the Tampa Bay game and have the bye week to fall back on if things aren't quite right.

on andre, i am fine if they decide not to play him until after the bye week. if he is completely 100% good to go, then play him, but if he is even 99% they should be overly cautious. the texans SHOULD be able to win this weekend, and i also think they are capable of beating tampa without andre. what they cannot allow to happen, and obviously there is no guarentee, is to bring him back just a little too early and lose him for a possible playoff run.

I can't imagine Cleveland being too much of an obstacle. They have even less offense than Jacksonville does, it seems.

Andre will play when he thinks he is healthy. Obviously the training staff helps him be informed, but this is an injury where it is really up to him. I know he mentioned weeks ago that this is not the kind of injury where coming back too soon is going to cause further damage (remember it is not the muscle, but the removal of scar tissue in the hamstring area). So he is working with recovery from the surgery, closure of the incision, and range of motion after the procedure. He is not dealing with a hamstring problem that can be aggravated like Foster was.

Andre also made it clear Kubiak had made his long term health priority one and put all of the decision making power in AJ's hands. He used that power to hold himself out last week in a judgement call. So he will play when he feels good. Not one minute earlier. So I don't think we need to hope for a cautious approach or worry about who they are playing. We can just be confident that Andre will play when he is able.

And I think we will roll Cleveland either way.

Snippet from Paul K @ AFC South Blog:
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth

Over in the first? The Texans have scored 57 points in the first quarter, third most in the league. The Browns have scored three, the fewest in the league. If the patterns hold, could we have a snoozer by the time the teams switch ends? ESPN Stats & Information says no quarterback has been less threatening downfield this season than Cleveland’s Colt McCoy. He has three 30-yard pass plays in 163 completions. That’s 1.8 percent, the lowest percentage of 30-yard plays of anyone this season. I don’t expect the Texans to have receiver Andre Johnson (hamstring), but Houston should still be more threatening downfield than the Browns.


Andre has been ruled out, but unless we do something stupid, this one SHOULD be over by the third quarter at the latest. I'm looking for Foster and Tate to put up big numbers Sunday.

Yes, Andre is out but if Foster/Tate stay healthy and Schaub doesn't have one of his WTF games, we should be okay. Hillis is supposed to be out too.

Cleveland may not have much of an offense, except for Colt McCoy, but they have a fairly high rated defense. We'd best not take them lightly.

Wish AJ would get well.

Oh no, definitely not. Any given Sunday and such. But just comparing them to Jacksonville. Same sorta team and they don't even have a RB that can do some damage like MJD.

Yeah, I heard Cleveland's Peyton Hillis would be out another week. Good omen for us, although we have been tough on the run and the pass this year. Thank you Mr. Phillips.

Yup Hillis is out, so I think OB/GYN will be starting. Solid back, but not a world beater.