The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 16 matchup between the Browns and Texans.
Find a breakdown of every Week 16 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Cleveland | Rank | @ | Houston | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | Spread | -2.5 | ||
| 20.0 | Implied Total | 22.5 | ||
| 22.1 | 12 | Points/Gm | 21.9 | 15 |
| 20.6 | 12 | Points All./Gm | 21.1 | 15 |
| 71.5 | 1 | Plays/Gm | 64.1 | 15 |
| 57.6 | 1 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 63.5 | 12 |
| 4.6 | 29 | Off. Yards/Play | 5.5 | 9 |
| 4.5 | 2 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.2 | 18 |
| 43.56% | 13 | Rush% | 41.43% | 20 |
| 56.44% | 20 | Pass% | 58.57% | 13 |
| 43.74% | 19 | Opp. Rush % | 42.74% | 18 |
| 56.26% | 14 | Opp. Pass % | 57.26% | 15 |
- Cleveland is 1-4-1 against the spread on the road, tied with the Jets for the worst record in the league.
- The Browns are allowing 2.06 points per drive on the road (18th) as opposed to a league-low 0.90 points per drive at home.
- Cleveland road games are averaging a league-high 54.8 combined points per game.
- Every Cleveland game on the road has gone over the game total, the only team in the league to have every road game go over.
- Cleveland has allowed a league-high 11 touchdowns on drives that have started on their side of the field.
- Cleveland is allowing opponents to score a touchdown on 12.2% of the drives that start on the opponent's side of the field (second) but a league-high 64.7% of the drives that start on the Cleveland side of the field.
- The Browns are averaging 1.34 points per drive on possessions that start on their side of the field, 27th in the league.
- Cleveland has converted 31.0% of their third downs, ahead of only the Giants (29.4%) and Jets (25.5%).
- That rate is 28.6% (14-of-49) with Joe Flacco on the field.
- The Texans have converted 26.8% (15-of-56) of their third downs over their past four games, 30th in the NFL.
- Houston had converted 43.8% of their third downs prior, seventh in the league.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Joe Flacco: Flacco has opened his return to the NFL with weeks as the QB13 (16.2 points), QB10 (20.3 points), and QB15 (16.9 points).
He has thrown for 311 and 374 yards over the past two weeks.
Flacco has thrown five interceptions over those three games, but his completion rate and yards per pass attempt have risen in all three.
Cleveland has not been scared to throw the football under Flacco, passing the ball 4%, 6%, and 6% above expectation in his three starts.
In the previous two games without Deshaun Watson, Cleveland had thrown the ball 4% below expectation.
Houston can defend the run well while being objectively weaker against the pass, so Cleveland should attack them through the air and remain aggressive here.
If you have been playing Flacco as a matchup-based QB2, he is on the table again this week.
Since their Week 7 bye, Houston has allowed a 66.9% completion rate (28th), 8.2 yards per pass attempt (30th), and a 3.9% touchdown rate (14th).
To continue reading this article
and gain access to The Worksheet and all of Rich's regular content, including positional rankings and chats, click below to purchase our NFL Plus package.
Purchase
