November 24th, 2007 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
The Browns and Texans are set for what suddenly has turned into a key AFC matchup Sunday at Browns Stadium. The Browns are 6-4 and rebounded from their heart-breaking loss two weeks ago to the Steelers in Pittsburgh with a huge 33-30 OT win in Baltimore last week. The Texans are 5-5 after two straight wins over the Raiders and the Saints at home last week in an impressive display.
Andre Johnson is back for the Texans, and that is huge. In games that Johnson has played in this season, the team is 3-0. He and QB Matt Schaub, who also seems healthy now, gained a lot of confidence in the first two weeks they played together, both wins. The running game is kind of in a flux since Ahman Green has missed so much time this season. The carries Sunday will go to Ron Dayne, who has done a decent job filling in. The mindset right now for the Texans is to get the ball down the field, and they can and will do that against a porous Browns D.
On the Browns side, it’s much of the same. They have the 3rd best offense, and that is because QB Derek Anderson has been on fire since taking over the starting job in week two. One issue the team has had the last two weeks is getting a big lead and then letting the opponents come back. They lost two weeks ago when it happened, and nearly did last Sunday in Baltimore. They play well at home, where they have not lost since opening day and are 4-1. The defense has to step up though, and the offense cannot fall into lapses.
This is a very tough game to call. The Texans seem to have played the better ball the last two weeks, and I think that with the way they are playing better on defense and the offense seems to have been hitting stride. Look for the Texans to walk out of Cleveland with a hard fought win.
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