Three Key Texans Stats To Know Before Wild Card Showdown With Browns

In about 24 hours the Browns and Texans will open up Super Wild Card weekend with a Week 16 rematch from Houston. And while there are plenty of reasons to feel confident about Cleveland's chances – the SI Sportsbook lists them as 2-point favorites – especially after a 36-22 beat down three weeks ago, the Texans enter with reinforcements.

Rookie phenom C.J. Stroud is back under center after missing that previous matchup. Houston is also expected to have it's two top edge rushers in rookie Will Anderson Jr. and Jonathan Greenard.

Beating a team twice is easier said than done, but if the Browns are going to pull it off these are some key Texans stats to be aware of.

1) 40+

It's no secret that C.J. Stroud has been downright stellar this season and one of the things Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz talked about this week was just the number of interceptions he's thrown given the volume of passes he's attempted. With missing two games, Stroud is just outside the top 10 in passes attempted with 499. Of those nearly 500 passes only five have been intercepted, which is such an impressive discrepancy for a rookie QB to boast.

Weirdly though, over the course of his rookie season and during his college career at Ohio State, his team's haven't generally fared well when he throws the ball more than 40 times in a game. As a Buckeye, Stroud was 2-3 when having 40-plus attempts in a game. Similarly, in his first NFL season, the Texans are just 1-2 when he eclipses the 40 attempt mark. While the idea of Stroud throwing the ball a lot may sound like recipe for losing to Houston, if the Browns make him do it too much it may actually work in their favor.

2) Protect The Roc

As mentioned, Stroud has only thrown five interceptions this season, good for a NFL best interception rate of 1-percent. He has been extremely effective at protecting the football as has his team. The Texans are tied for the fourth best turnover differential this season at a mark of +10, while committing a league low 14 turnovers in total this season. Conversely, the Browns have committed the most turnovers this season and miraculously it hasn't derailed them yet. In the playoffs though committing a turnover or creating one can be the difference in winning and losing.

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3) So You're Saying There's A Chance!

Overall the Texans rank 19th in terms of third down conversation percentage, picking up a first on 37.9-percent of their third down attempts. What's fascinating though is they actually convert the third and longer distances at a higher rate than the third and moderate distances. Houston actually converts third-and-four at the highest rate this season, successfully doing so 71-percent of the time, but when it's been five or six yards to go, the conversion rates drop to 26.7-percent and 36-percent.

Then as the stick go to third-and-seven, the Texans are converting from that distance 45.5-percent of the time, just shy of 36-percent on third-and-eight. Then there's third-and-10 where they boast an impressive 41-percent conversion rate. All this speaks to the Texans ability to hit on explosive plays. If Cleveland's defense can keep them behind the sticks, they need to be able to get off the field.