CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Merry Christmas from Amari Cooper and Joe Flacco.
The Browns new dynamic duo hooked up early and often with Cooper catching two of Flacco’s three touchdowns while setting a new single game franchise record for receiving in the Browns 36-22 win over the Texans.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from a Merry Christmas eve.
This was the Cooper game. The 10-year veteran was dynamic catching 11 of 15 targets for team record 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Cooper, who broke Josh Gordon’s mark with a 13-yard catch to convert a fourth-and-7 with 3:44 remaining in the fourth quarter, also hauled in a 2-point conversion. Cooper joined Lance Alworth and Calvin Johnson with his fourth 210-plus receiving game, an NFL record. Cooper now has 1,250 receiving yards this season which ranks third in team history behind Josh Gordon [1,646 in 2013] and Braylon Edwards [1,289 in 2007].
Cooper jump started the afternoon by hauling in a 53-yard catch on a deep ball from Flacco on the first offensive snap to secure the first back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons in team history and he became the first receiver in the NFL era for the Browns to tally multiple 1,000-yard seasons. Hall of Famer Mac Speedie did it twice – 1947 and 1949 – for the franchise as a member of the AAFC. Cooper’s catch down to the 6 set up the first score of the day. Cooper now has seven 1,000-yard seasons in 10 years in the league.
Cooper snagged a 75-yard touchdown, fighting through a pass interference to do it that put the Browns up 14-0 early in the second quarter. His 7-yard TD grab in the third quarter made it a 28-7 game giving him five TDs this season.
Flacco was sensational once again. He completed 27 of 42 passes for 368 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions – one that ended the first half. The first pick came on a deep ball to speedster Marquise Goodwin. Flacco has thrown for 1,307 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first four starts -both are new franchise records for a Browns QB. For the third time in four starts by Flacco, the Browns offense put 7 on the board on their opening possession. Jerome Ford took the direct snap and ran off to the right for a 4-yard touchdown. James Hudson II delivered a solid block on the edge to help Ford turn the corner and score for a 7-0 lead. Flacco joined Josh McCown [2015] as the only quarterbacks to throw for 300 yards in three straight games and 350 yards in consecutive games.
There is nothing easy for the Browns in 2023. They were unable to properly blow a team out. Kevin Stefanski had to put his starters back on the field late in the fourth quarter after Houston turned a 36-7 laugher into a 36-22 game with 4:12 remaining after scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions.
This is win No. 10 on the season and the Browns will clinch a playoff berth if they can beat the Jets Thursday night. It marks the third time since 1999 the Browns hit double digit wins in a season and the second time in four years under Stefanski, who is in line for a contract extension along with EVP/GM Andrew Berry. Of Cleveland’s 10 victories, seven have come against teams with a winning record and playoff contenders – 11-3 Ravens and 49ers, 8-6 Jaguars plus the 8-7 Colts, Texans, Bengals and Steelers.
The Browns lost kicker Dustin Hopkins to a hamstring injury and punter Corey Bojorquez, who took over kicking off, could not continue. Unfortunately, the Browns did not have an emergency kicker plan, which cost them 3 points before halftime when they couldn’t try a 35-yard field goal, forced them to go for 2 following their final three touchdowns of the afternoon as well as go for it on fourth-and-12 instead of trying a 32-yard field goal that would have made it a three possession game late in the fourth quarter. D’Anthony Bell had to handle what ended up being the final kick off for the Browns early in the fourth quarter.
Defensive end Za’Darius Smith had a monster game. Smith finished with two sacks, four QB hits, two tackles for loss and a batted pass. Smith was banged up and walked off with trainers in the final minute. Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had six tackles, two pass breakups and another interception. JOK leads the team with 87 tackles in 2023.
Tight end David Njoku caught his sixth touchdown of the season – a 21-yard strike from Flacco with 4:16 left in the first half to make it 22-7 after the two-point conversion. Njoku finished with six more catches for 44 yards and that score.
Running back Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard TD run that put the Browns up 36-7, was his team-leading eighth score of the season, tying his career high with all of them coming on the ground.
Pierre Strong opened with a 36-yard return out to the 41 that set up the opening drive. That was the only special teams highlight as it was not a good day for Bubba Ventrone’s unit. They broke down and gave the Texans life on Dameon Pierce’s 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to cut the Browns lead in half at 14-7. Hopkins suffered a hamstring injury trying to pursue the return, knocking him out of the game and he will undergo an MRI. The Browns couldn’t try a 36-yard field goal before the half costing them three points and leading to Flacco’s second interception to end the first half.
With Hopkins sidelined, the Browns went for two after Njoku’s score in the second quarter and backup QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson took the direct snap in for the conversion. Jerome Ford couldn’t score off a direct snap, but Flacco hit Cooper to make the Browns 2-for-3 on 2-point tries.