How Texans exploited Browns’ defensive weakness, and an arrogant game plan: Inside the Numbers

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns got to the playoffs on the strength of their “best in the world” defense. They suffered a quick exit because of it. Why did the Browns defense, a unit that wasn’t afraid to boast its capabilities, completely collapse when it mattered most? Who deserves the blame?

Following the loss, Myles Garrett received a ton of criticism for his lack of impact. He didn’t have a single sack, recorded just two tackles, and went unnoticed for most of the day. For a player that is in consideration for the DPOY award, this level of performance in a playoff game just doesn’t cut it.

But is that analysis actually true?

C.J. Stroud average time to throw (NFL Next Gen Stats)

• Regular Season: 3.04 seconds
• Wild card vs. Browns: 2.64 seconds

Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik came into the game with a plan to get the ball out of Stroud’s hands fast. He emphasized quick passing concepts, screens, and RPOs to mitigate the pass rush. Stroud was decisive with his progressions and trusted his reads, getting the ball out almost half a second quicker on average than he had all season.

Regardless of how good your pass rush is, if the quarterback gets rid of the ball immediately, there’s nothing your defensive line can do about it — including superstars like Garrett. That’s when your secondary needs to step up.

The Browns’ secondary had an uncharacteristically bad day in Houston. But the Texans took advantage of weaknesses that had been present all season long. The Browns’ pass defense gave up the fewest yards per game this season. However, their Achilles heel was play action.

Browns passing defense (via Sports Info Solutions data)

No play action
5.7 yards per attempt (3rd)
72.5 passer rating (1st)
16.6% very successful play rate allowed (1st)
Play action
8.2 yards per attempt (18th)
105.8 passer rating (24th)
19.9% very successful play rate allowed (17th)

As shown above, the Browns dominated against standard dropback passing plays, but it transformed into a below average unit when facing play action. The Texans caught onto this and used play action on 27.3% of their passes. Since December, the Browns had only faced play action on 14.3% of passes.

Schwartz’s defense prides itself on being aggressive, a mentality that paid off for the majority of the season. But the Texans were able to counter that aggressiveness through the play action, which puts defenders in a bind between defending the run and defending the pass. It completely took the pass rush out of the equation, led to a lot of explosive plays, and exposed the secondary’s lack of discipline.

The Texans also dialed up a wrinkle that the Browns hadn’t seen before: the double move. A double move is when a receiver executes two cuts in one route to fool the defense. It is excellent at punishing aggressive defensive backs who are looking to make a play on the ball.

The wrinkle worked to perfection in every sense of the word. Stroud went 3 of 3 for 102 yards and one touchdown throwing to wide receivers running double moves. Although they didn’t take many downfield shots, the Texans created explosive plays and the Browns did not, which proved to be the difference in this game.

The Browns defense executed poorly and there’s no way around it. But Schwartz’s game plan heading into a playoff game was borderline arrogant.

Schwartz’s game plan was extremely vanilla and yet very risky. He called man coverage 46% of the time and used four pass rushers at a rate of 73%. Essentially, he thought that the Browns could simply sit in man coverage, rush with four guys, and dominate defensively as they had all season long.

There was no real attempt to throw in coverage disguises, simulated pressure, or blitz schemes in order to throw off a rookie quarterback making his playoff debut. It was a calculated act of bravado that screamed an overwhelming sense of confidence that they were simply better than a young Houston team just happy to be there.

Forty-five points later, it turns out they were not.

It is unfortunate that the Browns’ season, kept alive by sheer hard work and determination in the face of adversity, ended in complete contrast to what got them to the playoffs in the first place.

The Texans designed a masterful plan to formulaically attack each and every one of the Browns’ weaknesses. The Browns defense just showed up as if it was another day at the office.

Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure. It was an unfortunate ending for Browns fans, and all the more painful considering that the loss was easily preventable. Now that the defense suffered its first game of true domination, it can learn from those mistakes to improve in 2024.

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