Playoff atmosphere

There's good reason to believe it's still a wee bit early to suggest the 9-5 Browns are a virtual lock to return to the postseason after a two-season absence.

But with three games remaining, including Sunday's in Houston against the Texans, there is every reason to believe every game from here on out will fully prepare them for the playoffs because the intensity of these late regular-season games often produces a playoff-like atmosphere.

Every play, every snap, every decision will be meaningful and in most cases impact the ultimate outcome. Precision of execution is of the utmost importance. The  slightest mistake can become larger due to the pressure involved.

Just about everything takes on greater importance at this time of the season, especially when you get this close in a season that many times was headed in the wrong direction with roadblocks no one saw coming. Everything magnifies now.

The biggest problem for the Browns lies in the fact this is nowhere near as strong a football team on offense as the talent-laden crew that began back on Sept. 10 with a home victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. The talent quotient is at a season low.

Gone until next season are the likes of Nick Chubb, Deshaun Watson and most of the offensive line with injuries now playing havoc with various parts of the secondary and defensive line. Early-season mastery that threatened to break numerous records on defense has abated to the point where that side of the ball is just hanging on.

And if it weren't for Andrew Berry's sagacious decision to bring Joe Flacco back to the National Football League, there's no telling where the Browns would be at this moment. In a relative blink of an eye, the ageless quarterback has become a franchise savior. The irony is stupefying and astonishing all at once. 

If there's anyone who knows what it's like to play this level of football at this time of the season and excel with so much on the line, it's Flacco, who has booked 15 games over the course of six postseasons with the Baltimore Ravens and thrown for 3,223 yards, 25 touchdown passes and just 10 interceptions. Oh and one Super Bowl MVP.

A vast percentage of this roster can only dream of playing meaningful football this far into the season. Flacco seems to be the kind of guy willing to share his experiences. There's no better time to start than Sunday against a team locked in a three-way tie for the lead in the AFC South -- right there with the Browns in the post-season chase -- and a 5-1 record at home.

The Browns won't have to face quarterback C. J. Stroud, spending his second weekend in concussion protocol. The former Ohio State standout has put up sensational rookie season numbers with 20 touchdown passes and only five picks, and is a lock to win NFL rookie-of-the-year honors.

Case Keenum, so backed up Baker Mayfield in Cleveland for a couple of seasons, steps in and will be the main target for the Cleveland defense, which has played horrendously on the road his season. Many of the playmakers responsible for the sensational early start are either on injured reserve or just a step or two shy of that status with nagging injuries.

Keenum is more efficient when he works from sideline to sideline, whereas Stroud is a north-south, gunslinging flamethrower. Keenum is excellent at taking what the defense gives him. The deep secondary won't have to worry about him. Look for a more well-balanced Texans attack.

Keenum will throw primarily to wide receiver Nico Collins, who has banked a 1.000-yard season with six touchdowns, tight end Dalton Schultz, who checks in with 513 yards and five scores, and the wide receiver tandem of Noah Brown and Robert Woods, who have filled in nicely after rookie Tank Dell, who flashed for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games, broke a leg recently.

The Texans' ground game will be handled almost exclusively by Devin Singletary,  who has rushed for half of the team's 1,400 infantry yards. 

Defensively, the Texans are opportunistic with at least one takeaway in all but two of their games, 20 overall. And the offense has gifted teams just 12 times. (FYI: The much more generous Browns have distributed 30 of those gifts this season, including six in the last two games, both victories.)  

On offense, it has reached the point where head coach Kevin Stefanski, as the playcaller, all but abandoned the ground game in the last two games because his new patchwork offensive line was incapable of opening holes or creating creases through which running backs can prosper. 

But it protected Flacco well enough and long enough for him to throw for 212 of his 374 yards and two of his three touchdowns in the final quarter of the dramatic 20-17 victory over the Chicago Bears Sunday. And with center Ethan Pocic and left guard Joel Bitonio reportedly ready to return, that could change Sunday.

Factoring in the improbability of what the Browns have done on any given Sunday this season and the success the Texans have enjoyed at home, this one figures to be close for at least the first three quarters with neither team sustaining any momentum. It will be a battle of the defenses featuring a multitude of turnovers. In other words, it'll be quite ugly and yawningly boring. Coin flip time: Going with the home-field advantage like I did last week against the Bears. Make it:

Texans 24, Browns 23