Virtuoso time

To classify the latest Joe Flacco-Amari Cooper performance on a football field as virtuoso would be an understatement of gigantic proportions.

What these two outrageously talented veteran members of the Browns' offense accomplished Sunday in Houston was several steps beyond remarkable as they willed their team to a 36-22 victory over the Texans in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates.

In doing so, they lifted the Browns closer to an invitation to the postseason with two games remaining, including a Thursday night home date with the New York Jets on national television. Even at 10-5, seven different ways to clinch remain that are way too complicated to go over here.

They are so close now, it's almost inconceivable they won't make it. Too many other possibilities have to  come together perfectly in order to keep them out. But hopes rise significantly because the offense hasn't played this well in a long time and Flacco seems to be totally reinvigorated and rejuvenated..

It's been only four games since he joined the Browns, but the stats he has compiled would lead one to believe it has been much longer than that. The symbiotic relationship he has developed with Cooper has  helped produce three straight victories.

The quarterback, who will be 39 the middle of next month, has thrown for 1,257 yards (314 per game) and 10 touchdowns for an offense that was totally lost before he arrived, in addition to seven interceptions (two more Sunday).

He and Cooper combined for 11 receptions (on 15 targets) for the wide receiver's one-game club-record 265 yards and two touchdowns against a Texans defense that looked clueless. The so-called terrific Houston defensive front never dropped Flacco, who received better protection with Joel Bitonio and Ethan Pocic back after shaking off injuries. 

Can't remember the last time one man made this much of a difference to turn around a team headed in the wrong direction and with little hope when he arrived. Flacco has hoisted not just the offense on his shoulders, but the defense now seems much more motivated.

Before the Texans turned a 36-7 deficit into a closer game with consecutive touchdowns against mostly against backups, the Cleveland defense looked a lot like the one who played so well in the early stages of the season.

Only 75 yards of total offense in the first 30 minutes. Texans quarterback Case Keenum threw for just 40 yards. It was an unfair fight.

The only Houston points in the first half were scored off special teams with running back Dameon Pierce taking Dustin Hopkins' kickoff 98 yards following the second of Cooper's scores early in the second quarter. Other than that, the Cleveland defense smothered everything the Texans threw at them.

The coaching strategy of the game changed, though, after Hopkins pulled a hamstring while futilely chasing Pierce and couldn't kick. The man responsible for four game-winning kicks, the man who has missed only three field-goal attempts and the man who was perfect on eight kicks from 50+ yards this season was finished for the day.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski scrambled. At first it was two-point attempts after touchdowns with Dorian Thompson-Robinson. It became worse later when punter Corey Bojorquez went down with what was called a lower-body injury. Safety D'Anthony Bell kicked off a couple of times.

Everything changed strategically after the Texans were successful on an onsides kick and started moving the football better than they had all afternoon with little or no Cleveland resistance.

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had seen enough after Davis Mills, who had replaced Keenum, moved the Texans quickly on each possession, finishing with scoring throws to Nico Collins from five yards and tight end Andre Beck from a yard out.

Schwartz had seen enough this season to know something was in the early stages of ruining what looked las though it was going to be an easy victory and brought back the starters to settle things down. They probably didn't like working a little overtime, but it worked.

The biggest worry now is fixing the sudden problem with the kicking game, an area that has not caused any worry whatsoever this season. Bojorquez has been one of the league's best and most effective punters this season. And Hopkins has been, well, the Browns' most valuable player with his clutch kicking.

General Manager Andrew Berry probably experienced a fair amount of indigestion as he watched the victory from a suite in the stadium. It looks as though he can cross the offense off his to-do list. And the defense, with the exception of the brief letdown Sunday.

In his business, it seems, it's always something. Next up: The kicking game.