ExtremeRavens Posted January 14 Posted January 14 HOUSTON — Joe Flacco and the Browns’ offense didn’t get the same gift from the Texans that they did on Christmas Eve — a defensive unit that was missing its two starting edge rushers and more starters. Their coach, DeMeco Ryans, was miffed he gave Flacco all day to throw in that 36-22 Browns victory and wasn’t about to let it happen again. With edge-rushers Jonathan Greenard (12 1/2 sacks on the season) and Will Anderson Jr. (seven sacks) coming off the edge — and with rookie C.J. Stroud slinging it to the tune of 274 yards and a rookie-record three touchdowns — it was a different ballgame for the Browns, and they got blown out 45-14 in the wild-card round to end their season at 11-7. It was a crushing end to the Flacco Fairytale that characterized the final five games of the regular season. Unfortunately for him and the Browns, it won’t end with his second trip to Disney World. “It’s always difficult, man, when you get to this time of the year,” said a subdued Flacco. “Usually the further you go, the more heartbreak there. It’s a lot of fun along the way, but if you do get beat, it’s hard to deal with. “I don’t want to let everybody in the locker room, but there is part of me that wishes you could see just how much everybody cares and how much everybody cares about each other and just what kind of team that was. It’s definitely a shame the way it went down and hard to deal with at the moment.” The hard part for Flacco (34 of 46, 307 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 80.6 rating, 4 sacks) is that he threw two pick-sixes in the third quarter that broke open a 38-14 lead for the Texans. Just before that, Flacco had completed a 16-yard pass to David Bell to the Texans 34, and they were almost in field goal range while trailing 24-14. But Flacco got hit by Derek Barnett, and his pass down the deep left side was picked off by safety Steve Nelson and returned 82 yards for a touchdown that made it 31-14 with 6:05 left in the third. “I was trying to throw it away,” Flacco said. “Taking it back, I could see the guy was getting pressure pretty quickly. I wish I would’ve just, I knew where Elijah [Moore] was going to be, so I knew I had a throwaway there. Looking back on it, I wish I threw it at like the lower guy’s feet. Kind of thought of that earlier or just took the sack, to be honest with you. But obviously when you look at things in hindsight.” Two minutes later, Flacco threw a short pass to the left to tight end Harrison Bryant, and on a fourth-and-2, and Christian Harris swiped it and returned it 36 for a touchdown that made it 38-14. The game was over at that point; the Texans tacked on an insurance score in the fourth quarter, a 19-yard touchdown run by Devin Singletary. “You never want to throw those,” Flacco said. “I do think you have to look at interceptions as a quarterback and as an offense, as a quarterback group. When you go back and watch the film, you have to look at ‘em for what they are. Are they bad decisions? Are they bad throws? Are they just happening because it was just something wild happened. “So I think you always have to address those. You don’t want to turn the ball over, but you do have to see some of the ways some of them have happened, it is what it is. “At the end of the day, you have to be able to live with sacks. And I think in that [first interception] drive, we’ve overcome a second and long from a holding and in the back of your head you just kind of like, ‘OK, we got over that one. Let’s not get back in that position.’ And you almost let your guard down a little bit. And like I said, I think you have to realize that sometimes sacks aren’t bad things.” The two picks were the ninth and 10th for Flacco in his six starts for the Browns, who gave it away more than any team in this NFL this season. During the year, the Browns were able to overcome the picks with big plays, and excellent defense. But Stroud was too hot for them to get away with interceptions in this instance, and they were dealbreakers in the game. “I don’t think there’s really much that needs to be said about it,” Flacco said. “When you’re driving down and you’re trying to get back to a one-score game and then all of a sudden it’s a three-score game or whatever it ends up being … The second one’s on fourth down, maybe you can, I thought I’d be able to jam one in there. And that’s just a calculated risk at that point. The first one is the one that, like I said, I was talking about [trying to throw it away].” Browns quarterback Joe Flacco, getting sacked by Texans outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. in the third quarter, threw two pick-sixes in the second half of Saturday’s 45-14 wild-card round playoff loss in Houston. (Carmen Mandato/Getty) No one would dare more blame the game on Flacco, who got the Browns to the dance in the first place with his 4-1 record after being out of football all season. As it was, he had the Browns ahead twice in the first half, firing passes of 45 yards to David Njoku and 47 to Harrison Bryant that led to two Kareem Hunt touchdowns. “It’s hard to reflect on all of it right this minute,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanaski said. “I appreciate how he battled today.” He acknowledged that the attack-minded Ryans did an excellent job bringing the heat and making it tough on Flacco. They had picked him off twice in the first meeting and were confident they could do it again. “They did a nice job pressuring,” Stefanski said. “We and I needed to do a better job putting those guys in position.” It didn’t help that the Browns couldn’t run the ball again against the sixth-ranked run defense and that Amari Cooper (4 of 5 for 59 yards) got banged up early on but fought through it. “He was battling,” Stefanski said. Flacco, who resurrected his stagnant career in Cleveland after no one called him in the first 10 weeks, acknowledged he’d be open to being back. Turning 39 on Tuesday, he will be free to sign with any team when his contract is up in March. The Browns will have Deshaun Watson back as their starter next season, but Flacco would be an excellent option as a backup. He’ll clean out his locker tomorrow, and no one knows if he’ll be back again. “I love it here and we’re dealing with so much right now, just going through the emotions of this game and being so excited to be in this position and now to come up empty,” he said. “So I think that’s where my head is, is just kind of trying to soak it all in and let this digest a little bit.” Flacco, who had the Browns up 7-3 and 14-10 in the first half, acknowledged that the experience was completely different than on Christmas Eve, when he wasn’t sacked once. He threw for 368 yards that game, and Cooper set the Browns record with 265 receiving yards. “Those guys were flying around today,” Flacco said. “It seemed like we were keeping up there a little bit, and it was a decent little fight for a quarter and a half. And really the first half, I mean 24-14, not that you’re asking for things, but that’s playoffs. It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to be in tough games where you have to battle to the end, and obviously we just came out in the second half and weren’t really able to put it together enough.” He acknowledged that the full-strength Texans defense at least on this day, was more than the Browns could handle. “They did what they do well,” he said. They seemed a little bit more aggressive. They seemed to be playing a little bit faster. Just basic things. They played with a little bit more confidence, a little bit more speed, a little bit more hunger. They just seemed to have a better day. The game got away from us obviously, and we all know why.” Flacco, one of 11 rookies in NFL history to win a playoff game, was impressed with Stroud, who has an arm that rivals Flacco’s and plenty of mobility to go with it. He managed to remain pick-free and threw only five in the regular season against 23 touchdowns. “He got the ball out and I thought he did a good job on a handful of throws that he had to make in those situations,” he said. “There was a couple plays where I did notice him kind of getting hit in the pocket and he was able to stand in there and do what he needed to do on those plays.” A former Super Bowl MVP, Flacco was the feel-good story of the season until the Texans spoiled the ending. It was supposed to include a storybook trip to Baltimore to try to beat his former team on the way to the Super Bowl. “I was so fortunate to become a part of this team,” he said. “It’s a special group, and I’m super grateful for it. This is why we love football. This is why we love NFL playoffs. It’s 14 really good football teams, and it’s one game. “Unfortunately for us, we were the loser, but that’s what we love about this game. You have to learn how to deal with it when you’re not the guy. It was a close group, so you can imagine how they’re taking it, but they’re going to hold their heads high because I know who they are.” No one who was at the Cleveland Browns Stadium for the playoff-clinching victory over the Jets on “Thursday Night Football” will ever forget the electrically charged atmosphere. For five weeks, Flacco had the Browns and their fans believing they could go all the way. “When the city embraces you and the team the way they have, you definitely want to do big things, mostly for your teammates because those guys, like I said, have been incredible, but it’s hard not to feel the way the city rallied around the group of guys in that locker room,” he said. “That’s another reason why we love the NFL. It’s the fans. And as crazy as they can be, it’s what makes the game. “It’s about getting these communities excited about their team. That’s what we like to do here. We love the NFL and we like to get excited about teams. So I can’t thank the organization, my teammates, the city enough. I mean, it stinks the way it ends, but it was a lot of fun and I’m grateful for the time that we had.” View the full article Quote
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