CLEVELAND, Ohio — Baker Mayfield thought Tyrod Taylor was “showing a little swag” on his 15-yard touchdown run in the second quarter when he slowed his gait from a run to a walk and then took a knee in the end zone in dramatic fashion.
“But he felt his hammy,’’ Mayfield said after the Browns’ 31-21 victory over the Texans in the home opener. “I was pretty shocked.”
The defense was lucky that Taylor had to shut it down at halftime, because he had their number. He might have gotten revenge on the team that gave his starting job to Mayfield in 2018.
In the first half, Taylor looked like the dangerous quarterback he’s been trying to prove to everyone that he still is. If not for a muffed punt by receiver Andre Roberts after the Browns’ opening drive, they may have led at the half instead of being tied 14-14.
That’s how good Taylor was, and how powerless the Browns were to stop him. By the half, he completed 10 of 11 attempts for 125 yards with one TD pass and no interceptions for a 144.3 rating. He outran Myles Garrett on the second-quarter scramble to put the Texans up 14-7.
“I must have took a lot out of him when I tried to chase him down,’’ Garrett kidded.
But Taylor’s play and the Browns’ lackluster first-half performance were no joke — Houston converted four of six first-half third downs in the first 30 minutes. Perhaps most disturbing was their two best defensive players — Garrett and Denzel Ward — didn’t have the Pro Bowl-type impact that’s expected every week.
Taylor, who went 6-for-6 for 84 yards including a 22-yard screen pass to Phillip Lindsay on his opening drive, targeted Ward three times on that march. Ward surrendered passes to three receivers, including a 32-yarder to Nico Collins on the opening play. It was a very un-Ward like start, and he wound up with nary a breakup.
As for Garrett, he was denied a sack of either the mobile Taylor or replacement Davis Mills, the rookie from Stanford. Taylor released the ball so quickly that Garrett, oft-chipped or doubled, didn’t have much of a chance to get home. Through two games, he has one sack. Texans’ coach David Culley had a good gameplan that caught the Browns off guard.
“Just passing early on like that,’’ Garrett said. “We weren’t expecting them to throw the ball so early on. … I’m trying to keep contain and rush the passer, but I’m pretty much stuck inside.
“It was just a little bit different from what we were game-planning for. We expected them to try and run the ball and impose their will. … It was just a different timing of things. Once we caught that rhythm and we had the play-calling on point for us, we were able to do what we needed to do to get off the field.’’
They got off the field, in part, because Taylor wasn’t on it. Mills, taking his first pro snaps, completed only eight of 18 attempts for 102 yards with one TD and one INT for a 58.1 rating. But even he took it to the Browns on a 16-play, 75-yard scoring drive that cut the deficit to 24-21 early in the fourth quarter — way too close for a Texans team that was 4-12 in 2020 and was down to its third-string quarterback.
On that epic march, the Texans converted four third downs — and Greg Newsome II was flagged 27 yards for pass interference — to make things too tense in a game in which the Browns were favored by 13 1/2 — their largest margin since returning in 1999. All told, they allowed seven third down conversions out of 13.
The defense had a few highlights, including Malcolm Smith’s second-half interception, a handful of encouraging plays by Grant Delpit in his debut, and only 82 rushing yards allowed. But it wasn’t the dominant performance expected from a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
It didn’t help that the Browns are without middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. for a minimum of three games. Walker’s in-game leadership was missed, especially with so many new faces in the unit. With Walker injuring his hamstring on Friday, the Browns didn’t have much time to adjust.
The overhauled defense, which didn’t practice much together in camp because of injuries, will need time to jell, and should play better as the season develops. But by the time Garrett sat down for his post-game press conference, fans were abuzz on social media with criticism of the defense and coordinator Joe Woods.
“It’s on both of us,’’ Garrett said. “We’ve got to play to the best of our ability, whatever calls that he gives us. If we don’t make the play, that’s not only on him, that’s on all of us. You can put the blame on every single one that’s on the field, all 11 of us, and him as well. We’re a team and we’re in this together.”
If Taylor had been in there in the second half, the Browns might be 0-2 and wondering what hit them.
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