Browns Defeat Texans 36-22 - Amari Cooper Sets Browns Record for Receiving Yards in Game

Alan Kornspan

Believeland Media

The Cleveland Browns defeated the Houston Texans, 36-22, on Sunday afternoon.

With the victory, the Browns move to 10-5 on the season with two games remaining.

Browns Dominant Through Three Quarters

The Cleveland Browns struck first.  

After a 36-yard kickoff return by Pierre Strong, the Browns scored on a 4-play 59-yard drive highlighted by a 53-yard pass from Joe Flacco to Amari Cooper.

With the Browns down to the Houston six yard line after Cooper’s catch, Jerome Ford then ran around the right side of the line for a 4-yard touchdown as the Browns took a 7-0 lead with 13:28 left in the first quarter.  

The Browns went up 14-0 when Joe Flacco again connected with Amari Cooper. 

This time, the duo connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass as the Browns took a 14-0 lead with 12:04 left in the second quarter.  

Houston made the score 14-7 when Dameon Pierce returned the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

With 4:16 left in the second quarter, the Browns scored again on a Flacco 22-yard touchdown to tight end David Njoku. For the game, Njoku caught six passes for 44 yards.

Leading 22-7 at halftime, the Browns extended the lead on their first possession of the second half.

The Browns drove 94 yards on 18 plays to take a 28-7 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter. The Browns scored when Flacco connected with Cooper for the touchdown.

The Browns added a touchdown and two point conversion with 12:31 left to go in the game to take a 36-7 lead.  The Browns scored the touchdown on a Kareem Hunt one yard touchdown run and the two point conversion on a pass from Joe Flacco to Amari Cooper.

With the game seemingly over after the Browns took a 36-7 lead, the Texans made a game of it scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns to make the final score 36-22.

Flacco and Cooper with Huge Games

For the game, Joe Flacco was 25/40 for 370 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a 96.1 passer rating.

Amari Cooper set the Browns all-time record for receiving yards in a game with 265 yards.  For the game, Cooper caught two touchdown passes and had 11 receptions. 

On the ground, the Browns were led by Jerome Ford who had 25 yards, and Pierre Strong who had 22 yards.

The Browns will next face the New York Jets on Thursday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium.