Houston Texans: Week 13 matchup vs. Browns a glimpse into NFL’s future
The 2018 NFL regular season is coming down the home stretch, and the future of the league is starting to roughly take shape. Week 13’s matchup between the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns could give a glimpse into the future.
The future is often a pretty grey area, and at the very best, it is often a foggy picture of what might come to pass. Especially in the world of sports, where careers, success, and failure are all so fleeting, any notion we have of the future can shift on a dime.
And yet, Week 13’s matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans may be one of the best glimpses into the NFL’s future we get this season.
On the basis of an eight-game winning streak, the Texans are red-hot and one of the most confident teams in the NFL. The Browns, too, are owners of a winning streak. With two-straight over the Falcons and the divisional rival Bengals, Cleveland has also been feeling pretty dangerous over the last month.
At its heart, this game could possibly be the start of a rivalry between the Texans and Browns. Though outside of the others’ divisions, both teams look to be on the mend. They could feasibly win their divisions in the coming years, and because of that, be scheduled to play each other.
When talking about matchups, this game has it all. But the real money match here is Deshaun Watson dueling against Baker Mayfield. The two young quarterbacks are the driving forces behind their respective team’s success, and both are only getting better as the season moves along.
In his nine appearances this season, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is 4-5, and trending straight upward. It could easily be argued that, with the talent currently on their team, the Cleveland Browns are just a head coach away from a playoff push.
On the other side, Texans second-year quarterback Deshaun Watson started his 17th game in Week 12 against the Tennessee Titans, and brought his record as a quarterback to 11-6. These two young gunslingers should, and likely will, be their teams’ guiding forces for the next decade and beyond.
Outside of that, Week 13’s matchup will feature more than one elite pass rusher. The Texans’ J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney will mirror Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah. Two fantastic, turnover-happy defenses will collide this week, as the Browns hope to contain DeAndre Hopkins, and the Texans take on rookie running back Nick Chubb.
Next. 2018 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 13. dark
All in all, this should be a tremendous game between two of the AFC’s rising divisional powers. After the epic display by the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams, we already have some insight on the NFL’s future. Though not as glamorous, Week 13’s bout between the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns may give us another piece to that puzzle.