Preview: NFL Wild Card weekend

Saturday, 13 January
Cleveland Browns @ Houston Texans (2130)

When the Houston Texanshired DeMeco Ryans as their coach last January and drafted quarterback CJ Stroud with the second overall pick three months later, they were hoping that duo would someday lead the franchise to success.

Little did Houston know that "someday" would arrive much sooner than expected.

After securing a playoff berth for the first time since 2019, the Texans will look to keep exceeding expectations on Saturday when they face the visiting Cleveland Browns in an AFC wild card game.

Houston (10-7) beat the Indianapolis Colts 23-19 last Saturday to punch its ticket to the postseason, then secured the AFC South crown when the Tennessee Titans downed the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

While Ryans is proud of how far the Texans have come, he doesn't think his team's ceiling is a division title.

"Everybody's excited about it, happy about the division," Ryans said. "Congrats, now we have to move on, we have to continue to play football and go win games in the playoffs. That's what it's about."

Stroud had a remarkable freshman campaign, throwing for the third-most yards ever by a rookie (4,108) while tossing 23 touchdown passes against just five interceptions. He realizes he's just one piece of the puzzle, though.

"To be in my first season and make the play-offs, man, it's just been a heck of a year," Stroud said. "Words can't explain how proud I am of my team-mates, and without them, there's no meaning or no winning.

"It's just a blessing just to be able to be part of something special."

As Ryans and Stroud eagerly await the beginning of what they hope is a run of dominance for years to come, Cleveland quarterback Joe Flacco is preparing for what could very