Joe Flacco’s storybook regular season found a postseason obstacle against the Texans defense.
The 38-year-old quarterback, who was signed to the Browns’ practice squad in November and went 4-1 as a starter to close the regular season, tossed consecutive pick-six interceptions late in the third quarter of their wild-card game against Houston.
Cleveland had already trailed the Texans by 10 behind C.J. Stroud’s strong postseason debut, but after the returns from Steven Nelson and Christian Harris, with the second occurring on a fourth down in the second drive, they trailed 38-14.
When the Browns’ next drive ended, Flacco had completed 27-of-37 passes for 269 yards, one touchdown and the two interceptions, but Cleveland hadn’t scored since Kareem Hunt’s touchdown reception gave them a 14-10 lead.
Flacco had thrown eight interceptions across his five regular-season starts when he stabilized the Browns’ quarterback situation as their fourth starter in 2023.
