AFC North watch: Browns routed by Texans in playoff opener

For Cincinnati Bengals fans, the NFL playoffs were going to be pretty interesting to watch for the simple fact all three other AFC North teams made the postseason.

First up on the schedule was the Cleveland Browns sporting the fifth seed and visiting the Houston Texans on Saturday night.

That trip to the playoffs turned into a disaster for the Joe Flacco-led Browns, though, a 45-14 rout in which the team’s turnover and injury woes caught up in one big outburst.

There, Flacco threw a pair of pick-sixes and the Browns defense coughed up three passing scores to C.J. Stroud, allowing 8.1 yards per play despite Houston having the ball for just over 24 minutes.

The loss sends the Browns to an offseason littered with questions about Deshaun Watson and the overall quarterback situation, plus a messy cap problem to resolve.

Bengals fans will naturally wonder if the Jake Browning-led team might’ve fared better. Regardless, Pittsburgh plays Monday afternoon in Buffalo and Baltimore sits on bye.