Best Player Props for Browns vs Texans: Back Flacco for Multiple Touchdown Tosses and Collins & Cooper to Rack Up Yards

Where the college football season ended on Monday night is where the NFL playoffs will begin this afternoon, as the AFC South champion Houston Texans will play host to the Cleveland Browns to kick off Super Wild Card Weekend (4:30 pm ET, NBC).

It’s a matchup few would have expected to see at the start of the season, but every NFL season features a major surprise or three, and these two teams are two of the biggest such surprises.

After going 11-38-1 over the past three seasons under four different coaches and five different starting quarterbacks, the Texans (10-7) have returned to prominence in year one with head coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud, the presumptive NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. With a 23-19 win at Indianapolis last Saturday night, the Texans clinched their first playoff berth since 2019, and the Tennessee Titans’ 28-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday handed Houston the AFC South title, the #4 seed in the AFC, and the seventh home playoff game in franchise history.

Check Out Our Browns vs Texans Preview

• Cleveland Browns vs Houston Texans Preview, Prediction, and Best Bets (by Devon Platana)

The Browns (11-6) were the best of the non-division winners in the AFC, earning the #5 seed over the Miami Dolphins by virtue of having a better record in conference games.

That they did so after having their starting quarterback for only six games this season and having to turn to free agent Joe Flacco, who will turn 39 on Tuesday, makes their achievement all the more notable, especially considering they were able to come in second in the only NFL division in which all four teams finished over .500.

Flacco went 7-19 as a starter from 2018 to 2022 with the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, and New York Jets, but he went 4-1 in five starts to help the Browns lock up a playoff berth with a week to spare.

One of those four wins came at Houston in Week 16, a 36-22 victory on Christmas Eve. The Browns were favored in that matchup, and they are favored in the rematch.

The NFL playoffs are one of the most wonderful times of the year for sports bettors, whether you are into spread and moneyline betting, over/under betting, betting on props, or futures bets.

You can find a Browns vs Texans over/under pick in the excellent in-depth piece linked above, but in this space, we’re going to dive a little deeper into the best player prop bets for the matchup between Cleveland and Houston.

Best Player Prop Bets for Browns vs Texans

All picks listed below are courtesy of BetOnline unless otherwise noted. Bet these plays there and get a 100% BONUS on your first cryptocurrency deposit.

Joe Flacco (Cleveland Browns) Over 1.5 Touchdown Passes (-114)

While the success that Flacco and the Browns have had since he entered the starting lineup in Week 13, the return of the “Is Joe Flacco elite?” meme is arguably the best thing about his reemergence into the NFC spotlight, at least for those who have been following the NFL since at least the height of Flacco’s 11-season run with the Ravens.

Is he elite? That debate may last long after this run with the Browns is done, but Cleveland would not be in this position without him. After all, they went 2-4 in games not started by Flacco and their franchise quarterback, who went down for the season in Week 10.

In his five starts, Flacco averaged 323.2 passing yards per game and threw 13 touchdown passes, which would have equated to 5,494 yards and 44 touchdown passes over a 17-game season.

That includes 368 yards and three touchdown passes in the Week 16 win at NRG Stadium. Will he put up big numbers again today?

The signs certainly point favorably to multiple touchdown passes. Along with having two or more touchdown tosses in each of his starts with the Browns, he has thrown for two or more scores in each of his last eight playoff starts since beginning his career by doing so just once in seven starts.

His most recent playoff start may have been on January 10, 2015, but since he has been channeling the player he was at that point in his career, that’s all the more reason to feel good about this play.

Amari Cooper (Cleveland Browns) Over 77.5 Receiving Yards (-126)

Houston’s defense may still be having nightmares about what happened when they went up against Cooper on Christmas Eve.

Cooper was targeted 15 times, and he hauled in 11 of those targets for 265 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder in the second quarter.

Cooper also sustained a heel injury in the game and didn’t play in the final two regular season games, but he will be back for today’s matchup with the Texans.

Surely the Texans will defend him differently than they did in the first matchup, in which Houston’s zone coverage was ineffective, to say the least.

But even if they come up with a better plan, he was one of Flacco’s favorite targets in their three games together. He was targeted 37 times and recorded 22 catches for 451 yards (20.5 YPC) and three touchdowns.

Nico Collins (Houston Texans) Over 75.5 Receiving Yards (-121)

Against the Browns in Week 16, Collins had only four catches for 18 yards, but Stroud was out with a concussion and Collins was returning to action after suffering a calf injury against the Jets in Week 14.

But in ten games against AFC opposition this season, Collins had seven touchdown catches and averaged 5.9 receptions per game and 102.9 receiving yards per game, and he had seven touchdown catches and averaged 6.1 receptions per game and 100.7 receiving yards per game in nine home games.

Of his eight games with 76 or more receiving yards, six were at home. The only two that were not bookended the season, a six-catch, 80-yard performance against the Ravens to open the season and a career-best nine-catch, 195-yard showing against the Colts in the regular season finale.

Where to Bet on Browns vs Texans

Many of the top online sports betting sites offer a wide variety of NFL betting odds throughout the season.

In addition to being able to bet on Super Bowl point spread and over/under betting odds when the big game arrives, you can make weekly NFL betting picks on games all season long.

Also, you can bet on NFL MVP odds, Offensive Player of the Year odds, and NFL Defensive Player of the Year odds, and odds on the other major awards at most reputable sports betting sites.

There are plenty of online sportsbooks you can choose from that are good for wagering on the National Football League, but here are several books that we have reviewed and highly recommend:

• BetDSI
• BetOnline
• BetUS
• Bookmaker
• Bovada
• MyBookie
• Sportsbetting.ag

If you don’t have an account at a book on this list, check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds.

Looking to learn more about the ins and outs of betting on the NFL? Check out our NFL betting guide.