Texans vs. Browns Week 10 picks: Cleveland being treated like an afterthought

The Cleveland Browns take on the Houston Texans this Sunday. The Browns are 3-0 at home this year, but after having lost two straight games, they are being treated like an afterthought this week. As you can see in the national picks below, not a single person is picking the Browns at home.

Here is what the national media is saying about the Week 10 game between the Browns and Texans:

NFL.com (Various)

Why Brooke picked the Texans: Even sitting at 3-5, the Texans appear to be full steam ahead toward a playoff berth with the way their offense is playing and defense is improving. C.J. Stroud has Nick Caley's unit absolutely humming now that most of his main targets are healthy. The real key to that success isNico Collins. In the 257 snaps Collins has played this season, the Texans have averaged 8.2 yards per passing play, more than the 49ers' league-leading 7.9. He could be stalled when matched up against cornerback Denzel Ward, who's allowing 0.5 yards per coverage snap, fifth-fewest among cornerbacks (min. 150 coverage snaps). That duel is sure to be dogfight Sunday, but no matter, as I have faith in Stroud's other weapons (Tank Dell, Marvin Harrison Jr., Kayshon Boutte and Xavier Hutchinson) to get it done. Houston's lone offensive weakness matches up nicely against the Browns' permeable run defense. Getting Deshaun Watson back is a boost for Cleveland, but even with him, the Browns have struggled to put together a full game, instead relying on a few big plays each week from their young stars. An all-around performance is exactly what the Browns must have to beat the current version of DeMeco Ryans' team. Thus, Cleveland will fall short of improving to 4-0 at home for the first time since the 1963 campaign, when Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing and scrimmage yards in a 14-game season.

CBS Sports (Pete Prisco) - Texans 21, Browns 20

This is a big game for both teams in terms of the playoff picture. The Texans looked dominant against the Chargers last week, but this is a second straight road game. It won't matter. Their defensive front will dominate whoever plays quarterback for the Browns. But the Cleveland defense will keep them in it.

CBS Sports (John Breech) - Texans 24, Browns 16

Anyway, this genuinely does feel like a game that's going to boil down to Watson vs. the Texans. Watson has been sacked more times than any other QB in the NFL this year (33), and he'll be facing a defense that leads the NFL in sacks (29). That's a recipe for disaster. There have only been three games all season where a QB has been sacked at least eight times: Two of them were Deshaun Watson (vs. Jets in Week 5 and vs. Steelers in Week 8) and the other one happened on Sunday with the Texans sacking Justin Herbert eight times.

Sporting News (Vinnie Iyer) - Texans 20, Browns 17

The Texans hope to sneak back into the playoff picture and their defense got back to making big plays in Los Angeles after the bye. Cleveland's defense will get a break as Houston is one-dimensional out of necessity, but in the end, old Texans friend Deshaun Watson will be outdueled by red-hot C.J. Stroud.

Sporting News (Bill Bender) - Texans 22, Browns 19

Shedeur Sanders had 297 passing yards and two TDs in his first start of the season, and that might be enough to keep that in a home start against the Texans. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud is coming off a 384-yard, five-TD performance against the Chargers. The Browns' early-season shine is wearing off, but they are 4-0 ATS as an underdog of seven points or less. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who has 25 tackles the last two weeks, helps Cleveland stick around at home.

Below are our Week 10 NFL staff picks: