Houston Texans’ head coach, DeMeco Ryans, wants to win Coach of the Year honors in his first season, just like Kevin Stefanski.
Rookie of the Year prospect C.J. Stroud wants to beat the Cleveland Browns’ Comeback Player of the Year candidate.
But Stefanski and Joe Flacco have some incredible streaks going as they enter their AFC Wild Card game.
As the BIGPLAY Cleveland Show podcast’s panel points out, those streaks extend beyond their 2023 accomplishments (via BIGPLAY Cleveland Show on Twitter).
Joe Flacco is 5-0 on Wild Card Weekend.
Kevin Stefanski is 10-0 against the AFC South.
We're feeling damn good about these Browns ⬇️ #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/hmUrOJGMLz
— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) January 11, 2024
Stefanski carries a 10-0 lifetime record as a head coach versus AFC South teams.
Flacco owns a 5-0 record all-time in NFL Wild Card games.
This season was the second time Stefanski’s Browns swept the AFC South during his tenure.
The first time was in his inaugural season of 2020 when he took home the NFL’s Coach of the Year honors.
One of the highlights of that season was Cleveland’s 48-37 upset over the Steelers in the Wild Card round.
Such an upset might tilt the 2023 Head Coach of the Year voting toward Houston’s rookie head coach.
But voting for the honor ends before kickoff of the Browns-Texans affair.
Stefanski’s Browns also beat the Texans in 2021 and 2022 despite finishing with losing records.
Flacco has never failed to win the first game of any of his six postseason appearances, but it hasn’t always been pretty.
In 2009, he beat the Patriots 33-14 while throwing just 10 passes, thanks to a big rushing attack and his defense.
Houston sacked Flacco 5 times in a divisional round game in 2011, but Flacco threw two touchdowns in a 20-13 win.
This is Flacco’s first postseason game since 2014, the longest space between appearances in NFL history.
NEXT: PFF Gives Myles Garrett Notable Honor For 2023 Season
