Great stand by the Cleveland defence, which has been the worst in the league in the red zone (inside the 20-yard line) this season but holds out to force a field goal.

CJ Stroud tried a tricky inside hand-off and almost got intercepted, before a QB run then a pass to Robert Woods were both defended expertly.

CJ Stroud gets drilled but he hangs tough and throws a strike to Nico Collins just before he gets hit, and his top receiver hauls it in for a 38-yard gain that puts Houston on the three-yard line and knocking on the door.

The Cleveland Browns have already beaten the Houston Texans this season - 36-22 a few weeks ago on Christmas Eve when Joe Flacco carved them up like his Christmas turkey.

Flacco had 368 yards and three touchdowns, two of those to Amari Cooper who had a team record 265 receiving yards.

No sign of anything like that today so far as they have to punt it away for the second straight possession.

Image source, Getty Images

CJ Stroud is lucky not to throw just his sixth interception of the season when he tries to force a throw into double coverage.

The rookie not only led the league in passing yards per game but also had the best touchdown to interception ratio with a 23-5 mark.

That wasn't the best decision just now though, maybe a sign that even this calm young man is feeling the play-off nerves.

CJ Stroud hits Nico Collins for a gain of 21 on the second play for Houston, not bad, but not as good as the 75-yard strike they combined for last week. On their very first play.

Cleveland going nowhere fast against a fired-up Houston defence, with the crowd at NRG Stadium really into it early on.

Flacco's good, but he's not exactly mobile and he's forced to dump a short pass off for a loss on third down and Cleveland punt it away.

CJ Stroud is up next....

Joe Flacco did not have a team a few months ago, but the 38-year-old has gone from the couch to the play-offs - and has done it in style.

See how he fired Cleveland into the play-offs.

Image source, Reuters

After his blockbuster trade from the Houston Texans, quarterback Deshaun Watson was suspended for the start of the 2022 season and his current campaign was disrupted by injury.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson and PJ Walker had to fill in before Watson was ruled out for good, forcing the Browns to bring in veteran free agent Joe Flacco.

Yet they continued to rack up the wins, finishing with an 11-6 record and being the only team this season to beat the top seed in each Conference - the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.

Flacco won four of his five games as starter as the Browns became the first team to play five starting quarterbacks in the same season and still reach the play-offs. It's just their second appearance in the post-season in 21 years having reached the divisional round at the end of the 2020 season, Kevin Stefanski's first as coach.

We're underway in Houston, with the Browns having the ball first and Joe Flacco instantly getting a first down off a play-action pass.

Looks like the Texans fans are up for it today!

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Rookie CJ Stroud has been impressive all season - and is getting more praise tonight.

"He throws with confidence and that confidence is contagious. Coming from college and to be able to do this as a rookie is almost unheard of." - Phoebe Shecter, former Buffalo Bills coach, on Sky Sports.

"As a young guy and a top draft pick you have all this weight on your shoulders. You just have to dial in on what you need to do and all the negative talk falls by the wayside." - Ndamukong Suh, 2021 Super Bowl winner, on Sky Sports.

There is a vast difference in experience between the quarterbacks for this year's first play-off game as CJ Stroud was just six years old when Joe Flacco made his NFL debut for the Baltimore Ravens in 2008.

Flacco went on to lead the Ravens to Super Bowl victory in 2013 and is 18th on the all-time list for career passing yards.

Rookie Stroud has certainly made an impressive start to his NFL career though.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The Houston Texans are the surprise package in this season's play-offs. After claiming just three wins last season, they selected quarterback CJ Stroud with the second pick of the 2023 draft and made a big play by trading up to take pass rusher Will Anderson with the third.

The Texans then opened the season with defeat at Baltimore before Anthony Richardson, picked fourth overall by Indianapolis, won the early-season battle of the rookie quarterbacks.

But they were the only back-to-back defeats Houston suffered all season as Stroud and Anderson helped to transform the team's fortunes, with Stroud most impressive in their 39-37 win over Tampa Bay in November. He threw the winning touchdown with just six seconds left, which saw him finish the game with 470 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Texans ultimately ended the season with a 10-7 record to win the AFC South title for the first time in four years.

Image source, Getty Images

CJ Stroud and DeMeco Ryans are the first rookie quarterback and rookie head coach combination to win their division in the Super Bowl era.

They've both taken it in their stride and both seem like they'll take this in their stride, but you never know what appearing in your first play-off game will do to you though.

It's going to be cold in Kansas tonight and it will be cold too in Buffalo tomorrow, where they are expecting as much as three feet of snow.

That means Sunday's play-off match between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers has been postponed and rescheduled for Monday because of forecast snow storms.

The game will kick off now at 21:30 GMT on Monday and you'll be able to follow live text coverage on the BBC Sport website as part of a double header, along with the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

You may have heard but it's going to be cold in Kansas City tonight, historically cold!

Tonight will be just the fifth NFL play-off game to kick-off in sub-zero temperatures (in Fahrenheit) and one of the coldest ever at a bone chilling -20 degrees Celsius being forecast.

It's been described as "dangerously cold" by the National Weather Service and both fans and players are being advised to take special care.

It'll certainly be a shock for the Miami Dolphins, bit of a change from sunny south Florida.

Fixtures for wildcard weekend (away teams first, kick-offs in GMT)

• Cleveland Browns v Houston Texans (21:30 Saturday)
• Miami Dolphins v Kansas City Chiefs (01:00 Sunday)
• Green Bay Packers v Dallas Cowboys (21:30 Sunday)
• Los Angeles Rams v Detroit Lions (01:00 Monday)
• Pittsburgh Steelers v Buffalo Bills (21:30 Monday - rescheduled from Sunday)
• Philadelphia Eagles v Tampa Bay Buccaneers (01:15 Tuesday)

Image source, Getty Images

Here we go! Welcome gridiron fans to the serious stuff, it's the play-offs and win-or-go-home football.

Super Wildcard Weekend as it's now called will have six games this weekend, two tonight, Sunday and now Monday after Buffalo's game was moved due to a snow storm.

Tonight we kick-off with the Cleveland Browns at the Houston Texans with two teams turning things around from last season.

Then the champs are here - the Kansas City Chiefs host the Miami Dolphins in what will be one of the coldest games on record.

But while the weather will be cold the action should be red hot, so strap in as the race for the Super Bowl really kicks-off tonight.