Ravens seem to be an up and down team so far this year...dominating performance against the Steelers followed by a complete meltdown against the Titans. Routed the Rams, but beat the Jets with a really poor offensive performance. The Texans are good enough to win, despite injuries. But like Pittsburgh and NO, this is one of those games where you ask yourself, can they finally overcome the hurdles and do what needs to be done and beat a contender? I like their chances, even if it's slim.
I also get the feeling that as the week goes on, we might start hearing rumblings of Andre playing. This game is important to us, not in the sense that it is our shot at the playoffs, but in the sense that it's the best team we play the rest of the way. A win against the Ravens would be a great way to amp up for the rest of the season. I think we show up for the big game. Ravens 20 Texans 28
Best of luck to you guys this week. Just to warn you: this is a NASTY Baltimore team, though. The obvious key to beating Baltimore is taking away their running game and forcing Joe Flacco to beat you. Ray Rice is above-and-beyond their best offensive player -- this is no secret. The problem is he's as good at catching balls out of the backfield as any RB in the league. Watch for the quick kick-outs. Flacco panics early and looks to dump the ball off if pressured. Lee Evans is surprisingly washed up at WR. You shouldn't have to double him at any point. Boldin is still dangerous (not so much down-the-field) but doesn't respond well to physical corner play (hell, ask him about Ike Taylor in the playoffs last year -ZERO catches). Todd Heap has essentially been replaced by this Ed Dickson dude. Keep an eye on him as the Ravens have so-so WR play, I'd expect to see Dickson targeted often. And just a head's up: Bryant McKinnie is still very good. Not sure how exactly the Ravens got him for the price they did but the dude is an absolute monster. Kicked James Harrison's ass in week one. Defensively, this should be interesting. Houston's stellar offensive line against the game's best nose tackle and arguably the best pass rusher (at least, IMO). Hell, Haloti Ngata is probably one of the most underrated players in football altogether. You'll need two guys to block him, and even then that might not be enough. Not surprisingly, nobody seems to be running the ball on Baltimore this year. The silver lining, though, is their secondary is unimpressive. Lardarious Webb is very physical but still has a lot to learn. Cary Williams is average. Tom Zbikowski is average. Ed Reed is still dangerous due to his ball hawking skills but his ability as a one-on-one defender is starting to show it's age. As is Ray Lewis'. My advice would be: try to spread the field and use the quick pass to get the offense moving. The Ravens will get PO'd that their pass rush isn't getting the time it needs to get penetration. Test their secondary -- as I mentioned, it's their biggest weakness. Throw to Owen Daniels early and often. Ray Lewis is still dangerous but more often than not he's the LB they use for covering TE's one-on-one. Daniels is a skilled route runner, use that to your advantage. Keep them honest with a steady dose of Arian Foster. Who knows, if you get them on their heels you might be able to score some modest yardage out of it. Overall, this should be a good game and one that I'll pay close attention to. Best of luck to you guys. A Houston win would be much appreciated from my standpoint! P.S. Milk the Derrick Mason thing for everything that it's worth!
I'm hoping we can run on Baltimore. Their defensive front is a LOT like the Steelers, whom we totally owned. They're either really old or really fat. Not good at handling a swift attack like the ZBS. The 4 teams the Ravens have faced have CRAP for running games, the Steelers, Titans (CJ's 3rd week on the team), Jets, and Rams. So I think Arian will do quite well. This game is a chance for our OL to redeem themselves, let's hope they take that opportunity. No way in hell can we keep Ngata, Cody, Redding, and Suggs off of Matt. We need to get them tired chasing after the flyin' Pterodactyl. Hopefully Mason can convert some key third downs, and maybe, just maybe, we can hit on some play action. If AJ isn't playing, it's going to be one hell of a task.
Nah, not really. Their run defense and pass rush is better. Pittsburgh's secondary and pass defense is better. The problem is the Steelers are running a 3-4 with washed up players. Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel aren't getting any push -- which is essentially why teams have been running on Pittsburgh. Their LB core is still as good as ever, but not much they can do whenever they're getting hit with second level blocks due to poor play in the trenches. Make no mistake about it: this will be a blood bath in the trenches for you guys. You have a very capable offensive line but Baltimore's front three or four are nasty. Clearly, something's gotta give here.
Is this sarcasm? If so, unnecessary. Just giving an unbiased opinion of a team that I am VERY familiar with.
No doubt Baltimore is more talented and young on the DL, but Pittsburgh's LB corp is better than Baltimore IMO. And the Texans completely owned them. The secondary is kind of a non-issue IMO, I'm actually relieved that Ed Reed won't be flying in like Troy Poplalaoopumu on blitzes. Plus, we get to see our old friend Bernard Pollard, whom we know can't cover for s**t. This game will be the Texans run D vs. the Baltimore run D. Winner take all. I maintain that the Ravens haven't seen a running game worth a damn yet, and they're going to be put back on their heels a bit by that.
After seeing the Oline get PWNED this last week against the Raiders and seeing the acquistion of Mason I am guessing there are going to be A LOT of quick passes to slot receivers for 5-15 yards this game. This should've been the strategy against the Raiders but having a mentally slow coach and knucklehead receiver in JJ prevented it. If the DLine it getting that much pressure consistent pressure on the Qb quick outs are the way to go.
Possibly. And hey, you never know. Just don't be afraid to throw the ball and utilize the quick pass. Their secondary and LB core (from a coverage standpoint) is either slow or unimpressive. It'll frustrate the hell out of them.
No doubt, that's why I'm giddy about Mason. That guy has quick slant written all over him. Jacoby 9 times out of 10 f***s that play up. Mason has it on lockdown. I'm also anxious to see Cushing vs. Rice, Brian has been playing very well lately. Our LB corp is far more athletic than the Ravens... and I hope it means we can contain Ray-Ray.
BAL, taking a lesson from OAK's win over HOU, plays ten players the whole game. BAL 24 HOU 18 (Rackers leg falls off with six FGs).
If Andre is healthy... if he's a no-go, they'll stack the line, bring Pollard in the box and dare Schaub to beat them 10-15+ yards down field. I think they're going to get bliztkrieged if Johnson is out. Hopefully, the defense plays well again, keeps it close, no one gets injured and we can turn the game on a TO or special teams break. My other issue - and this is why the Raiders' loss hurts so much - is I couldn't care less about beating Baltimore; but they absolutely, positively *have* to beat Tennessee the following week. Beat Oakland and you cruise in to Baltimore with AJ getting another week to recover and all focus on the Titans. So I hope they don't rush AJ, etc., and hurt their prospects against the Titans.
I wonder.... any chance we put the film on those final two drives last year and come out in hurry-up, shotgun, 4-wide the whole game? Baltimore was absolutely sucking wind and unable to stop us by the end. It would absolutely catch them off-guard and, I always maintain: Schaub, when he has to pass, pass, pass, it far more effective when he gets into a rythym.
Except for when it's the 3rd quarter recently... then it's, pass pass pass punt. I'm almost half-hoping that AJ suits up and goes out there as a half-speed decoy for the 1st half. We need to be tricky here, I think Arian will get his, but after they adjust, we're going to need another weapon to keep things rolling. Whether that is scheme or player, who knows, we just need it.
This would be a great win for the team, but then they might get comfortable and let up against the Titans. We have the players to compete with this team, I want to at least be competitive. I dont know if I can handle another last second loss like last week though, I almost rather take my whooping and be done at half time, than have my heart ripped from me like that Raiders game. So hopefully we just win!
