Baltimore Ravens offense could get revived against Texans
The Baltimore Ravens have a chance to get things right against a Houston Texans defense that just isn’t clicking:
The Baltimore Ravens offense has been problematic this season. There have been flashes that suggested that a functional offense was a possibility. The offense ran down the Miami Dolphins throat and strung together nice drives against the Oakland Raiders. The Texans have had their struggles on defense. It would be a good time for the Baltimore offense to figure somethings out.
The Texans defense has struggled this season and the scores in some of their losses show that. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Seattle Seahawks both dropped over 40 points on the Texans. Houston allowed 36 points against the New England Patriots and 33 against the Los Angeles Rams. It also can’t be forgotten that the Jacksonville Jaguars scored 29 in their destruction of the Texans.
While all of those teams have significantly more functional offenses than the Ravens, the troubles for Houston’s defense are eye-opening. The biggest problem with their defense are key injuries. Thy lost J.J. Watt for the season, and he’s arguably the best defensive player in football. The injury of Whitney Mercilus has also hampered their pass rush.
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The absence of those two players is felt heavily but the Texans secondary is the biggest problem. Houston allows 252.8 yards passing per game, which ranks 26th in the league. Without an elite pass rush the Texans secondary is something that can be exploited. The last time the Ravens had a night game in M&T Bank Stadium, they won 40-0. Hopefully the offense will come alive for the prime time spotlight.
The Ravens still have to do it:
The Green Bay Packers defense had been struggling and Joe Flacco and company didn’t have a great showing. They won, but that was largely due to the defense. The Ravens have not looked good on offense for most of the season. Even in their best showings, Marty Mornhinweg’s unit has had hiccups.
The Ravens strength is clearly running the football. The Texans have a top 10 defense against the run. Flacco has a tendency to throw careless interceptions and Houston has a respectable 10 picks on the year. If the purple and black play poorly, they will get a poor result. The Texans defense isn’t dominant but it is capable of making the Ravens pay for mistakes.
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We’ll see what happens, but the Ravens are a team trying to make the playoffs. If the Ravens want to have a shot to do anything of note, with the rest of the year, the offense has to start doing a fair amount of the work. This is a game in which the offense should be able to get things going. A decent showing at home against a 4-6 team is not a lot to ask for.