Notes from NFL Kickoff Ravens can use against Texans, Chiefs

Last night the Baltimore Ravens saw their week two and week three opponents square off. Here are notes they can use after they take down the Cleveland Browns:

The Baltimore Ravens have an advantage that the schedule has given them. The NFL kickoff game featured the Ravens next two opponents after the Cleveland Browns. Early in the season and without preseason football, it’s a golden opportunity to look at what the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs look like in 2020.

With that in mind, here are a handful of first impressions I had on the 2020 Texans and the 2020 Chiefs.

Notes on the Texans:

• The first thing you notice about the Houston Texans (The Baltimore Ravens second opponent) is that they have a suspect offense. The offensive line got eaten alive by the Kansas City Chiefs, so far it hasn’t been an improved looking unit.
• Brandin Cooks played despite already dealing with injuries. Other than Will Fuller, the Texans didn’t seem to have much working for them in this offense. Maybe David Johnson could have been more impact if the Texans didn’t have to play catch up but the offense looked pedestrian.
• The Texans run defense looks bad right now. They got gashed and you would have to think that Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins can replicate the success of the Chiefs run game (more on that in a bit).
• To replicate the Chiefs’ success the Ravens will have to spread the football around the whole field. Three different Kansas City receivers have five receptions or more.
• It could be a good week two match up for Mark Andrews. The Texans had no answers for Travis Kelce.

Notes on the Kansas City Chiefs:

• Clyde Edwards-Hellaire is a good running back and he instantly brought balance to the Chiefs offensively. A rookie running back getting 25 carries in his debut from a pass happy Andy Reid, with an MVP quarterback? This is serious.
• The Chiefs are always a team that uses pre-snap motion a lot. Now that the run game is such a threat (unless the Texans are just that bad at stopping the run) the pre-snap motions will work evenly to set up passing and running plays.
• The Chiefs are the Chiefs. They look exactly like they looked last season. If they got off to a slow start because of the offseason rust, with no preseason, they once again were able to prove they can go from nothing to 150 miles per hour like it’s nothing.
• The Texans had to get away from the running game but David Johnson had early success. The Kansas City pass rush didn’t produce a lot of sacks but they were all over Deshaun Watson. Running the ball sounds better against them on Monday Night Football for the Ravens.
• L’Jarius Sneed was a fourth round pick for the Chiefs and he may end up being a breakout player for them. The Texans attacked him a lot in this game and he exceeded expectations and got an interception. Overall the Chiefs defense was very impressive.

The Bottom Line:

The Ravens probably faced a more difficult Texans team last season. The loss of DeAndre Hopkins (a voluntary loss) was obvious for Houston. If the Ravens defensive line gives the Browns trouble on Sunday, Deshaun Watson won’t be looking forward to his week two battle. The Chiefs offense looks amazing but their defense looking that strong (other than a late push from Houston) was the main takeaway. If the Chiefs play like that on defense every week, with that offense they are insanely hard to beat.

The Ravens will be playing a desperate Texans team, because they don’t want to go without a win through the first two weeks of the season. The Chiefs look better than ever so Baltimore has to up their game even above the bar the 14-2 season set last year. It should be an interesting three weeks of football. For now, the Ravens have to make the Browns their top and only priority.