3 coaching advantages Baltimore Ravens hold over Houston Texans 

2. The Baltimore Ravens have familiarity with CJ Stroud

This is not quite coach-on-coach, but the Baltimore Ravens have a rare situation where they enter the game with more familiarity with C.J. Stoud than almost any other coaching staff. That is because both of their coordinators come from the college ranks, and both of them happened to play against CJ Stroud when he was in his last year of college. 

First, defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald, who hails from Michigan. In 2021, the Ohio State game was the biggest game on the schedule for MacDonald, and he worked all year to beat Stroud at the very end. He has scouted and prepared for him in ways that other coordinators have not. 

Then, there is Todd Monken. Monken was Georgia's offensive coordinator last year. That meant that he played against Stroud last year in the College Football Playoff. Stroud had a great game against Georgia, but at the same time, that meant that he heard the meetings and watched the tape of Stroud at college. He knows what Georgia coaches, some of the best college coaches, saw as his weakness. 

Both coordinators played him in college; you cannot say that about any other coaching staff this year. That is a pretty notable advantage.