Ravens @ Houston Matchup Question

[march4superbowl]

I don't know a whole lot about the Texans other than they have Matt Shaub at QB., a pretty good defense with Mario Williams as a young leader, and a solid speacial teams unit. So I need some help, [i][size=2]what are the key match-ups in this game and who has the advantage in these match-ups?[/size] [/i] [color="#800080"]Ravens[/color] @ [color="#00BFFF"]Texans[/color]

[baer]

[url="http://www.nfl.com/videos"]http://www.nfl.com/videos[/url]

There is a teams tab. It starts on the Ravens. First video is a matchup overview.

Basically our defense should dominate, and our offense has to control the ball and not let Mario loose. We'll probably run a lot to counter the pass rush.

[ChiseBack(CB)]

Demeco Ryans would actually be the leader of the defense, he is a tackle monster and has been more productive than Mario Williams. They have a young defense and a weak secondary with only their CB1 being solid and now apparently they have no run d. On the offense Andre Johnson is a monster and Matt Schaub is a good QB, no real running game but its hard to tell because Steve Slaton is starting and he is a rookie.

Even though I made them sound mediocre they are a good team and would be playoff caliber if they were in a different division.

[PIG 20]

Gaither faced Mario Williams back in 2005 and held him in check for the entire game. Yes, I know that was 3 years ago but Mario was already slated to go 1 or 2 in the draft at that point. He was already a dominant force.

Fast foward 3 years and Mario is stronger and more knowledgeable of the NFL game. While Gaither is still learning the pace of the NFL. I think Gaither will definately have his hands full with him. But the Ravens should adjust by adding extra blockers to that side. Heap and Wilcox will probably spend more time blocking than they will be catching the ball.

In turn, Adam Terry will have his hands full so all we can hope is that our running game gets off to a fast start as it did last week. If it does, it should allow Flacco to have a little more time behind center to find his open recievers. I think Flacco just needs to keep it safe again. Just make the simple plays. If our running game is "stuffed" we could be the ones saying "Houston, we have a problem". One other thing though, big Willie Anderson should see some playing time in this game. He could make a big difference for our offense in this game.

As far as defense goes, the Texans are starting a rookie RB (Slayton). Enough said! They won't be able to run the ball. It will be up to Schaub and the defense to win this game for the Texans. Schaub will have to be on the mark the entire game. And with our starting secondary shutting down 2 pro bowl WR's and holding a pro bowl QB to his worst NFL game ever, it's going to be really tough for this offense to get a lot going.

I believe this game will be won on defense.

[macbrak]

If both teams play like last week its an definitely a win.

No matter what the O-line in gonna have to play Koopa patrol and knock Super Mario on his mushroom eating butt. This shouldn't be to difficult as the Steelers seemed to hold them off and Big Ben only wound up in the dirt twice with a pretty high completion rating. If ours plays to form set last week they should do at least the same.

If Joe doesn't make more passing plays I see this game decided by a defensive score or defensive shut out. However he narrowly missed blowing out the Bengals by a number of mistakes that weren't his (Heap, Stover, & Rice's--although Rice is less clear as no points were scored)

I think we can look forward to a series of nail biters until the offense takes it to the next level.

[PuRock]

[quote name='march4superbowl' post='65678' date='Sep 11 2008, 11:35 PM']I don't know a whole lot about the Texans other than they have Matt Shaub at QB., a pretty good defense with Mario Williams as a young leader, and a solid speacial teams unit. So I need some help, [i][size=2]what are the key match-ups in this game and who has the advantage in these match-ups?[/size] [/i] [color="#800080"]Ravens[/color] @ [color="#00BFFF"]Texans[/color][/quote]

I heard rumors on some of the sport talk stations that if Schaub struggles bad enough against our defense. The Texans might go to Sage Rosenfels on the bench. I don't know why they would do that, Schaub is better than Sage any day of the week.

Key Matchups:
Texans DE Mario Williams vs. Ravens LT Jared Gaither

Texans QB Matt Schaub vs Ravens S Ed Reed


Check this out, this is from the Houston Texans website:
Key Matchups: Quarterback Matt Schaub and wide receiver Andre Johnson taking advantage of a weak Ravens' secondary.
If this is what they think they are most definitley in for a loooong game.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='PuRock' post='65696' date='Sep 12 2008, 08:54 AM']I heard rumors on some of the sport talk stations that if Schaub struggles bad enough against our defense. The Texans might go to Sage Rosenfels on the bench. I don't know why they would do that, Schaub is better than Sage any day of the week.[/quote]

While I agree that Matt Schaub is a better QB, Sage Rosenfels [i]was [/i]4-1 as a starter last season, which accounted for half of the Texans' 8 wins. If you do the math, that's in stark contrast to Schaub's 4-7 record. Rosenfels might not be the more physically-gifted QB, but at least he won some games for them, so I'd be a little concerned...

[quote name='PuRock' post='65696' date='Sep 12 2008, 08:54 AM']Check this out, this is from the Houston Texans website:
Key Matchups: Quarterback Matt Schaub and wide receiver Andre Johnson taking advantage of a weak Ravens' secondary.
If this is what they think they are most definitley in for a loooong game.[/quote]

"Weak Ravens secondary," though? I don't think we need to do a roll-call to remind them of who's playing on this team...
.
.
.
...OK, no, I'll do it anyway.

Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, Fabian Washington, Corey Ivy, Jim Leonhard, Tim Zbikowski, Haruki Nakamura, Derrick Martin, Frank Walker, Evan Oglesby.

Of those 12 defensive backs, 8 have seen starts at one point or another in their career. Three of those players are Pro Bowlers, as well as one defensive player of the year (Reed) and three former candidates for defensive rookie of the year (McAlister, Reed, Landry).

If that's weak, then I wonder what that makes the Cleveland Browns' secondary...

([b]Don't[/b] say it...lol)

[FerrariFan87]

LOL "weak" secondary... amazing. Ask Carson Palmer and the rest of the Bungles how "weak" our secondary is

[PuRock]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' post='65698' date='Sep 12 2008, 09:13 AM']"Weak Ravens secondary," though? I don't think we need to do a roll-call to remind them of who's playing on this team...

Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, Fabian Washington, Corey Ivy, Jim Leonhard, Tim Zbikowski, Haruki Nakamura, Derrick Martin, Frank Walker, Evan Oglesby.

Of those 12 defensive backs, 8 have seen starts at one point or another in their career. Three of those players are Pro Bowlers, as well as one defensive player of the year (Reed) and three former candidates for defensive rookie of the year (McAlister, Reed, Landry).[/quote]

I'm fine with them thinking it. And I hope they base their game plan around it. But we will make them pay.

[PIG 20]

[quote name='PuRock' post='65696' date='Sep 12 2008, 08:54 AM']I heard rumors on some of the sport talk stations that if Schaub struggles bad enough against our defense. The Texans might go to Sage Rosenfels on the bench. I don't know why they would do that, Schaub is better than Sage any day of the week.

Key Matchups:
Texans DE Mario Williams vs. Ravens LT Jared Gaither

Texans QB Matt Schaub vs Ravens S Ed Reed


Check this out, this is from the Houston Texans website:
Key Matchups: Quarterback Matt Schaub and wide receiver Andre Johnson taking advantage of a weak Ravens' secondary.
If this is what they think they are most definitley in for a loooong game.[/quote]

I would say that if we were playing the Texans last season, then yes, we would have a weak secondary.

So far this year, not the case. Not to mention the pressure that the defensive line is going to bring. And the fact that they WILL NOT be able to run the ball on this defense. Especially since Kelly Gregg is probably coming back for this game.

And to tell you the truth, I don't know where Matt Schaub gets all this credit from. He had 9 TD's, 9 INT's and 7 fumbles (3 of which were lost) in 11 games last season. So far this season he has 1 TD, 2 INT's, and 1 lost fumble. Not to mention that he was sacked 5 times in one game so far this season. And I would argue that we have a stronger defense than even Pittsburgh.

Where is the threat here? They can't run and their QB is average at best. We just have to hope that Joe can manage the game once again. If so, we should be 2-0.

[PuRock]

[quote name='PIG 20' post='65702' date='Sep 12 2008, 09:26 AM']And to tell you the truth, I don't know where Matt Schaub gets all this credit from.[/quote]

He gets it from Andre Johnson. Schaub should be cutting royalty checks to Andre. Andre when healthy is an elite WR.

[PIG 20]

[quote name='PuRock' post='65703' date='Sep 12 2008, 09:28 AM']He gets it from Andre Johnson. Schaub should be cutting royalty checks to Andre. Andre when healthy is an elite WR.[/quote]

Yeah. But I'm kinda taking him out of the equation. We held 2 pro bowl wideouts in check not to mention that their QB is actually a viable threat.

[PuRock]

[quote name='PIG 20' post='65706' date='Sep 12 2008, 09:34 AM']Yeah. But I'm kinda taking him out of the equation. We held 2 pro bowl wideouts in check not to mention that their QB is actually a viable threat.[/quote]

It will definitley be interesting to see if the Bengals get back on track in Game 2. Or if they are just horrendous, they didn't look like the Bengals we normally face. The other side of the equation, was our defense great? or were the Bengals just that horrendous again. I believe it was a little bit of both.

Week 2 should start seeing facts to the Trends. It's just so hard to assess situations after one game. As a fan I do not want to go into a game thinking we Dominated Chad Johnson & TJ Housh, but then get burned by Andre Johnson. And watch the Bengals struggle mightly again.

[PuRock]

Here is the Houston Texans website's Game Preview, it has a lot of stuff to infuriate us.

[url="http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4395"]http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4395[/url]

[i]Vandermeer

[BloodRaven]

Jared Gaither vs Super Mario should be awesome. I really hope Gaither doesnt get mauled.

[FerrariFan87]

The Texans are talking A LOT of smack considering they got steamrolled last week, wow. The biggest match-ups for us will clearly be Gaither v. Super Mario (Gaither won that battle in college when he was at MD and Mario was at NC State) and C-Mac (and Reed, probably) on Andre Johnson. Oh, and our D-Line vs. their O-line... I like our chances in all 3 match-ups

[PIG 20]

[quote name='PuRock' post='65709' date='Sep 12 2008, 09:56 AM']Here is the Houston Texans website's Game Preview, it has a lot of stuff to infuriate us.

[url="http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4395"]http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4395[/url]

[i]Vandermeer

[b-morebrotha]

[quote name='PuRock' post='65708' date='Sep 12 2008, 08:50 AM']It will definitley be interesting to see if the Bengals get back on track in Game 2. Or if they are just horrendous, they didn't look like the Bengals we normally face. The other side of the equation, was our defense great? or were the Bengals just that horrendous again. I believe it was a little bit of both.

I dont think there horrific I think we came in in better shape, thanks to camp hardball and there big 3 haven't been together all off season so there not clicking yet. Plus i'm suspecting that they were expectin to see the same ol' ravens, but were completly different now. They didn't know what hit em or how to hit back. The next time we see them if will be a harder fought game im sure.

Week 2 should start seeing facts to the Trends. It's just so hard to assess situations after one game. As a fan I do not want to go into a game thinking we Dominated Chad Johnson & TJ Housh, but then get burned by Andre Johnson. And watch the Bengals struggle mightly again.[/quote]


[quote name='PuRock' post='65709' date='Sep 12 2008, 08:56 AM']Here is the Houston Texans website's Game Preview, it has a lot of stuff to infuriate us.

[url="http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4395"]http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4395[/url]

[i]Vandermeer

[Raven07]

i personally think that the Big Match-up/focus on both sides of the field, is on Offense, at the quarterback position, and the attention will be directed at Flacco to see if he can handle this type of situation, and continue to lead his team in the right direction week after week. I think the Big Question with Flacco right now is "how will he respond to a vistor team's crowd, can he handle the pressure, can he continue to make those plays and aviod the turnovers" i think when we saw him last week in the Opening Day win aganist the Bengals, he had the home crowd playing towards his advantage, now his in foreign territory and so i think the big question for us right now is "can flacco do it, can he keep it going, can he stay clam and poised like last week?" if he can do those things, while making those smart decisive decisions, then more power to him! and lets hope he drives this team down the field time and time again.

i think another question in this game is the defense's ability to apply the necessary pressure on Texans Quarterback Matt Shaub, If we can retain the same (if not more) pressure as we had last week with Palmer, then its more than likely that our defense will be able to handle whats thrown at them in terms of opposition/yardage. i think that despite not having the home field advantage that the Texans have this week, our defense has played in these types of circumstances time and time again, so its really nothing new for them. Besides, If our defense can apply enough pressure on shaub and force him into throwing interceptions and over/under throwing passes, then i strongly believe only then will the Crowd be dulled to a low hum, barely heard over the roar of fellow teammates.


another Match up that is seemingly interesting to me is seeing whether or not this Flacco-Mason Connection will continue make plays on the field as it had last week. from watching the Game Film/highlights of last weeks game, it became more and more apparent that Flacco had/has developed a strong on the field relationship with Mason, and it became known (at least to me) at how much Mason is and continue to be, a big factor in us moving the ball downfield. I would expect the same thing to kinda happen again this week and i think Flacco see's reassurance with throwing the ball to Mason seeing how he catches almost everything theown in his direction, he is a continual play-maker and one of our guys that im sure will have a big productive year this season.

Yet another match up that is intriguing to me this week is our Secondary going up against Andre Johnson and his fellow recieving teammates out there, can they stop them throughout the course of the game...especially johnson...can theymake the plays necessary in order to shut down the Texans reciveing core and force them to look elsewhere for offensive production. and most importantly, can our secondary (Reed, McCalister, Rolle, and Landry) shut the opposition's recieving core down enough for Shaub to start trying to make plays on his own and eventually force him into making mistakes..... thats the big question i think here.

And the last Match-up i will be looking at during week 2's match up with the Texans, will be our Run-stopping ability of our defense, can they continue to fill the gaps, and seal up the holes before the they get into the open field or better yet, before they even hit the hole. Can they put forth as stout of an defensive effort as last week? we certainly have the potential to do jus that, but the main question here is whether or not they can do it as effectively.

[b][u]Match ups this week[/u][/b]
1.[b]Joe Flacco[/b] vs. a [b]Vistors Home Crowd[/b] as well [b]opposing defense[/b], can he get it done through the air
2. [b]Ravens Defense[/b] vs. Texans Quarterback [b]Matt Shaub[/b]
3.[b]Flacco-Mason Connection[/b] vs. [b]opposing defense[/b]
4. [b]Ravens Secondary[/b] vs. [b]Andre Johnson[/b] and the texans recieving core
5. [b]Ravens Run Defense[/b] vs. [b]Texans Running attack[/b]

those are the big key match-ups (summed up in a nut shell) of what i'll be looking at this week in Week 2.

[I*Bleed*Purple]

[quote name='Raven07' post='65747' date='Sep 12 2008, 11:44 AM']i personally think that the Big Match-up/focus on both sides of the field, is on Offense, at the quarterback position, and the attention will be directed at Flacco to see if he can handle this type of situation, and continue to lead his team in the right direction week after week. I think the Big Question with Flacco right now is "how will he respond to a vistor team's crowd, can he handle the pressure, can he continue to make those plays and aviod the turnovers" i think when we saw him last week in the Opening Day win aganist the Bengals, he had the home crowd playing towards his advantage, now his in foreign terroritory and so i think the big question for us right now is "can flacco do it, can he keep it going, can he stay clam and poised like last week?" if he can do those things, while making those smart decisive decisions, then more power to him! and lets hope he drives this team down the field time and time again.

i think another question in this game is the defense's ability to apply the necessary pressure on Texans Quarterback Matt Shaub, If we can retain the same (if not more) pressure as we had last week with Palmer, then its more than likely that our defense will be able to handle whats thrown at them in terms of opposition/yardage. i think that despite not having the home field advantage that the Texans have this week, our defense has played in these types of circumstances time and time again, so its really nothing new for them. Besides, If our defense can apply enough pressure on shaub and force him into throwing interceptions and over/under throwing passes, then i strongly believe only then will the Crowd be dulled to a low hum, barely heard over the roar of fellow teammates.


another Match up that is seemingly interesting to me is seeing whether or not this Flacco-Mason Connection will continue make plays on the field as it had last week. from watching the Game Film/highlights of last weeks game, it became more and more apparent that Flacco had/has developed a strong on the field relationship with Mason, and it became known (at least to me) at how much Mason is and continue to be, a big factor in us moving the ball downfield. I would expect the same thing to kinda happen again this week and i think Flacco see's reassurance with throwing the ball to Mason seeing how he catches almost everything theown in his direction, he is a continual play-maker and one of our guys that im sure will have a big productive year this season.

Yet another match up that is intriguing to me this week is our Secondary going up against Andre Johnson and his fellow recieving teammates out there, can they stop them throughout the course of the game...especially johnson...can theymake the plays necessary in order to shut down the Texans reciveing core and force them to look elsewhere for offensive production. and most importantly, can our secondary (Reed, McCalister, Rolle, and Landry) shut the opposition's recieving core down enough for Shaub to start trying to make plays on his own and eventually force him into making mistakes..... thats the big question i think here.

And the last Match-up i will be looking at during week 2's match up with the Texans, will be our Run-stopping ability of our defense, can they continue to fill the gaps, and seal up the holes before the they get into the open field or better yet, before they even hit the hole. Can they put forth as stout of an defensive effort as last week? we certainly have the potential to do jus that, but the main question here is whether or not they can do it as effectively.

[b][u]Match ups this week[/u][/b]
1.[b]Joe Flacco[/b] vs. a [b]Vistors Home Crowd[/b] as well [b]opposing defense[/b], can he get it done through the air
2. [b]Ravens Defense[/b] vs. Texans Quarterback [b]Matt Shaub[/b]
3.[b]Flacco-Mason Connection[/b] vs. [b]opposing defense[/b]
4. [b]Ravens Secondary[/b] vs. [b]Andre Johnson[/b] and the texans recieving core
5. [b]Ravens Run Defense[/b] vs. [b]Texans Running attack[/b]

those are the big key match-ups (summed up in a nut shell) of what i'll be looking at this week in Week 2.[/quote]


You seriously need to stop writing short stories. I'm sure I speak for alot of people when I say that I don't even read your posts anymore. First of all, they are rediculously long. And secondly, they are FULL of grammatical errors. Let's play a game. It's called "60 words or less".

[Raven07]

lets try and stay on-topic here please.

besides the Ravens are looking/like people whom post knowledgeable content, besides its the way i have always posted on this forum.

[I*Bleed*Purple]

[quote name='Raven07' post='65749' date='Sep 12 2008, 11:55 AM']lets try and stay on-topic here please.[/quote]
Good Job!!!

Still a couple errors, but I can deal with 'em.

[FerrariFan87]

Unfortunately for the Texans, even if Ike is gone by Sunday night or whenever, who knows in what state of mind their fans will be? Will they really want to watch football when their homes could be destroyed and/or damaged? It will be very interesting to see what the crowd looks like come Monday night.

[b-morebrotha]

[quote name='I*Bleed*Purple' post='65748' date='Sep 12 2008, 11:51 AM']You seriously need to stop writing short stories. I'm sure I speak for alot of people when I say that I don't even read your posts anymore. First of all, they are rediculously long. And secondly, they are FULL of grammatical errors. Let's play a game. It's called "60 words or less".[/quote]

FINALLY SOMETHING WE CAN AGREE ON.

Informative posts are good but man thats a essay.

Short sweet to the point.

[BirdWatcher]

Let's all quit critiquing each other's posts, please.

[rayvenfan_52]

[quote name='Moderator 3' post='65762' date='Sep 12 2008, 09:28 AM']Let's all quit critiquing each other's posts, please.[/quote]

NEVER!!! ..............................................

[Redreed]

:fiddles thumbs:

[Raven07]

seriously, everyone has their own way's of posting their posts, no one should be judging anyone by one's posts saying that "they're too long" and such, maybe some people like being detailed and were brought up with the way of "if you dont tell it all, dont tell it at all".... plus my passion and love for the Ravens has got to say something. so let people post their own way, no critiquing in a negative way, you dont have to read them if you dont want to thats your oppinion but thats besides the point.


lets stay on topic here.

[Redreed]

He's right, just skip him.

[bossman419]

[quote name='PuRock' post='65696' date='Sep 12 2008, 08:54 AM']Check this out, this is from the Houston Texans website:
Key Matchups: Quarterback Matt Schaub and wide receiver Andre Johnson taking advantage of a weak Ravens' secondary.
If this is what they think they are most definitley in for a loooong game.[/quote]i guess its opposite day in texas... if were weak then the nfl is lacking some decent safeties and corners