Next up: Houston

[Ragin'Raven]

I will be at the game, and I'm sort of excited about being away from my kids. Don't call CPS. I just really am looking forward to having a date afternoon with my husband! ;)

I predict a difficult game, because I don't know what to think of the 2013 Ravens at this point, but I am also predicting a win! :)

[Ed_Reed20]

Limiting Tate and Foster early and putting pressure on Schaub to convert will be key. 

[Static]

Force Schaub to be more than average. (Spoiler : He isn't )

[MrPlankton]

Forgot to mention: they did a decent job cutting down on penalties.

[StingerNLG]

Forgot to mention: they did a decent job cutting down on penalties.

 

You know this is true.   No false starts today.   We didn't hear Oher's name once.   

[izvoodoo]

You know this is true.   No false starts today.   We didn't hear Oher's name once.   

Sherard (spelling on that) beat him a few times.  His ankle doesn't look quite right.  

 

Mingo looked good, really fast.  We'll have to contend with him.

[BMORE_96]

with deonte back and improved wr chemistry, we will be better. I really want to see ed dickson involved. ed has athleticism and could pay dividends. We need to reestablish the dickson-flacco rapport to have a dynamic offense.

 

Plus andre johnson may not be there so our defense should be able to put webb on hopkin and shut down the run game with the fearsome 7. 

 

JJ watt will be the biggest impediment. If we bypass him, we win.

[ravensfan2424]

I think this'll be a good game. Both teams can be pretty good. Plus we get Thompson back this week. It never hurts to get a young, speedy receiver that can also return kicks. 

 

BTW Can someone tell me what happened to Dallas Clark? I saw he only had one reception on one target and then got hurt. Is there any info on the injury? I think he can become a pretty solid pass catcher for us. 

 

Overall I think home-field advantage pays dividends, and we honor Ray Lewis in that game to put him in the ring of honor if i'm not mistake. A close game,  but due to massive fan bias, hopefully the Ravens pull it out. 

[wayne]

I don't feel confident about this game for several reasons, our offense being the main one. Our offense has to step up and not have so many 3 and outs which just gives the QB more chances to start to get a good feel for the scheme of the defense ( what Peyton did and does ). Also, they have Ed who can help aid in giving the defense a few pointers of what to look for in Flacco and I guess this will be Ed's come out game as far as him suiting up and playing for the first time. We should do fine vs their offense and I hope Suggs and Dumerville stays discipline to the PA waggles as far as going after the QB more and trusting the LB's behind them.

[GrimCoconut]

I don't like this OL against JJ Watt. I just don't. This is going to be a Hell of a game and I don't like our RB against their DL. This OL needs to be in shape for this game and they need to stop playing around like this is a joke. It's starting to piss me off now with the way they play. Yanda's the only player who is consistently good. The rest have all struggled at various points. McKinnie was schooled by Mingo. At least, that's what I saw from the eyeball test. I could have missed some things since I was busy talking during the game. It just looked like everyone but Yanda struggled. Oher played well overall, too. Oher has been inconsistent so I'm not ready to crown him as having arrived just yet. He was good today but struggled against Denver. 

 

As for our defense, I feel like that will be one of the highlights of the game for us. I think this will be a classic defensive game for us. At least that's how I see it right now.

[BMORE_96]

the return of deonte will be obvious with kick returns and his presence in the slot. The oline has been disappointing. Kelechi has not been dominant like we all expected, gino has experienced growing pains, and mckinnie still cant run block. 

 

But, houston has, it may be hard to believe, a worse front than the browns and broncos. those two teams had formidable front 7s; the texans do too. but this should be an easier test, especially on the edges. JJ watt is their only defender that could really disrupt our offense. counting on yanda and oher to slow him. will be interesting.

 

they have good corners too. this game will be close. the difference will lie in whose qb makes plays in face of pressure and coverage. if AJ does not play, we win. if he does, this gets very close(last possession close). 

[Gordo52]

Ed will get a pick. It's inevitable in my mind.

If Rice doesn't play I don't feel confident about this game at all. Also if Flacco has to throw 50+ we lose.

I know Andre got hurt today. Not sure how serious but that would be a big loss for them. I'm guessing Smith would be tasked to try and cover him. Webb & Graham on Hopkins?

Not feeling good about this game unfortunately.

[beanfigger]

Houston hasn't really looked too good so far.  That either means they aren't as good as everyone thought they were, or that they just haven't played their best, yet.  I'm hoping it's the former.

[PuRock]

Houston hasn't really looked too good so far.  That either means they aren't as good as everyone thought they were, or that they just haven't played their best, yet.  I'm hoping it's the former.

 

Their defense has been shaky going back to losing Cushing last year.  Foster isn't as explosive as he's been, but he could heat up fast.  

 

I like our chances.  They've played with fire two weeks in a row now.  Could even be without AJ.  I have faith in our run defense, it'll be up to Schaub to be beat us. 

[Static]

Ed will get a pick. It's inevitable in my mind.
 

 

Didn't  think about that. Don't know how Joe will handle that but he has played him in pratice so idk. Joe is generally good at dealing with safeties. The only saftey I can think that got him number was Weedle in 2011 I think. 

 

 

But if he don't have Rice I seriously doubt we win.

[redravenfan]

I am usually not a negative nelly but this game bothers me if we  perform like we did today we can't beat the Texans . slow starts  against them won't work even with schaub and I hate this week cause here come the Texan trolls .....

[usmccharles]

Since we are at home im pretty confident in this game.  I think we hold down their run game pretty well but i have a feeling our secondary is going to show its holes, this could change drastically if AJ isnt playing.  We have to get our run game established to open up the passing game.  Rice has to get more than 13 carries, period. 

 

Hope Ray is ok. 

[Ravenseconbeast]

Im guessing no one has really watched texans games. Their secondary is garbage. Joe must move the chains vs them. All elite QBs do. Texans are QBs favorite dinner

[Jitamon]

If we play like we have these last couple games, we are in trouble.. 

[darklight1216]

Im guessing no one has really watched texans games. Their secondary is garbage. Joe must move the chains vs them. All elite QBs do. Texans are QBs favorite dinner

They still have Jonathan Joseph don't they? Joe Flacco is his favorite dinner.

[Sami84]

I don't like this OL against JJ Watt. I just don't. This is going to be a Hell of a game and I don't like our RB against their DL. This OL needs to be in shape for this game and they need to stop playing around like this is a joke. It's starting to piss me off now with the way they play. Yanda's the only player who is consistently good. The rest have all struggled at various points. McKinnie was schooled by Mingo. At least, that's what I saw from the eyeball test. I could have missed some things since I was busy talking during the game. It just looked like everyone but Yanda struggled. Oher played well overall, too. Oher has been inconsistent so I'm not ready to crown him as having arrived just yet. He was good today but struggled against Denver. 

 

As for our defense, I feel like that will be one of the highlights of the game for us. I think this will be a classic defensive game for us. At least that's how I see it right now.

i think bmac was shocked ..mingo is for real and his first sack was no fluke. however bmac protected flacco well after that.

[Sami84]

I am usually not a negative nelly but this game bothers me if we  perform like we did today we can't beat the Texans . slow starts  against them won't work even with schaub and I hate this week cause here come the Texan trolls .....

the score should hav been 23 -3. the scoreline flattered the browns.

[jdynamite]

Texans have had to comeback in their first 2 games, the titans game they were getting hammered most of the game, then Hopkins started winning one on one coverage.
Hopkins and K.Martin made some plays.

Hope Jimmy smith can have a repeat performance with another strong game, graham also needs a strong game because of Martin and Daniels.

[ravensdfan]

This isn't going to be a popular opinion but I'm so sick of hearing about establishing our run game. We might not have had so many 3 and outs in Denver if Caldwell hadn't decided to channel his inner Cam Cameron and started with the run, run 3 and long gameplan.

 

I saw much of the same gameplan against the Browns as well. I'm aware of our issues with receiving targets but we're pretty easy to defend when we commit to the run, which has pretty much been crap.

 

IMO we won't beat Houston on the ground. If we go Cam Cameron on them we will lose.

 

Rice appeared to be fine but if he isn't I think Pierce will fill in alright. Our TEs were only targeted 3 times in the Browns' game. Joe has lost faith in that group and I can't blame him.

[arnie_uk]

This isn't going to be a popular opinion but I'm so sick of hearing about establishing our run game. We might not have had so many 3 and outs in Denver if Caldwell hadn't decided to channel his inner Cam Cameron and started with the run, run 3 and long gameplan.

I saw much of the same gameplan against the Browns as well. I'm aware of our issues with receiving targets but we're pretty easy to defend when we commit to the run, which has pretty much been crap.

IMO we won't beat Houston on the ground. If we go Cam Cameron on them we will lose.

Rice appeared to be fine but if he isn't I think Pierce will fill in alright. Our TEs were only targeted 3 times in the Browns' game. Joe has lost faith in that group and I can't blame him.

wholeheartedly agree. Open the play book up. Quick tempo short passes get into a rhythm. Thatl open the deep ball and once we hit a couple of them run it down their throats. Pass to open the run

[Puntit]

This isn't going to be a popular opinion but I'm so sick of hearing about establishing our run game. We might not have had so many 3 and outs in Denver if Caldwell hadn't decided to channel his inner Cam Cameron and started with the run, run 3 and long gameplan.

 

I saw much of the same gameplan against the Browns as well. I'm aware of our issues with receiving targets but we're pretty easy to defend when we commit to the run, which has pretty much been crap.

 

IMO we won't beat Houston on the ground. If we go Cam Cameron on them we will lose.

 

Rice appeared to be fine but if he isn't I think Pierce will fill in alright. Our TEs were only targeted 3 times in the Browns' game. Joe has lost faith in that group and I can't blame him.

The passing game only works if you make the other team think you might run. While I agree that running right down the middle shouldn't be the only arrow in their quiver, a lot of the passing plays only pan out if the other team has to pay attention to Rice, Pierce and Leach. The problem isn't running on the first two downs. The problem is the O-line not creating any lanes. Which is mostly a coaching issue since our personnel up front haven't changed much since the playoffs.

[Sami84]

make it an ugly win. get to shaub. keep possession. 

[codizzle]

make it an ugly win. get to shaub. keep possession.

How will we get to Schaub if we keep possession

[Kid87]

I heard Houston has a guy named ed Reed that has a walker.  But we Joe Flacco and a 1-2 punch run game. We just need to double team JJ Watt with an extra TE or RB and find away to go deep. No worries... We got this.  

[ravensdfan]

The passing game only works if you make the other team think you might run. While I agree that running right down the middle shouldn't be the only arrow in their quiver, a lot of the passing plays only pan out if the other team has to pay attention to Rice, Pierce and Leach. The problem isn't running on the first two downs. The problem is the O-line not creating any lanes. Which is mostly a coaching issue since our personnel up front haven't changed much since the playoffs.

 

That simply isn't true. People hear these things that a coach here or there has said and then somehow they become a mantra. There was actually an entire discussion a few years back about the whole "run to open up the pass" being a complete myth and false

 

I'm not saying we need to air the ball out and throw deep all the time. We do need some quick outs, slants or screens (basically a running play) rather than this running up the gut crap we are currently enamored with for some odd reason. Running on 1st & 2nd downs IS indeed our problem. We gain no ground and are constantly in a 3rd and long situation. It allows the opposing defense to pretty much sit back and know exactly what we are doing. It's beyond foolish..

 

Rice doesn't need X amount of carries. Joe doesn't need to stay under X amount of passes. You go with what the defense is giving you and trust me, Houston is more likely to give us ground in the air than on the ground.

 

We'll see. It's only my opinion but if we don't get rid of this idea that we have to establish the run in order to pass we lose to Houston.