In the second time slot for the
Christmas Day special that has been brought to Netflix by the NFL, we will see another
matchup with two more AFC playoff teams.
The Houston Texans are still a fun team to watch, though they are not the
same explosive Texans that were blowing up the league last season. Last year we witnessed this exact game played
in the postseason. The Baltimore Ravens bulldozed
this team in the Divisional Round, winning 34-10 at home. Baltimore has beaten Houston in five straight
meetings, currently leading the all-time series 12-2-0. The last time the Texans captured a win over
John Harbaugh was in 2014 at Houston (25-13).
What can I say about the Purple and
Black? Well, it’s no secret that all
their successes this season have been surrounded by what Lamar and Henry have
been able to do this year. Lamar is
coming off an MVP season and is making a stalwart case to hoist that award in back-to-back
years. Action Jackson is one of the most
amazingly gifted talents the NFL has ever seen and what he can do as both a passer
and runner never ceases to amaze. Baltimore’s
QB is ranked 5th in passing yards (3,787), 1st in average
yards per pass (8.9), and 5th in yards per game (252.5). The only quarterback with more touchdown
passes this season is Joe Burrow with 39, Lamar has thrown 37. There is also only one QB better than Jackson
in interceptions thrown (4 INTs). When
it comes to QBR (75.5) he’s second to Josh Allen while pacing all quarterbacks
in passer rating (120.6). This offense
with Todd Monken has often appeared to be a match made in heaven. Their play-caller has looked like a genius
for much of the season, though we also know how good the talent on the field
is.
Derrick Henry has also been on a
statistical tear all season. They call
him “King” Henry for a reason! Henry has
given way to Saquon Barkley for the leading rusher this season and it appears
as though he may very well take the title by the end of the next two weeks. Anyhow, Henry has already amassed 1,600 rushing
yards this year and is less than 400 yards from a 2,000-yard season. He is tied with Barkley for the most yards
per carry and ties Barkley with the second-most rushing TDs (13). Henry’s 78 rushing first downs place second,
while his 87-yard run is the longest run from scrimmage this season. While the Texans have had a decent defense
this year, their weakness has been their run defense. There is no doubt that Moken will dial up a
bunch of runs for Henry to remind everyone yet again why he is notoriously
known as the King of rushing.
RAVENS OFFENSE:
POINTS
PER GAME- 30.1 (3RD)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G- 423.7 (1ST)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 181.2 (2ND)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 242.5 (5TH)
SACKS
ALLOWED- 23 (4TH)
RAVENS
DEFENSE:
POINTS
PER GAME- 23.3 (19TH)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G- 338.0 (16TH)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 83.1 (1ST)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 254.9 (31ST)
TOTAL
SACKS- 47 (2ND)
Houston has been a good team this season,
though not the same formidable bunch that they showed us a year ago. The offense has regressed, while also banged
up for vastly most of the year. The
O-line play has been very bad this time around, especially in pass protection. Houston’s big men have allowed the sixth most
sacks this season, C.J. has been sacked the second most (47 times) of any
quarterback this year. Between the line
not being able to hold up for Stroud in addition to him having to play without
each of his three best targets at different times this season, it has been
frustrating for both C.J. and the Texans to say the least. They have continued to fight throughout everything
they’ve had to deal with. Let’s not forget,
even though they didn’t come away with the victory they played the Detroit
Lions better than most teams in the league had this year. They are now coming off a game in which they
lost to the Chiefs on Saturday in a tough battle. The hardest part of that game was when Tank
Dell caught a touchdown early in the third quarter for what should’ve been the
tying score (missed PAT) but as Dell caught said score his teammate went to the
ground and fell into his knee causing engrossed concern for the wideout. Tank ended up with a torn ACL and dislocated kneecap. It was a lamentable situation for the young
receiver who came back earlier this season from another injury and is now lost for
the second straight year to a season-ending injury.
TEXANS OFFENSE:
TOTAL
POINTS P/G- 23.1 (13TH)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G- 323.3 (20TH)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 109.6 (18TH)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 213.7 (18TH)
SACK
ALLOWED- 48 (27TH)
TEXANS
DEFENSE:
TOTAL
POINTS P/G- 21.8 (9TH)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G-307.3 (4TH)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 106.8 (11TH)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 200.5 (6TH)
TOTAL
SACKS- 46 (T-3RD)
The Texans may have played KC tight
last week though I don’t know if they will be able to do the same here against
Baltimore. If you want to take down the Lamar-led
Ravens, they will need to figure out a way to score way more than 19
points. This will be an even harder task
without Dell when they’ve already been without Diggs. If they are going to do it, they will have to
keep a clean pocket for Stroud. This
will also prove to be quite difficult as the Ravens are second in the NFL with
47 sacks. Texans OC Bobby Slowik will
need to find ways to have C.J. get the ball out quickly to tight end Dalton
Schultz, running back Joe Mixon, or his top target on the outside, Nico
Collins. The biggest weakness of the Ravens'
defense has been their ability to engage in pass defense. They are allowing the second most passing
yards per contest and if they can somehow pass protect that will be their best
chance to rain on Baltimore’s Christmas Day parade. The game plan for Baltimore should provide a
simpler plan to be crowned with another win and possibly the AFC North title
barring a win from the Steelers. As I briefly
mentioned above, Todd Monken will need a run-heavy approach which will be no
problem for this team. Houston’s offense
hasn’t been great, though their defense is ranked inside the top ten in every statistical
classification other than against the run.
They cede 106.8 yards per game (11th) and the Ravens should
be able to widen that amount to about 160-190 yards if I should be so bold. Baltimore is going into this game as the -4
point favorite and I like them to win outright on a short week.
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