Ravens over Houston; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Back from their Week 4 Bye, the Ravens outscored Houston 13-0 in the 4th Quarter to win 29-14. With Andre Johnson out for the game, and ‘Super’ Mario Williams out for the season; there was a sense from many Baltimore fans that this should have been an easy game. Houston showed today that they have a deep and talented roster. I’m glad to have the head-to-head win, because I believe the Texans could be a hard out in the playoffs. If these teams were to play again, I would much prefer it to be in Baltimore vs. having to travel to Houston. With their third consecutive win, the Ravens move to 4-1 as they will now prepare for a trip to Jacksonville.

The Good:

1) Brought on a blitz, Ray Lewis recorded the 40th and a 1/2 sack of his career. Lewis finished with 12 tackles.

2) Facing 3rd and 9 on the first series of the game, Flacco beat the blitz to pick up 1st down. On that first series, Flacco did an excellent job of spreading the ball around – completing passes to Boldin, Smith, Rice, and Dickson.

3) Houston started their 3rd series at the Ravens 41 yard line. Webb made a good open-field tackle on Walter on 3rd down, and the rest of defense swarmed to stop Foster on 4th & 1 (though replays showed that Cody should have been called for face mask).

4) Towards the end of the 1st half, Flacco hit Rice for an 18 yard gain. What I loved about the play was that Pitta was right there to help provide blocking.

5) Pro Football Focus reported earlier this week that Matt Birk was the only starting Center in the league yet to allow a single pressure this season, over 152 pass-blocking snaps.  Most of the pressure Flacco faced today, did not come up the middle. I still tend to believe the Ravens would be better with a returning Grubbs at LG, and Gurode taking over at Center, but the information from PFF is interesting.

6) As he was being dragged to the field on the first series of the 2nd half, Flacco was able to stay-up long enough to hit Rice for the 1st down.

7) Smith caught balls today towards the sideline, over the middle, and made a great adjustment on his 51 yard grab down the field. He finished with 84 yards on his 3 receptions.

8) Nice rush from Johnson for his sack.

9) Again dealing with lots of pressure, Flacco stood in and had a great 56 yard completion to Boldin.
9a) Boldin had 8 grabs for 132 yards. It was great seeing him make a play down the field.

10) On 3rd & 9 in the 4th, Pollard made a nice play in coverage, helping prevent a Foster reception.

11) Below I will talk about not being  happy with the 3rd down coverage today, but the Ravens did force a lot of 3rd and longs. Without having to worry about Johnson on the outside, Baltimore was able to control Foster as a runner (14 carries, for 48 yards).

12) I loved Jamal Lewis in his prime. Lewis had that rare combination of speed and power. He beat up the defense, and made them unwilling to want to tackle him late in games. He also had a 47 catch season in ’02, before they went away from throwing him the ball. That all said, Ray Rice probably wins out in a head to head comparison. Most every week, Rice is as much of a play-maker as anyone on the field. Rice finished with 23 carries, 101 yards with 5 receptions, and 60 yards receiving.

13) In the middle of the 4th, Suggs was finally able to get some pressure, and McPhee was able to get the sack and cause a fumble (recovered by Houston).

14) Ricky Williams had his first Ravens TD, and had a couple of helpful blocks. His TD culminated a 2 minute 37 second drive, which started at the Baltimore 34. This was the type of drive quality teams put together to ice games.

15) Against his old team, Vonta Leach looked extra motivated with his blocking today.

16) Baltimore had 402 yards of offense, with Flacco finishing the day 20 of 33, for 305 yards. Based on the pressure he dealt with, I think it was a good day for the QB overall, even after accounting for the fumble and the pick.

17) Houston was 6 of 16 on 3rd down for the day. I’m listing this as ‘good’ because as I point out below, the Texans converted five 3rd downs on their first two possessions. The Ravens were obviously able to make some quality adjustments.

18) Cundiff was 5 for 5 on his FG attempts, and hit the crowd at-least once on his kickoffs.

19) McCann had two quality Kick Returns.

The Bad:

1) Houston converted 3rd & 7, 3rd & 8, and 3rd & 15 on their first series. The 3rd & 15 came on a delayed run from Foster. The second Texans series brought more of the same, as two more 3rd downs were converted. The constant in all of those plays was the lack of pressure brought from the Baltimore defense. The Ravens did not have a lot of success against the Texans’ Tackles Duane Brown and Eric Winston for most of the game.

2) Smith and Carr were again inactive today, again making it puzzling to me why the Ravens would increase Webb’s chances for injury, by having him return punts.
2a) I feel the same way about Reed being back there for two punts as well.

3) Gurode and Pitta were both called for penalties.

4) Conor Barwin, Brooks Reed and Antonio Smith were collapsing the pocket with regularity. There were numerous plays where Barwin was basically going unblocked.

5) On the Ravens 3rd possession, Flacco was hit and stripped of the ball. Giving Houston possession in the Baltimore Red Zone.

6) With two minutes left in the 1st half, the Ravens prepared to run 3rd & 11 from the 25 yard line. Baltimore had some extra time to think over the play, but the Ravens were not able to devise a play to handle the Texans’ pass rush.

7) On 3rd & 4 on the 1st Baltimore possession of the 2nd half, the Ravens were on the Houston 30 yard line. I would have wanted to target a weapon other than LaQuan Williams in that situation.

8) On the Jacoby Jones TD, the Ravens defense bit on play action and over-played the TE Owen Daniels. Reed was completely beat in 1×1 coverage.

9) While the Ravens were swarming to stop Foster, Tate was a bit more successful on the ground. (9 carries, 41 yards)

The Ugly:

1) As the 1st half ended, Dickson was wide open on Flacco’s interception. This may have cost the Ravens points, and almost gave Houston the opportunity to kick a tying FG.

2) The Red Zone offense continues to disappoint. After Smith’s 51 yard catch, the Ravens had a 1st and 10 at the Texans 13. Rice ran for 6 yards on 1st down. On 2nd and 4th, Boldin had a 2 yard reception. On 3rd & 2, Rice was stuffed for a 2 yard loss. After Boldin’s 56 yard catch, Baltimore had a 1st and 10 at the Houston 10 yard line. On 1st down, Rice was stopped for a 5 yard loss. 2nd and 3rd down passes would go incomplete, and the Ravens again had to settle for 3. Baltimore simply has to become more proficient when they have similar opportunities.