Baltimore Ravens Vs. Houston Texans: What To Look For

Wow — Week 15 is in the books and I watched perhaps one of the most bizarre games I’ve ever seen in terms of quarterback injuries.

Things were off to great start — the offense was somewhat starting to heat up until Ryan Fitzpatrick got knocked out of the game after he was attempting to get some yards with his legs.

He should have decided to slide!

Then in comes Tom Savage.

He gets banged up by hyper-extending his knee late in the game but stays in.

Shane Lechler, our punter and emergency QB was actually warming up.

Not his kicking leg but his arm!

You know things have gotten bad when it’s to that point.

Amazingly enough, the Texans were still in that game but their offense faltered down the stretch.

So that’s all she wrote for that one.

Anywho, this will be a reunion of sorts as many remnants of the Texans’ old guard will be back in town as they take on the Baltimore Ravens.

Long-time head coach Gary Kubiak will be back — not on the sidelines but up in the booth calling plays for John Harbaugh. As I would expect, his offense is ranked No. 10 in the league this season averaging 372 yards per game.

No surprise there — our offenses weren’t among the tops in the league when he was here.

It will also be a homecoming for Owen Daniels and Jacoby Jones, who are having productive seasons since leaving their former team.

Daniels’ number was called after Dennis Pitta was ruled out for the season with injury. He has stepped up and has 474 yards off 45 catches averaging about 10.5 yards per catch which is quite impressive.

We’ll see how he does against the Bulls.

Anyway, here’s some things to look for position-wise as both teams take the field.

Take a look:

Dec 14, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback

Joe Flacco

(5) throws during the first quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

QUARTERBACK: With injuries to Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett and Tom Savage — the entire QB depth chart — Bill O’Brien has turned to Case Keenum by signing him off the St. Louis Rams practice squad and will likely tap him as the starter for Sunday’s game against the Ravens. The Texans already had Thaddeus Lewis on the roster but there must have been something that he had seen indicating that he’s not quite ready to start yet. Lewis has had just a few weeks to learn O’Brien’s offense while Keenum has had a few months to grasp it as well as appear in a few preseason games this season. That certainly makes a difference but I was hopeful that Lewis’ learning curve would be a bit quicker than what’s been indicated so far. Nonetheless, Keenum will give this team a spark that it needs in addition to the fans in the stands well aware of what he’s capable of. He didn’t leave here on the highest of notes but now he has the opportunity to right the ship and perhaps show the world the reason why he belongs in the NFL. I certainly hope that he’s successful with that. The Ravens are horrible at defending the pass, ranked 30th giving up about 260 yards per game. There will be a lot of opportunities for Case to throw the football — let’s just hope he doesn’t take any 30-yard sacks or throws picks galore. He did throw for about 1,800 yards with nine touchdowns to six interceptions last season for a 78.2 QB rating, so I’m sure he is poised to capitalize on that. Things have been virtually reset this season for him. He will certainly need a strong performance from the offensive line to keep him protected in the pocket. I don’t suggest that Case do much running because the Ravens’ talented defensive line will likely want to mow him down. As for the Ravens, we’ll see Joe Flacco, a QB that has evolved into one of the best in the league. He is a major reason why the Ravens continue to be successful and there’s no stopping him now. So far, he has passed for nearly 3,500 yards, thrown 23 touchdowns to nine interceptions for a 64.2 completion percentage and a 94.2 QB rating. He has been sizzling and is not afraid to show it. I just hope our secondary can defend the missiles that he’ll be throwing to his receivers or it’s going to be a long afternoon, similar to how the Texans performed against the Bengals last month, our corners chasing wide outs left and right. Nonetheless, he’s is just one of those rare talents, is a gem to watch and has quietly put together one of his most accurate seasons in terms of his passing abilities.

RUNNING BACK: Arian Foster once again ran the football efficiently against a defense that’s better at stopping run in the Indianapolis Colts. He had 99 yards off 26 carries which is considered a usual day at the office for him. This week, he faces an even tougher test as the Ravens are quite stingy in giving up the rushing yards. They are currently ranked 3rd in the league in that category giving up 84.3 yards per game. That’s lower than the 103 per game he’s averaging but I think he’ll buck that trend because it has been proven that’s he’s virtually unstoppable when his motor is turned on. It will be intriguing to see how he goes up against their defensive line. Alfred Blue will be there to help him out if needed. Keep your eyes on Justin Forsett — don’t look away. He has emerged from a journeyman running back to the featured one with the Ravens. The team had no choice but to turn to him as they had to sever ties with Ray Rice because of the domestic abuse issues that he was going through that had started to affect the image of the team and its sponsors. Forsett is having a career year — he has 1,128 rushing yards on the season with eight touchdowns, nearly doubling his total from 2009 (619), his best season to date before this one. He is currently ranked 5th in the league in rushing. Wow! I imagine he has far exceeded the performance that they were expecting to get out of him and losing Rice hasn’t been a big deal to them after all. The Texans continue to elevate in the run defense, most recently elevating to 14th-best giving up 109 per game. We’ll have to see — this will be an interesting match up.

Dec 14, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Houston Texans receiver

DeAndre Hopkins

(10) makes an apparent catch over Indianapolis Colts

Vontae Davis

(21) which was knocked out of his hands during the fourth quarter of their game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

WIDE RECEIVER: The Texans didn’t throw the football that much last week but DeAndre Hopkins was the leading receiver with 77 yards off five catches. Andre Johnson was out, recovering from a concussion that he had sustained the week before against the Jacksonville Jaguars but has practiced in full this week and will be ready to go against the Ravens. Hopkins has not practiced all week as his ankle remains quite sore and is “day-to-day” according to O’Brien. I don’t expect Hopkins be available as his explosiveness is extremely limited in a joint that is badly-needed for him to do his job effectively. It will be up to Johnson to lead this team in the air as it’s quite possible DeVier Posey will get his second start if Hopkins is not able to go. Posey did have one catch for 30 yards last week. As bad as the Ravens are defending the pass, this should be opportunity for our wide outs to be licking their chops. Steve Smith, Sr. and Torrey Smith are the Ravens’ top weapons in the air this season. Steve Smith has gone on to have one of his best seasons since 2012 where he received for more than 1,100 yards. He has 926 this season so far with six touchdowns averaging 10.4 yards per catch. Flacco has been going to him quite a bit and our secondary must do everything they can to stop any type of momentum or rhythm that he could get into. Torrey Smith has seen a sharp decline in his receiving yards (625) from last season (1,128) but he’s still productive with the catches he does get averaging 15.6 yards per catch. Add eight touchdowns to those numbers as well. These guys can be quite dangerous so it’s up to the Texans to defend, defend and defend!

Dec 14, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback

Andrew Luck

(12) is sacked by Houston Texans defensive end

J.J. Watt

(99) at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

DEFENSE (FRONT 7 & SECONDARY): As I expected, J.J. Watt had an impressive showing against the Colts last week. The for-sure lock for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award had six combined tackles — five solo’s and one assist — and 2.0 sacks on the game. He also swatted away one ball to boot as well. This will be a more difficult test for him as the Ravens’ defense is a bit better and Flacco’s offensive line is a lot better than the Colts as well. Flacco has only been sacked a meager 16 times this season but when has that mattered to J.J.? Watt will try to get at least one off of him to which I expect in this Sunday’s contest. He will continue to do what he does best — doing everything he can to help his team win. Whitney Mercilus is expected to return from the back injury that he sustained two weeks ago — he has practiced all week and has looked good. He has finally stepped it up to be a reliable asset at the outside linebacker this season, being the second-best pass rusher behind Watt. We will get to see extremely vocal, trash-talking Terrell Suggs with the Ravens — one of the league’s best defensive talents and one that I do respect because he does back up the dish he provides. He has 51 combined tackles with 11.0 sacks, with his sack total being the best it has been in years. The 12-year vet currently has no signs of slowing down. Luckily, Haloti Ngata won’t be around to disrupt the Texans’ strive to thrive as he was suspended for the rest of the season earlier this month for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy. He was caught taking Adderall, one of the products that has been banned. Those are some big shoes to fill with his loss but veteran Chris Canty hopes to do so as he will take the reins the rest of the way. He is listed as questionable on the team’s injury report for Sunday’s game.