Do you think we could have beat the Ravens?

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

I said as much in a different thread. The Ravens we beat in October were not the same Ravens that dismantled the Patriots last Sunday.

The Texans that put up forty on the Ravens in October was no where to be found in January.

Do you think we could have beat the Ravens?
Could? Maybe.

Would have? Seriously doubt it.

We have some growing to do. I'm looking at the NFLN replay of the AFCC game now. Two things are standing out: 1. The effectiveness of the Ravens' spread offense in running and passing against the Pats' defense. 2. how the Ravens made being the ball carrier - whether it was a RB or WR - a very painful experience.

1) Losing Love and Talib hurt the Patriots.

2) Getting Cush back is a great start to help us improve in this area.

[Uncle Rico]

optimism is great.

[Bulls on Parade]

The Texans match up well against the Ravens. So anything is possible. If we had a healthy Brian Cushing, I think we could have beaten anybody, including the Patriots and Broncos on the road -- which we technically did defeat Peyton Manning on the road before he was lost for the season back in Week 2.

Brian Cushing is our version of Ray Lewis in his prime. His loss was monumental. He's one of the few players we simply can't replace. J.J. Watt and Andre Johnson are probably the other two. We don't have a pro bowl caliber player at those positions other than the main guy at the top of the depth chart.

You take away any of those three players I mentioned and we quite possibly become a 6-10 type of team. Certainly the type of team who lost three out of their last four games and struggled in the playoffs. And mind you, we could have lost another two or three games without Cushing. The games against the Lions and Jaguars near Thanksgiving time were losses if not for a couple of lucky plays.

[rush2112mn]

If we would have won vs the Patriots.....i think we would have had a good shot at a win. Homefield would have been huge......crazy and loud as hell.....I think we matchup well with them......

[handswarmer]

Originally Posted by rush2112mn

If we would have won vs the Patriots.....i think we would have had a good shot at a win. Homefield would have been huge......crazy and loud as hell.....I think we matchup well with them......

Rens are a good road team

[SCOTTexans]

We have always found a way to dominate the ravens or make it a close game the past 2 yrs against them. We know what we have to do to be effective against them, so i have to go with yes we would have beat the ravens w/ homefield adv in the playoffs

Its the dominant QBs that we cant seem to find the game plan to be effective....

[Norg]

we will never know we screwed that up by losing to the colts and Minny

do we play the ravens next year ..?????

[417Texan]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

Not that I want to do the coulda, woulda, shoulda thing. I'm really going for a feel of the team kind of thing... trying to see where your confidence is with this team.

So the question is if Baltimore played like they played Sunday, could our team have beat them?

Try not to make it anymore complicated than it has to be, yes or no.

Anything is possible. Houston could of done it and they could of loss. 50/50

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by SCOTTexans

We have always found a way to dominate the ravens or make it a close game the past 2 yrs against them. We know what we have to do to be effective against them, so i have to go with yes we would have beat the ravens w/ homefield adv in the playoffs

I think there are at least three tiers of teams in the NFL. The bad, the good, & the elite.

It took us a while to where we can consistently beat the bad teams. Right now, I think we'll be favored to win against the "good" teams, but a win isn't guaranteed.

& we're just "competitive" against the Elite teams. Luckily, there are only so many elite teams. The Patriots is definitely one of them. They are on a whole other level than we are & we've got to get that figured out.

We're going to play Baltimore, New England, & Denver in 2013. I give us a 50/50 chance of beating Baltimore & Denver. 30/70 chance of beating New England.

The same thing will be true next season as it was in the play offs. Our run game & our defense is going to have to step up & play at a high level to give our offense a chance to win the game, OR.. New England is going to have to be off their game.

It's the same, I think, for Baltimore & Denver. They will have to bring their run game & their defense to beat New England to win. That's the only difference between New England's game against us & Baltimore. Baltimore's run game showed up. Baltimore's defense showed up.

Not taking anything away from Flacco, he was/is better than Schaub in 2012's play offs. His big throws down the field probably opened it up for Ray Rice. Their ability to score TDs definitely helped their defense stay aggressive. But bottom line, their run game showed up, their defense showed up.

We'll never beat New England if our run game & defense do not show up.