John Clayton: Looking ahead to HOU vs BALT

[GP]

OK, Clayton found our path to success in terms of how to run on the Ravens. His stat research turned up a real gem, so I bolded it and put it in red (below). The stretch run play, and the fake stretch play-action pass could be HUGE for us.

4. What did we learn from the teams' previous meetings this season?

In Week 6, the Texans lost in Baltimore 29-14. What makes things ominous is that they lost with Matt Schaub at quarterback. Flacco was able to move the ball on the Texans' defense. He completed 20 of 33 passes for 305 yards, but the Texans were tough to score on in the red zone. The Ravens had to settle for five Cundiff field goals. The Ravens were able to contain Texans halfback Arian Foster, who was limited to 49 yards on 15 carries.

In Week 15, the Patriots went to Denver and whipped the Broncos, 41-23. Tebow completed 11 of 22 passes for 194 yards, but he was sacked four times and lost a fumble. The Broncos lost two fumbles in the second quarter that opened the door for a 20-point Patriots scoring surge that turned a 16-7 Broncos lead into a 27-16 Patriots advantage. Tom Brady threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns. Brady met Tebow at the 50-yard line after the game and said, "We'll see you again.'' Said Tebow after the victory over the Steelers, "I guess he's a prophet.''

5. Can the Texans rush against the Ravens?

Sunday's Baltimore-Houston game will be a test of wills. The Texans were second in the league rushing the football. The Ravens were second in run defense. The Texans were successful running to the outside against the Bengals. Texans halfback Arian Foster bounced outside the tackles for two touchdown runs and, according to ESPN Stats & Information, Foster averaged 10.1 yards a carry outside the tackle.

Outside the tackles are about the only place you can run on the Ravens. During the regular season, the Ravens allowed 5.97 yards a carry when runners went around left end, third worst in the league. Backs averaged 4 yards a carry off right end. Running inside, though, is futile. The Ravens were the best at stopping plays off left tackle at 2.4 yards an attempt and allowed 3.2. and 3.8 yards a carry off right guard and right tackle.

6. Will T.J. Yates be intimidated?

Ben Roethlisberger made a name for himself early in his career by taking the Steelers to an AFC title game as a rookie in 2004. Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez went to title games as rookies. Could Houston's Yates be the next? Yates managed the game effectively against the Bengals. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown. Expect the Ravens to press him with the blitz. The Ravens blitzed on 211 pass plays this season, limiting quarterbacks to a 57.1 completion percentage and recording 20 sacks.

Yates completed three of 10 passes Saturday when the Bengals rushed more than four defenders, but what helped was going 3-for-4 in the second half for 64 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown to Andre Johnson. Yates completed five of nine attempts to Johnson, who will draw double coverage from the Ravens.

7. Will man-to-man defenses slow the Patriots and Ravens?

The Patriots and Ravens each have difficulties when their offense faces man-to-man press coverage. Expect both home teams to see plenty of coverage man next weekend. One of the reasons the Patriots have problems with man-to-man is they lack speed. Tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are matchup problems, but neither has blistering speed. Wes Welker is great, but he's a slot receiver. Deion Branch has lost a lot of his speed and is more of a slot threat. Chad Ochocinco isn't fast anymore and can be covered when he's on the field.

The Broncos go into the game knowing they can match up well on the outside using cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Andre' Goodman. They will have problems at safety, though. Dawkins probably won't play, so safeties David Bruton and Quincy Carter must contain Gronkowski and Hernandez.

One of the keys to the turnaround of the Texans' defense was signing cornerback Johnathan Joseph so the team could play man. Expect Houston to play plenty of it against the Ravens. It will be interesting to see if Joseph covers Smith, who has speed, or Boldin, who is the team's best receiver but isn't exceptionally fast.

Link to full story HERE.

[buddyboy]

Originally Posted by GP

OK, Clayton found our path to success in terms of how to run on the Ravens. His stat research turned up a real gem, so I bolded it and put it in red (below). The stretch run play, and the fake stretch play-action pass could be HUGE for us.



Link to full story HERE.

I'd have Joseph on Boldin and Allen on Smith when Allen is in the game, but then KJ on Boldin and Joseph on Smith when KJ is in.

I'm particularly concerned about Yates and the pressure he's going to face. Cinci's pass rush is no slouch, and Yates did...average. We gotta pick up the blitz and prevent our young QB from getting rattled.

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by buddyboy

I'd have Joseph on Boldin and Allen on Smith when Allen is in the game, but then KJ on Boldin and Joseph on Smith when KJ is in.

I'm particularly concerned about Yates and the pressure he's going to face. Cinci's pass rush is no slouch, and Yates did...average. We gotta pick up the blitz and prevent our young QB from getting rattled.

In the Bengals game we passed 20 times and ran it 35. Some of those runs were to drain the clock at the end, but I imagine we will see a 60-40 split of run to pass this game to keep TJ from getting too rattled. Although, I would love to see AJ burn Pollard for a couple TDs. We all know he can't cover worth a damn...

[TheMatrix31]

No mention by Clayton of not having Andre in the first game and having Andre this week. Considering him not being around the first time was the biggest reason why we lost, I'd say that's pretty important to have him back.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by buddyboy

I'd have Joseph on Boldin and Allen on Smith when Allen is in the game, but then KJ on Boldin and Joseph on Smith when KJ is in.

Agreed here but disagree on how well Yates handles pressure. No picks, no devastating sacks, no fumbles...It wasn't epic offense but it WAS all moving forward. Can't ask for too much more than that from the rook.

Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

No mention by Clayton of not having Andre in the first game and having Andre this week. Considering him not being around the first time was the biggest reason why we lost, I'd say that's pretty important to have him back.

Why make good points about the Texans when the only people that will read it are Texans fans?

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

No mention by Clayton of not having Andre in the first game and having Andre this week. Considering him not being around the first time was the biggest reason why we lost, I'd say that's pretty important to have him back.

True but he's probably thinking "Last time they had Schaub but no AJ, this time they have AJ but no Schaub so it will be a wash".

It will be nice if we can get TJ and AJ in sync early and often. Keep the Ravens from going nuts around the line of scrimmage.

[gtexan02]

The thing I'm most nervous about is TJ Yates vs Ed Reed. Yates had a couple of throws last week that could have been turnovers. If we can limit sacks and turnovers, I think we have a great shot. If we can't...its going to be a long Sunday

[El Tejano]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

It will be nice if we can get TJ and AJ in sync early and often. Keep the Ravens from going nuts around the line of scrimmage.

To me this will be the biggest key to our success on Sunday. If you notice, the game vs. Cincy, once AJ caught the long ball for a TD, it allowed Arian to start going crazy. If AJ comes up with the earlier stab at the endzone this game is over before halftime.

Does anyone remember when AJ started going bananas against Bmore when we forced overtime? We began to run even better and then in the 4th quarter the Ravens got tired.

But really the importance of Yates and AJ connecting early is because we have to keep Yates out of 3rd and long. He's not good at converting 3rd downs. He really only had that miracle run but nothing significant after that.

[buddyboy]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Agreed here but disagree on how well Yates handles pressure. No picks, no devastating sacks, no fumbles...It wasn't epic offense but it WAS all moving forward. Can't ask for too much more than that from the rook.

I agree for the most part, but Cinci had some opportunities, they just didn't capitalize. Crocker dropped a for sure pick-6, something Ed Reed will not fail to do. That would have changed the dynamic of the game completely.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by buddyboy

I agree for the most part, but Cinci had some opportunities, they just didn't capitalize. Crocker dropped a for sure pick-6, something Ed Reed will not fail to do. That would have changed the dynamic of the game completely.

Key word there is dropped! Haha....yeah, Cincy had a shot and dropped it. Baltimore will have it's shot, I don't think anybody is expecting perfect football. But the Texans will have their shot too. It's all about who makes the play. JJ > Crocker. Texans > Bengals. We've got the hosses to match up with them boys from B-more.

[TheCD]

I think the key to this game is playing the same way we played the Steelers: him them hard enough to break some bones. If we come out and punch them in the mouth, we can send them reeling. Neutralize Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed, and run the hell away from Ngata and I think we can manage this.

I think they are just old enough that a young and hungry team can beat them with fire and tenacity. If we show them we want this bad enough that we will outhit and outrun them, we can win.

Let the defense get pressure (particularly on Winston's side) and this game is lost unless the Ravens offense gifts us several times.

[CloakNNNdagger]

From the Washington Post.

NFL 2012 playoffs: Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens

Published: January 8

Why the Texans can win… They steadied themselves with their first-round playoff triumph over the Bengals after finishing the regular season with three straight losses. That gave the Texans a win in the first playoff game in franchise history. Now they seek their first road playoff victory. To get it, they’ll probably have to play the same way they played against the Bengals. Rookie QB T.J. Yates had a modest 159 passing yards but didn’t throw an interception. RB Arian Foster ran for 153 yards and the Houston defense did the rest. In a season filled with record-setting passing exploits, this could be an old-fashioned sort of NFL playoff game. The Texans ranked second in the league in total defense during the regular season and the Ravens were third.

Why the Ravens can win… The Ravens went 8-0 at home during the regular season and beat the Texans, 29-14, at M&T Bank Stadium in October. The Baltimore offense showed good balance in that game, with QB Joe Flacco throwing for 305 yards and RB Ray Rice running for 101 yards. The Texans still had Matt Schaub at QB that day but were without WR Andre Johnson, who’s now back in the lineup. The Ravens, if things go as they hope, can match the Texans’ rugged defense and reliable running game while mixing in a few big pass plays from Flacco.

[mussop]

I hope we run alot of 2 TE sets with Casey at FB. We aren't going win this game running alot of 3 WR sets.

[TexansFanatic]

For what it's worth: Ravens favored by 7.5

[EllisUnit]

Originally Posted by TexansFanatic

For what it's worth: Ravens favored by 7.5

should be fun to beat them by 17

[TexansFanatic]

Originally Posted by EllisUnit

should be fun to beat them by 17

The city of Houston would come unhinged. Sodom and Gomorrah would seem like a hayride in the country.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by buddyboy

I agree for the most part, but Cinci had some opportunities, they just didn't capitalize. Crocker dropped a for sure pick-6, something Ed Reed will not fail to do. That would have changed the dynamic of the game completely.

That was not a for sure pick 6. Casey was right there and taking a bead on tackling him. Casey plays STs and knows how to tackle.

[Cush]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

From the Washington Post.

Hey CND -- Boldin didn't play in the last 2 games for Baltimore.

Is he 100%?

[pickles]

Originally Posted by Cush

Hey CND -- Boldin didn't play in the last 2 games for Baltimore.

Is he 100%?

Ravens fan here.

He says he feels better than he has all year after having surgery three weeks ago.

But, of course, you know how that goes.

[Allstar]

God I hope Flacco doesn't drop dimes all over the field like when we played them earlier this year. I don't think we have much of a shot if Flacco puts his big boy pants on. That is of course, unless Yates puts his big boy on too!