Official Texans @ Ravens Game Thread, 11/27/2017
 

The 4-6 Texans travel to Baltimore to take on the 5-5 Ravens this week in a MNF matchup. The Texans are coming off a 31-21 home win over the Arizona Cardinals. The Ravens are coming off a 23-0 road win over the Green Bay Packers. The Ravens defense is 3rd in pts. allowed (17.1) and 6th in yardage allowed (305) so the Texan offense will have their work cut out for them. The Ravens offense is 31st in yardage/game (279.8) but somehow average 21.3 pts/game (17th).

The Raven defense has three shutouts this year. The Texans will need to find a way to put some points on the board if they stand any chance of winning.

All bye weeks are over so there will be 16 games/wk for the rest of the year.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

TV = ESPN, 7:30 pm CST, Monday, Nov 27, 2017

Announcers = Sean McDonough, John Gruden

The line = Ravens by 7 to 8

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanksgiving day:

Early = Minnesota @ Detroit (FOX), 11:30 am

Late = LA Chargers @ Dallas (CBS), 3:30 pm

Night = NY Giants @ Washington (NBC), 7:30 pm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday viewing in the Houston area:

CBS (early) = Miami @ New England, Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

CBS (late) = New Orleans @ LA Rams, Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

FOX (early) = Tennessee @ Indianapolis, Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Other prime time:

SNF = Green Bay @ Pittsburgh (NBC)

Vikes - Lions was a good game. So very happy for Case Keenum who is proving he can win in this league. Since my teams aren't going anywhere this year, rooting for Keenum is my unofficial hobby.

Paxton Lynch is finally getting the start for Denver after Siemian and Osweiler proved they couldn't do it. Denver's OL is as bad as Houston's though.

I'm happy Savage finally got a W but the Texans' history in Baltimore is terrible.

Baltimore is terrible, too. I'd like to think that the Texans can cover an 8 point spread.

I'm with you on Keenum. It's great to see him prove to the league he can play.

Video - Teddy Covers breaks down Texans vs. Ravens - TRT = 5:28

Conclusion: Stay away!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Sean Pendergast give 4 things to watch for in Texans vs. Ravens.

Welp, men, your old friend chuck celebrates a milestone birthday today.

Texans win the toss and defer.

Kickoff is brought back to the 30 yard line. Raven's ball.

--------------------------------------

Pass to Moore gets 8.

Pass to Maclin off the mark, inc.

Flacco pressured, throws inc. Raven's have to punt.

Ellington fair catches at the Texan 9 yard line. Texan's ball.

14:14 left in the 1st qtr.

L Miller loses 2.

Flag on Ravens for 12 men on the field, +5. Makes it 2nd and 6 coming up.

Pass to Hop along the sideline goes for nice gain. 23 yards.

L Miller for no gain.

Pass to B Miller gets a few but roughing on the Ravens on the tackle adds 15. Places the ball at the Raven 46.

Pass to Ellington good for nice gain. 29 yards. Ball at the Raven 17.

Flags presnap.....delay of game on the Texans, -5. Makes it 1st and 15.

Short pass to B Miller gets 3. 2nd and 12 coming up.

WR screen doesn't work. Loss of 4. 3rd and 16 coming up.

Deep pass to Hop draws the PI near the goal line. Ball placed at the 4, 1st and goal.

Savage pressured, throws it away, inc. 2nd and goal coming up.

L Miller punches it in for the TD!

Texans 7, Ravens 0

8:35 left in the 1st qtr.

No shutout tonight......

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Raven's ball at their 25.

----------------------------------------------

Collins for 4.

Woodhead for 4 or 5. Brings up 3rd and 1.

Pass to Wallace goes all the way to the Texan 42. 24 yards.

Pass to Collins loses 3. 2nd and 13 coming up.

Clowney with the big TFL on Collins, loss of 5. 3rd and 18 coming up.

Pass to Maclin gets 6. Ravens have to punt.

Punt is fair caught at the Texan 10 yard line. Texan's ball.

5:05 left in the 1st qtr.

L Miller goes for 17 up the gut (!).

L Miller for maybe 1.

Pass to Fido gets about 10 and the 1st down.

L Miller for 2.

Flags presnap, false start Texans, -5. Makes it 2nd and 13 coming up.

Savage's pass is batted down, inc. Makes it 3rd and 13 coming up.

Another batted pass. Texans will have to punt.

Punt is fair caught at about the Raven 21. Raven's ball.

2:18 left in the 1st qtr.

Checkdown to Woodhead gets 11, 1st down.

Pass to Wallace broken up, inc.

Collins for no gain. A Raven (Stanley) injured on the play. Injury timeout.

On 3rd and 10, Flacco is sacked but flags are down....holding on the Ravens is declined. Ravens have to punt.

Thompson muffs the punt but Decoud falls on it. Texan's ball at their 15.

44 seconds left in the 1st qtr.

Blue for 2.

Savage sacked by Suggs. Loss of 7. Brings up 3rd and 15.

End of the 1st qtr.

------------------------------------------------------

On 3rd and 15, screen to Hop gets 6. Texans will have to punt.

Punt goes out of bounds at midfield. Raven's ball.

14:22 left in the half.

Collins for no gain.

Flacco goes deep but nobody home. Holding on the Texans = 5 yards and an auto 1st down.

Collins caught behind the line for a loss of 2.

Flacco scrambles for 6. 3rd and 6 coming up.

Pass to Perriman off the mark, inc. Ravens will have to punt.

Fake! Punter throws a pass to Moore for the 1st down at the Texan 19.

Pass to Boyle goes for 9. 2nd and 1 at the Texan 10.

Allen finds his way into the end zone for the TD.

Texans 7, Ravens 7

11:10 left in the half.

Todman brings the ensuing kickoff back to the Texan 28. Texan's ball.

-------------------------------------------------

Pass to B Miller goes to the Texan 47.

L Miller for 3.

L Miller for 5. 3rd and 2 coming up.

Savage's pass is INT'ed by the Ravens. Raven's ball at the Texan 46.

9:10 left in the half.

Allen carries for 2.

Flacco's deep pass too long, inc. 3rd and 8 coming up.

Pass is caught by Moore about a yard or two short of the 1st down. Ravens going for it on 4th and 1.

Collins takes the pitchout and takes it all the way to the Texan 8. 1st and goal.

Collins take sit on for the TD.

Ravens 14, Texans 7

6:44 left in the half.

The ensuing kickoff is brought back to the Texan 25. Texan's ball.

------------------------------------------------

L Miller for no gain.

Savage's pass is batted down, inc. 3rd and 10 coming up.

Pass to Hop goes for nice gain. Ball at the Raven 42.

Blue for no gain.

Blue for 1. 3rd and 9 coming up.

Checkdown to Blue goes for the 1st down at the Raven 28.

Blue for 1.

Savage hit as he throws, ball sails inc. 3rd and 9 coming up.

Pass to Fido gets the 1st down. Flag on the Ravens for roughing the passer. Places the ball at the Raven 8. 1st and goal.

Screen to Ellington goes to the 4 yard line.

2 minute warning.

----------------------------------------------------------

On 2nd and goal, screen to Blue gets read for a loss, -3.

On 3rd and goal, pass to Fido in the end zone off the mark, inc. Texans to go for the FG.

Fairbairn's 25-yarder is good.

Ravens 14, Texans 10

1:48 left in the half.

The ensuing kickoff is brought back to the Raven 17. Raven's ball.

----------------------------------------------

Pass to Maclin off the mark, inc.

Jeez, Woodhead gets 10, 1st down.

Flacco scrambles for about 11 and a 1st down.

Checkdown to Woodhead goes for no gain. 2nd and 10 coming up.

Pass to Watson gets a 1st down at the Texan 46. 48 seconds left in the half, Ravens out of timeouts.

Pass to Wallace goes for 9.

On 2nd and 1, pass to Wallace gets 1 and the 1st down.

Flacco's pass goes toward the sideline, inc. 2nd and 10 coming up with 20 seconds left in the half.

Pass to Wallace complete but feet were out of bounds, inc. 15 seconds left in the half.

Pass to Maclin off the mark, inc. Ravens to go for the FG with 12 seconds left in the half.

Tucker's 53-yarder is good.

Ravens 17, Texans 10

7 seconds left in the half.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Thompson brings the ensuing kickoff back to the Texan 34 as time runs out.

Halftime:

Ravens 17, Texans 10

The 2nd half kickoff is a touchback. Texan's ball at their 25.

--------------------------------------------------

L Miller for 1.

Pass to Fido goes inc. Fido couldn't hang on.

Savage pressured but gets it off to Hop for 8. Texans will have to punt.

Lechler's punt is fair caught at the Raven 7. Raven's ball.

13:48 left in the 3rd qtr.

Pass to Williams gets 12.

Allen carries for a loss of 3. 2nd and 13 coming up.

Pass to Watson over the middle gets 10. 3rd and 3 coming up.

Flacco pressured, throws it away, inc but a flag is down.....holding on KJo = 5 yards and an auto 1st down.

Flacco's pass goes out bounds, inc.

Woodhead for 5.

On 3rd and 5, deep pass to Wallace goes inc. Ravens to punt.

Punt is fair caught by Ellington at the Texan 16 or 17. Texan's ball.

10:55 left in the 3rd qtr.

Pass to Ellington off the mark, inc.

L Miller on the delay for 3.

On 3rd and 7, flat pass to Hop goes for the 1st down but flag is down.....holding on the Ravens = 5 yards and an auto 1st down. Ball at the Texan 29.

L Miller for a loss of 1.

Pass to B Miller goes for 14, 1st down.

L Miller for 7.

L Miller for 2. 3rd and 1 coming up.

Blue for 3 and the 1st down.

Savage's deep pass to Hop goes inc. Flag is down.....holding on the Ravens = 5 yards and an auto 1st down. Ball at the Raven 41.

Blue for 2.

Deep pass to Hop draws the PI. Places the ball at the Raven 13.

L Miller for 1 but flag is down.....holding on the Texans backs it up 10. 1st and 20 coming up.

Savage's pass is deflected, inc. 2nd and 20 coming up.

Pass to Hop at the sideline goes inc. 3rd and 20 coming up.

Pass to B Miller just gets 5. Texans will go for the FG.

Fairbairn's 36-yarder is good.

Ravens 17, Texans 13

4:35 left in the 3rd qtr.

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Raven's ball at their 25.

--------------------------------------------------

Collins for 6.

Flacco pressured, scrambles for 2. 3rd and 2 coming up.

Pass to Collins doesn't get the 1st down. Ravens to punt.

Punt goes out of bounds at the Texan 7. Texan's ball.

2:46 left in the 3rd qtr.

Blue for 6.

Blue for no gain.

Pass to Ellington goes inc. Texans to punt.

Punt is downed at the Texan 49. Raven's ball.

1:21 left in the 3rd qtr.

Collins for 3 or 4 but a flag is down...holding on the Ravens, -10. Makes it 1st and 20 coming up.

Checkdown to Woodhead gets 2.

Checkdown to Woodhead gets 10. 3rd and 8 coming up.

End of the 3rd qtr.

----------------------------------------------------

On 3rd and 8, sweep to Collins gets 12 and the 1st down.

Allen for 5.

Allen for 2. Brings up 3rd and 3.

Pass to Wallace gets the 1st down at the Texan 16.

Collins for 1.

Screen to Allen gets 2. 3rd and 7 coming up.

Pass into the end zone too tall, inc. Ravens to go for the FG.

Tucker's 31-yarder is good.

Ravens 20, Texans 13

10:54 left in the game.

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Texan's ball at their 25.

---------------------------------------------

Pass to Fido good for 8..... Fido fumbles when he hits the ground. Harbaugh challenging whether the pass was totally completed....

Play is confirmed. Completed pass.

On 2nd and 2, L Miller gets 3, 1st down.

Deep pass to Hop is good for 39. Ball at the Raven 25.

L Miller for 6.

Savage pressured, throws it away, inc. 3rd and 4 coming up.

Pass to L Miller too far ahead of him, inc. Texans going for the FG.

Fairbairn's 37-yarder is good.

Ravens 20, Texans 16

8:36 left in the game.

Texans still have a shot at the W, here....

------------------------------------------------------------

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Raven's ball at their 25.

------------------------------------------------------------

Collins caught for a loss of 3.

Quick pass to Wallace goes for no gain. 3rd and 13 coming up.

Short pass to Watson goes for no gain. Ravens have to punt.

Ellington gets some good yards on the punt return. Texan's ball at their 43.

6:30 left in the game.

Pass to L Miller goes to midfield. 2nd and 3 coming up.

L Miller for ½ yard. 3rd and 3 coming up.

Pass to Hop gets the 1st down, flag down for holding on the Ravens is declined. Ball at the Raven 44.

And there's the strip sack....... Raven's recover. Raven's ball at the Texan 49.

4:35 left in the game.

Collins for 8.

Collins for no gain.

Raven's use a timeout (#2) on 3rd and 2.

Flags presnap....Neutral zone infraction on Clowney. 1st down.

Collins for 3. Ball at the Texan 32. 3:07 left in the game.

On 2nd and 7, Collins gets caught for a loss of 1. Brings up 3rd and 8.

Woodhead stopped for gain of 2. Ravens to go for the FG.

Tucker's 49-yarder is good.

Ravens 23, Texans 16

2:53 left in the game. Texans out of timeouts.

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Texan's ball at their 25.

--------------------------------------------------

Pass to Fido gets 9.

Savage's pass over the middle is INT'ed by the Ravens. Raven's ball at the Texan 44.

I guess time for TJ Yates, adios Savage.

Collins for no gain.

2 minute warning.

----------------------------------------------------

Flacco keeps for a big gainer. 25 yards.

Ravens kneeling it.

Final score:

Ravens 23, Texans 16

Coulda won it.....Savage turned the ball over too much...

Despite it all there was some inspired football being played out there every now and then.

I can't really put the strip sack on Savage. The OL is a joke (like much of the rest of the team), but goddamn is Savage terrible. Those two interceptions were embarrassing.

I have my problems with BOB but he demonstrated to me that he knows how to get the most out of Watson. I think it's a foregone conclusion that McNeck is going to fire him at year's end (although the radio guys were saying that they think he'll get an extension - I think that's lunacy), and when they do I'm going to laugh my ass off when they hire some 32 year old jackoff who Joshes the whole thing up completely.

In some ways I truly enjoy listening to the enraged rednecks calling in to the postgame show more than the games anymore.

Happy holidays, necks!

A pair of fourth down conversions really helped the Ravens offense, which would have been clearly worse than the Texans tonight had it not been for another bout of Savage turnovers. Credit to the Ravens, I suppose, for understanding early on where there were offensive limitations and the need to do something unusual to overcome them.

The Texans, meanwhile, refuse to use the entire width of the field. The Ravens D had a gameplan to blitz often and hold in the secondary, and it mostly worked. I would have liked to see the Texans put in a couple RB screens to keep the Ravens from overusing the blitz. Yes, Savage has a slow processor, but the Texans found a way to make Terrell Suggs look 10 years younger.

The middle of the field six, eight yards downfield was widefnopen all night long.

I'll laugh when they fire BOB because I don't think they're anywhere near smart enough to hire an upgrade but JFC WTF are these guys doing?

Early line has the Titans as a 7 to 7½ pt. favorite over the Texans next Sunday....

Easy cover, just like tonight. I hope you degenerates took my advice. My rates are notoriously low.

Turn overs:Ravens = 0; Texans = 3. Just can't do anything but lose those games with those stats and Savage did throw a bad pic but the others were as much on the LT. Whether it's in the Draft or FA we've got to find a
LT in the upcoming offseason to replace the Clark/Lamm tandem and the rookie tackle Julian Davenport still appears to be a long ways from helping us in the starting lineup. On the other hand the overall pass-pro may have actually improved somewhat
since the beginning of the season.

The fumble was on the LT. Both picks are on Savage. We obviously need to upgrade LT, but when Watson was back there and the offense was functional we scored 35 ppg and protected our OL with a moving pocket, a running game, threatening teams downfield enough they paid for it when the rush didn't get home, and a QB who makes every DL remember there rush lanes instead of sprinting up field.

When your offense is incapable of big plays and can't run the ball, the defense will pin their ears back and make even the best pass blocking OL look bad. When those things are true AND your OL stinks, you end up with Tom Savage as target practice.

So yes we need to get better on the OL, but a great OL can prop up a QB (Cowboys last year, Minnesota this year) or a great QB can prop up an OL (Patriots the last 10 years, Houston under Watson this year).

I didn't recognize half the guys they trotted out on defense but they just look slower than the Ravens, particularly on the edges. It's obvious where this team needs help for next year.

Excellent analysis Barrett, very good !
But the Oline did start the season giving up double digit sacks vs the Jags (which we now know is one of the best Ds in the League), while they are now down to two sacks with a totally immobile Savage vs a good (maybe not =Jags) Ravens D, so some improvement IMO.
But I'm convinced that OT is easily our biggest need, followed by interior Olinmen & finally by Dbacks. What are your top priorites in FA & the Draft ?

Outstanding. With the seven picks they have in the fifth round they should really be able to beef up the team with guys they'll cut midseason for smoking cigars in the bathroom.

It's so hard to evaluate the needs for a team that is going to rely on JJ Watt. You have to either take the hit and move on from him (will never happen), or you have to plan like he'll be there for 16 games (or close to it). This makes it nearly impossible to build a defense. I think this year's secondary was built with the idea that Clowney, Watt, and Mercilous would wreak havoc on QBs. Without 2/3 of those guys are secondary is terrible. So do you spend limited resources on DBs when your defense is built around pass rush and making DBs look good? If you don't improve the DBs and Watt is hurt again or just a shell of himself you have another year of getting beat in the passing game. Very tough call.

So I'd just load up on offense and helping Watson and cross my fingers for health on defense. Even if we are hurt and bad on defense I think Watson can win the AFC South and be very dangerous in the playoffs. So I go after OL, OL, and OL. After LT, I prioritize run blocking since that is probably the best way to protect Watson and the best way to capitalize on the fear he puts in the defense. I like Miller but I replace him if I can and spend the money elsewhere. I count on Foreman and a 2nd cheap option giving me all the production I got from Miller. I draft a slot WR who is what Miller was supposed to be. Maybe the Clemson kid or someone like him. Ellington is a not very good NFL player who looked really good in this offense. Put a real player in that role and look out.