Upcoming playoff game with Ravens 1/15/2012

[Arky]

Wow, beat me to it. Here's what I wrote up:

The Texans head up to Baltimore to take on the heavily-favored Ravens this Sunday in an early Sunday game on CBS. The Texans lost the regular season game against the Ravens 29-14 in Week 6. Ray Lewis had a monster game that day with 12 tackles and a sack (prediction: CBS will show Lewis' pre-game pep-talk for the 1,673 time. Ya seen one Ray Lewis pre-game peptalk....) In that game, the Texans won the turnover battle 2-0 but couldn't take advantage of their opportunities. The Ravens had 2 TD's, kicked 5 field goals and had success with vertical passing. RB Ray Rice was 23/101 yds and caught 5 passes for 60 more. Their defense held RB Arian Foster to 15/49 yds rushing. Andre Johnson did not play that day but is expected to be ready to go this Sunday.

When Ray Rice struggles to get his yards, the Ravens can be beat. Baltimore's four losses came when Rice did not have a good day but all four losses were on the road. Baltimore went 8-0 at home in the regular season (eww). That said, the two teams are pretty even statistically across the board. The key to the game, IMO, is the Texan o-line. Not a time for a bad day. If they are truly an "elite" o-line, now's the time to show it. They have to protect QB TJ Yates and open up holes for the running backs.....

TV = CBS (channel 11 local), 12 noon, Sunday

Announcers = TBD (probably Greg Gumbel Dan Dierdorf since Nance/Simms work Saturday night)

Favorite = Ravens by 7.5 to 9