The box-score says Baltimore beat the Houston Texans 34-28 tonight in overtime, but it is hard to focus on anything but the Ravens giving-up a 4th Quarter lead for the 7th time this season.

With the win the Ravens improved to 9-4, and moved one step closer to advancing to the AFC Playoffs for the 3rd consecutive season. The manner in which they won does not give you a lot of confidence in their ability to do significant damage once the postseason begins.

The Good:

1) Lardarius Webb had a strong game, providing good coverage on Andre Johnson in 1×1 situations down the field; and coming up with several crucial open field tackles.

2) Webb’s fellow corner-back Josh Wilson has to be credited for the game winner, and also for his coverage as well.

3) David Reed will have his day in court, and until that occurs; I have nothing to add about the events of this week. His 103 yard TD return was obviously huge. I think he owes Cary Williams a dinner for the push which helped aide the return.

4) Koch had 7 punts tonight, 5 of which were within the 20. The defense may have allowed several long drives, but Koch did his job.

5) After dropping an easy 40 yard pass early in the game, Mason rebounded with 6 catches for 78 yards and two scores. His first TD reception had a fairly high degree of difficulty.

6) Rice had a nice game as a receiver out of the backfield, with 8 catches for 66 yards.

7) Suggs continued his 2nd half run with yet another sack.

8) Cory Redding showed some strong closing speed to record his sack.

The Bad:

1) The Ravens were playing one of the worst defenses in the league, and they were able to muster just 253 yards of offense.

2) Flacco’s 2nd TD to Mason gave Baltimore a 21-0 lead with 1:37 left in the half. The Ravens allowed Houston to go 80 yards to close the half, and gain some confidence. The 46 yard strike to Johnson occurred in part because Reed bit on action up front and was not in position to keep the play in front of him.

3) After Reed’s return to start the 2nd half, the Ravens were up 28-7. They allowed Houston to march from their 24 yard line to the Baltimore 6 yard line over the next 7 minutes and 30 seconds. This was the Ravens chance to put their foot on the throat of the Texans, and they allowed Houston to convert three 3rd downs, and two 4th downs.

4) Rice had just 54 yards on 19 carries.

5) The Ravens ran just 4 offensive plays in the 3rd Quarter.

6) Schaub had 62 pass attempts, but did put up 393 passing yards. Whenever the Ravens failed to bring the rush, Schaub was able to pick the defense apart.

7) Arian Foster ran for 100 yards, on 5 yards a carry. The only thing that was slowing him down was Houston looking to get back into the game through the air.

8) How does Foster run for 100 yards,  and Andre Johnson catch 9 ball for 140 yards and 2 scores? You should have been able to take away one of Houston’s two main weapons.

The Ugly:

1) When I interviewed John McClain of the Houston Chronicle previewing this game, we talked about the anemic pass-rush of the Texans.  Houston came into this game with just 19 sacks in their first 12 games. That is 1.5 sacks a game. The Texans had 5 sacks tonight against Baltimore. Was that scheme? Was that a failure to adjust from the Ravens coaching staff?

1a) I think Cousins looks ok as a run-blocker. I would like to see him in Jumbo sets with an extra-tackle on the field. He was abused all night in pass-defense.

2) As I pointed out earlier, this is now the 7th game the Ravens have given-up a 4th Quarter lead this season. That is unacceptable.

3) Facing 3rd and 2 yards to go on the Houston 44 with 2:58 on the clock; the Ravens call for a pass. You have to call for a run here and run another 40 seconds off the clock against a team with no timeouts.

4) The Ravens allowed scoring drives of 70 yards, 80 yards, 95 yards, and 99 yards. Ouch.

Up-Next:

Baltimore hosts the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints this Sunday.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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