Quarterback: A
For weeks, Joe Flacco has managed the offense, and that trend continued against the Texans. The rookie protected the ball, while still taking plenty of shots down the field. All told, Flacco turned in a solid performance with a 118.9 passer rating that included 185 yards and two touchdowns. Flacco is beginning to come into his own at a very important time for the Ravens. Troy Smith also continues to contribute to the team, as he threw for a touchdown.

Offensive line: B-
For the most part, the offensive line protected their quarterback. Although the unit allowed three sacks, they did a great job at opening up running lanes to help sustain drives. The Texans’ star defensive back, Mario Williams, was held in check throughout the game. Penalties continue to plague the line.

Wide receivers: B
Last week, the offense welcomed Mark Clayton to the 2008 season. This week, it was Todd Heap’s turn to be reintroduced to the offense. Heap turned in a two touchdown performance. Yamon Figurs was serviceable in place of Derrick Mason, who suffered a dislocated shoulder early in the game. Despite the injury, Mason caught three passes for 41 yards.

Running backs: B+
Willis McGahee returned to the field after watching rookie Ray Rice trample the Browns last week. McGahee racked up two touchdowns of his own; his best performance of the season.

Defensive Line: A
Haloti Ngata showed sheer dominance throughout the game. From snagging an interception in the red zone, forcing an interception, and nearly blocking a punt, Ngata is having a Pro-Bowl year. The unit also held the Texans’ red zone offense in check, limiting them to just three points from inside the five-yard line.

Linebackers: A
Middle linebacker Ray Lewis hauled in two interceptions that looked like they were intended for him anyway. Lewis finished the game with eight tackles. The unit helped ensure that the running game was taken away from Houston, while limiting the short yardage passes of Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels. Terrell Suggs was able to pressure Rosenfels throughout the game, and managed a safety early in the game.

Defensive Backs: B-
The secondary did a decent job of containing Texans receiver Andre Johnson, limiting him to 66 yards and no touchdowns. Samari Rolle returned to the field and hauled in an interception of his own. The unit was exploited a couple of times in the game. One of those miscues resulted in a Houston touchdown. Against a better quarterback, the secondary might have had big problems.

Special teams: B
Steve Hauschka announced his arrival to the Ravens squad by sinking a field goal from 54 yards, while punter Sam Koch held the Texans in check. The kickoff coverage was much improved this week. Matt Stover missed a 50-yard field goal, but that is quite a stretch for him anyway.

Coaching: B+
The Ravens clearly executed the game plan they wanted. The offense continues to field a balance attack to keep opposing defenses honest. The defense continues to dominate opposing offenses, while the Ravens offense sustains drives, eating up the clock and actually scoring. Why was Stover sent out to kick a field goal from midfield when  Hauschka already proved he could kick it from further?

The Baltimore Ravens soundly thumped the Houston Texans, 41-13 on Sunday. Understandably upset, Texan fans are placing the blame at the feet of their quarterback, Sage Rosenfels, who threw four interceptions. The Houston fan base are overwhelmingly blaming the officiating as well. Here’s a snippet of some of the reactions of Texans fans over at the Texans’ official message board, HoustonTexans.com; Yahoo’s message board; and our Fan2Fan Alliance site, TexansTalk.com.

This is a poorly called game today….call after call against the Texans when they have the Ravens stopped. No call on grounding by Flacco (sic)two unbelievably bad PI calls…The Texans (sic) are not doing themselves favors and the refs aren’t (sic) helping them at all. How can you go from the least penalized team to have 12 by the 4th quarter…. [ticking] me off.
spurstexansastros, TexansTalk.com

Wost officiating I have EVER soon, this was one of the main reasons we lost. It was PATHETIC!
imatexan, TexansTalk.com

Let’s trade for Troy Smith (sic). He can run. And is accurate. Heisman winner. Nah, let’s pick up a washed up FA never was.
blake1776, HoustonTexans.com

Did anyone notice we gave up 40+ points? TO THE RAVENS!? The GM would be an ***** to draft anything not related to defense. If Schaub wasn’t taken out by cheap shots, we would probably rank fairly high in most offensive statistics at the end of the season. We need to improve the defense badly. That HAS to be the #1 priority going into this off season.
Schaub2Andre4TD, HoustonTexans.com

I watched in amazement as we would either throw three and out, or throw a pick, EVERY series! @#$%in’ RUN the ball on first down, at least. Their run defense can’t possibly be THAT scary, challenge them. That was pathetic play calling. PATHETIC!
moondog.1369, Yahoo! Message Board

The Ravens dominated the Texans today, 41-13, for their fourth straight win and third straight win on the road. That should be the first thought… three road wins? We haven’t seen a team in Baltimore that can win on the road since 2000.

Joe Flacco made great progress as a QB today. With his favorite target going down early he was forced to find other options in the passing game, which lead to Todd Heap finally looking like his old self. Joe stretched the defense with multiple deep throws, one resulting is a TD to WR Yamon Figurs (Congrats to Yamon on his first career receiving TD). Joe has now thrown 6 TD passes in his last four games with no turnovers.

Willis McGahee looked healthy and ran hard the entire game. He went over the 100 yard mark for the second time this season and added two TD runs. And I must add, his new touchdown dance is hilarious.

The Ravens defense was solid through most of the game. The air defense still has some leaks, but they overcame the injuries and picked off Sage Rosenfels four times. Ray Lewis had two interceptions thanks to the great play of NT Haloti Ngata. The return of Samari Rolle was immediately apparent. When Frank Walker, a fomer starter, can be your nickel back, you’ve got some depth. Walker may not be a star, but being able to use him to help Fabian Washington and Rolle is a great advantage to this Ravens defense.

Ngata is probably the Ravens best defensive player. Haloti came up big when he picked off Sage Rosenfels at the goalline which ended a good drive by Houston, he has two interceptions this season (three for his career) which is more than all-pro safety Ed Reed! Ngata has disrupted the QB more times this season than I can count, which has lead to turnovers and missed opportunities for opposing offense. We’ve heard all season about Albert Haynesworth and Shaun Rogers, but there’s no #92 I’d want more on my team right now thatn Ngata.

New kick-off and long field goal specialist Steven Hauschka. If anyone remembers seeing this kid kick in college with NC State, you know the kind of leg he has. I’m going to steal a line I heard on the postgame radio show today, but bringing in Hauschka is bigger than just getting a new leg… it proves that John Harbaugh is learning and, more importantly, willing to learn. Poor special teams play (bad kick offs, bad coverage, refusing to try long field goals) already cost this team a few games (Pittsburgh, Tennessee) and almost cost them a win last week (Cleveland). Kudos to John for making a move.

And let’s just make an overall comment here… The Ravens have now scored 27, 29, 37 and 41 points in their last four games. A lot of help is coming from this defense, but let’s also give credit to an offense that is able to take advantage of a short field and take the points it is given. When was the last time you remember the Ravens scoring more than 25 points in four straight games? Or averaging 33 points per game in a stretch like that? We’re going to have to go look that up, but I can’t remember anytime. Even with those scores, this team is only averaging 21 points per game on the season… which tells you just how poor this offense was for those first five games. Now that the Ravens have both pieces clicking, it’s time for the rest of the league to watch out.

Friday afternoon that means just 48 hours til game time. Here’s how the ExtremeRavens staffers see the upcoming Ravens game against the Houston Texans…

Baltimore Ravens (5-3, W3) at Houston Texans (3-5, L1)

Danielle: Texans 17, Ravens 12. Houston has won three straight at home, and the Ravens (even with wins at Miami and Cleveland) still struggle on the road. Is Baltimore capable of winning this game? Absolutely. The result lies with the Texans’ backup quarterback, Sage Rosenfels, ability to exploit a pass defense that has been exposed in the past.

John: Ravens 23, Texans 17. Texans have won three straight at home. Rosenfels hits a big play to Andre Johnson, but also turns the ball over a few times which makes the difference in the game. The Ravens three-headed monster will carry them to fourth straight win.

Andrew: Ravens 31, Texans 14. The extremely talented Andre Johnson will get his numbers, but the Ravens will shut down the Texans run-game and will harass Sage Rosenfels all day. On offense, Jared Gaither will be able to keep his ACC-rival Mario Williams incheck while the Ravens continue to progress on offense.

Dan: Ravens 27, Texans 10. The Ravens are averaging more than 30 points per game over the last three games, including to games on the road. This week, against a young secondary and coming off a strong performance, Joe Flacco will really show off.

What’s your take?

Welcome to Week Two in this 2008 NFL season… er… I mean… Week 10.

The Ravens head to Houston this week to take on the Texans in the game rescheduled from Week Two,  postponed after Hurricane Ike barreled into southeast Texas and damaged the Texans’ Reliant Stadium. The schedule changes brings together two teams in very different situations than eight weeks ago.

Early in the season, the Texans had high hopes. They were supposed to breakout and perhaps even challenge the elite of the AFC South - if not for a playoff position than at least for some standing in the division. Meanwhile, the Ravens were entering this year as a rebuilding process behind a rookie coach, rookie quarterback and aging defensive unit.

How things have changed.

Entering Week 10, the Ravens are now fighting for an AFC North division title and a playoff spot. Their five wins already equals their total from last season. The Texans have been on a rollercoaster of their own, though. Following an ugly 0-4 start,  the Texans had won three straight until last week’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

As we head into the weekend, here are two key match-ups to keep an eye on as the Ravens and Texans finally get to square off.

Texans Offense vs. Ravens Defense

WR Andre Johnson vs. Ravens Secondary

There are two undeniable facts here. First, that Andre Johnson is proving to be a beast and having a career year in 2008. Second, that the Ravens secondary continues to be the defense’s greatest weakness.

Such a combination - great receiver against weakened defensive backs - seems to always spell trouble for a team that relies heavily on the success of its defense.

Let’s start with Andre Johnson. Johnson entered the 2008 season as a good wide receiver, bordering on greatness, but oft limited by his own team’s ineptitude. Last season, Johnson truly broke out in an injury-shortened season. In just nine games he had more than 850 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. This year, Johnson has continued to the trend from last season. Already in just eight games he has 60 receptions, more than 800 yards, and three touchdowns.

And as if the Ravens needed more trouble from receivers, it’s worth noting that Johnson does his absolute best work at home in Reliant Stadium.  In four home games this season, Johnson has led the Texans to a 3-1 record by averaging more than 10 receptions and 148 yards per game. 148 yards in eight home games alone is enough to give Johnson an 1100-yard season. Read the rest of this entry »

In the wake of this week’s canceled game, there has been deserved discussion about what kind of impact an early bye week (and subsequent loss of a bye week later) is going to have on this team. And between injured veterans (Kelly Gregg, Ed Reed, Todd Heap, Fabian Washington and more) and new signees (Willie Anderson, Lorenzo Neal) there is at least some consensus that some time off this week really isn’t all that bad. Perhaps we’ll all change our tunes come November when some of our older vets are hobbling around the field, but for now, there should be some solace in the fact that a week without travel and game, our guys are getting healthy.

But let’s take a minute to look at another positive of this unexpected delay involving the city’s newest crush, Joe Flacco.

The rookie out of UDel had a passable week one and showed signs of becoming one of the league’s next great quarterbacks. His numbers weren’t particularly fancy, but ask around Baltimore and folks will tell you that, simple as it may have been, Flacco provided the kind of debut that fans here have been waiting. He was calm, he was collected, he managed his offense and the clock, and he didn’t make any mistakes. When the ball was in Joe’s hands, Ravens fans felt good about what could happen on any given play.

To get to the point, missing out on the Texans now might just be a blessing for Flacco as much as it is for those injured veterans we’ve already talked about. If there’s one thing we have come to know about Flacco, it’s that he’s a pretty quick learner. After spending most of the season outside of the starting quarterback discussion, he took the reins on short notice and has yet to look back. Imagine just how much Joltin’ Joe has picked-up (or will pick-up) courtesy of two more weeks with the first-string offense. Imagine how much more comfortable he’ll feel with his receivers and his line.

Add to this that instead of facing a dominant Texans defensive line in his second start, he’ll be facing a weak Cleveland line and secondary. This young line and Flacco get to take another test drive, instead of going up against the league’s best. Flacco will get to really play with this offense some more before having to go up against his first, true sack-heavy threat (Pittsburgh, Week 4). Even in their loss to the Steelers, the Texans only gave up 122 yards passing. The Browns, on the other hand, have allowed on average nearly double that: 242 yards per game.

It might seem a little unfair, but this unexpected bye is really raising my expectations for Flacco in the week to come. He’ll be at home, he’ll be rested, he’s had extra study time, and he’s facing a far less formidible opponent… And, yes, Cam Cameron, this means we’re going to be looking at you as well. Let’s test out the long ball, let’s see what Flacco can do with Clayton and Williams at his side, while we’ve got the chance.

Plenty of local sites summarize for us what’s being said about the Ravens throughout the sports media world… and even if they didn’t, most of us die-hards would find plenty of time to check Power Rankings and other articles on the team at our leisure.

But for a quick twist, let’s take a look at what’s being said about the Texans  heading into this week … and a few added game thoughts …

Read the rest of this entry »

The Ravens have one of those “good problems” about to pop up this week into next… and his name is Willis McGahee.

Last week, between Le’Ron McClain and Ray Rice (and a few nice scampers by a QB and WR here or there), the Ravens ran over the Bengals for 200+ yards on the ground. It’s the kind of base running game that every team loves to build around.

And yet, by most accounts, that running game was not at full strength without Willis McGahee because neither Rice nor McClain fit the prototype of the modern NFL back.

McGahee will likely continue to be limited this weekend in Houston, but even giving him a few carries helps the Ravens’ cause enormously. Between Rice, McGahee and McClain, the Ravens have three very different, but very capable runners from which to base their ground attack. McGahee is the all-around, load-carrier; Rice is the elusive, outside runner; and McClain is the up-the-gut, bowling ball. With McClain’s added ability to play fullback (his original position), he gives the Ravens plenty of options for mixing their playbook.

The running game is going to be huge part of the Ravens offense this year, which is no surprise. But the more successful they can be on the ground, the less pressure is put on rookie Joe Flacco and the more successful they can be at controlling the clock for their defense.

Last week, the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger needed only 18 pass attempts in their effort at dismantling the Texans (Big Ben himself only took 14).  On the ground, though, the Steelers’ two primary backs carried the ball 35 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns.

The Texans front seven are pass rushing specialists. They are weakest against the run. Between the addition of McGahee and the quality mixed-attack of Rice and McClain, the Ravens should be in good shape come Sunday. Because of the split carries, we still may not see a single back reach 100 yards. But the key to the game, will be getting the entire unit close to the 200 mark again, thereby keeping Joe Flacco and the pass attack out of the spotlight.