Update From Houston: Hurricane Ike and the Texans-Ravens Game

Usually, by this time of the week, I would be doing some sort of home game preview of the Texans-Ravens game. I live in Houston and well, given that Hurricane Ike is expected to hit here, my priorities are more on that right now.

The Houston Chronicle reports that likely the Texans-Ravens game will be moved to Monday, though this might change due to the seriousness of the storm.

Just guessing and not knowing, I'm not sure it would be a great idea to send the Ravens team into a city that might be facing this generations' Hurricane Carla (the Houston mayor's comparison, not mine). At the current time, most of the hurricane models have the storm coming onshore just southwest of Houston and projecting it to be a Category 3, perhaps 4 hurricane.

This is not good for Houston. As Eric Berger wrote a few years ago for the Houston Chronicle, the worst case scenario for the city would be for a significant hurricane to hit Freeport, south of Houston. This puts the worst quadrant of the storm over the city, and sends storm surge up Galveston Bay. Re-reading that article, to be honest, freaks me out. The storm is going to hit somewhere, and at this point, we can only hope and pray that the storm doesn't intensify.

This is what the Texans just sent out in an email to season ticket holders:

The Houston Texans are currently evaluating the severe weather conditions projected for the Gulf Coast region. The team is in contact with the National Weather Service and the National Football League to determine the status of the Texans vs. Ravens game scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 14.

We will communicate updated game information throughout the day via HoustonTexans.com and regular email alerts.

Here's Texans owner Bob McNair's statement from yesterday afternoon. I am guessing the Texans make their decision soon due to travel issues. Houston Mayor, Bill White has told all non-essential people to try to stay off of the highways to allow for people in storm surge areas to evacuate.

Here's my information from yesterday about how the Houston Texans' Reliant Stadium is supposed to withstand "severe hurricane conditions."

So basically, under most circumstances I care about the Texans-Ravens game more than most people. Today, I am more concerned on whether the glass windows of my house blow in or a tree falls on my roof or my house floods. Oh joy. I live significantly inland, and current estimates of maximum sustained winds for my zipcode is 84 miles an hour.

I'm not evacuating because I don't live in a storm surge area and would prefer for the highways to be open for those people who do. But I am going down the street a ways for a safer house.

But if you want a Texans-Ravens preview, here's my short version:

In the Kubiak era, the Texans have tended to bounce back well after being crushed. If the Ravens defense brought what they did last week, the Texans offensive line that is still trying to gel is going to be in serious trouble. Not good for Texans quarterback Matt Schaub or the running game (that may be missing Ahman Green with an ankle problem but who knows if that matters at all if the offensive line isn't working). The Texans defense looked awful last week, and in the past has made even below average quarterbacks look good at times. See Joey Harrington's stats last year.

Like most young teams, the Texans play much better at home than on the road. This weekend, the UnderArmor slogan "We Must Protect This House" has all new meaning for those of us living in the Texas gulf coast.