The Ravens-Texans game was relatively close at the half, with the Ravens leading 12-6. Then after the half, the Texans defense allowed the Ravens a 5:44 scoring drive, and then the Texan offense and defense lost their collective minds..In a game where minimizing turnovers was seen as the key, Texans backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels, playing for an injured Matt Schaub, managed to throw four interceptions. As Steve Slaton fantasy owners might intuit, Texans coach Gary Kubiak didn't do Rosenfels any favors by having no patience with the run at all. He had 4 attempts. (Those same owners might be angry about a 58 yard TD to Slaton that was nullified by a touchy holding call away from the play).
The Ravens offense was able to move the ball at will, with both the run and the pass, and really were only stopped when they made mistakes or penalties. TE Todd Heap and RB Willis McGahee had huge games with two touchdowns for each. Rookie quarterback, Joe Flacco played for the most part, a very poised game.
The Texans defense continues to give up big plays where key players like Heap, have no one guarding them. It is a interesting scheme that Texans defensive coordinator Richard Smith runs.
And when I say "interesting," I mean, very enjoyable to the fans of opposing teams or those who have fantasy starters going against the Texan defense. Houston fans would find it interesting to give Smith the Homer Stokes' treatment (as seen at the end of this YouTube).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-10-2008 @ 10:47AM
Fran said...
About all those penalties (10 on the Texans)---I have a feeling that after the NFL fined a player $50,000 for hits on our QB last week, which were NOT flagged (and I feel certain they heard about it from the NFL)-------well, I just think the officials got together and decided to throw those yellow hankies every chance they got--- against the Texans! Sure seemed like it! What do you think? The Texans had rarely been penalized before this game.
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11-10-2008 @ 10:51AM
Stephanie Stradley said...
Fran-
I thought it was a poorly reffed game to both teams. Very touchy. You start seeing a number of early defensive holding calls and you know it is going to be one of those days. It's just that the Texans penalties were of a very untimely nature.
Thanks for reading and commenting,
Steph
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11-10-2008 @ 12:19PM
Steve said...
Overall, I remain very disappointed. Our team has clearly made progress under Kubiak. However, the remain a poorly coached team. They are extremely vulnerable to trick plays. Clock management is a joke. They very consistently waste timeouts early in the game, and near the end of the first or second half are in competent at running a two-minute drill. There are unnecessary penalties, especially out of a timeout. Adjustments are poor. These are the hallmarks of a poorly coached team. Their talent has improved markedly, so they are now frequently competitive. However, they never seem to win consistently unless their talent is clearly superior (Detroit, Cincinnati). They are moving in the right direction, but I no longer think that this is the coaching staff to get them over the hump.
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11-10-2008 @ 7:32PM
caj said...
I had to laugh at all the local Houston stations last night asking 'What happened to the Texans'? My answer: they played a real team.
These guys actually thought that beating the Bengals and Lions was an indication that the team was bouncing back and heading to the playoffs.
They've got three good players - A Johnson, K Walter, and M Williams. Four if you count K Brown, the kicker. Schaub is a part-time qb who will never play an entire season and Rosenfels is a disaster.
Maybe David Carr can pick up a Super Bowl ring if the Giants win. He may be on the bench in NY, but at least he's not still eating turf with this lousy team.
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11-12-2008 @ 7:56AM
zomgMatt said...
The Texans have many more good players than that. DeMeco Ryans, Dunta Robinson, Owen Daniels, and Steve Slaton are just a few.
This isn't a personnel issue - not with the personnel on the field, at least. The Texans (minus the safeties) are a fine collection of talent. The problem is poor coaching. Schaub and Rosenfels are spectacularly turnover-prone, while the defensive playcalling is possibly the worst in the league. Richard Smith never blitzes, never knows when to blitz, doesn't put the best players on the field, and puts the team in a position to lose week after week. If the Texans were to replace him with a competent DC, play would improve dramatically.
11-14-2008 @ 3:27AM
Sheila said...
Baltimore is just the best team. We struggled, but we are on the comeback trail. If the reffs stop picking on us, we would win many more games. I love my team and hope the next 3 games go in our favor. We now have players on both sides of the ball. If we don't make the super bowl this year, I can promise everyone, we will make it next year. Look out all you Ravens haters.
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