NFL: Ravens defense too strong for Houston

The Baltimore Ravens (6-5) stay in the middle of the AFC playoff race! At the end of Week 12, the Ravens beat the Houston Texans (4-7) at home with 23:16 – despite another weak performance of their own Passing Game. In the end, however, Baltimore was once again able to rely on his own defence.

On the other hand, Baltimore was able to put constant pressure on Tom Savage (22/37,252 YDS, 2 INT, FUM). And this especially in the decisive phases: When Houston had the chance to win or equalize the game twice late in the game with one drive each, the Ravens Defense decidedly slammed shut the door via strip sack and interception. Baltimore now leads the league with 26 takeaways.

The game for Houston had actually got off to a good start: The Texans marched directly with their drive – with the friendly support of several penalties against the Ravens-Defense, which was responsible for six of the seven penalties against Baltimore in total – down the field and Lamar Miller from four yards provided the first touchdown of the evening. But that was the last major offensive highlight of the game for a while.

Rather, the game that could be expected in the run-up to the match developed – marked by both defenses. Punts determined the picture before Baltimore put down his two best drives in the second quarter: Allen finished the first one with a 10-yard touchdown run, but this drive was not dominated by the offense, a fake punt on Houston’s 41-yard line with a 22-yard pass from Punter Sam Koch was the decisive play of the drive. The second drive belonged to Alex Collins, who catapulted himself into the final zone with two good runs. Joe Flacco (20/32,141 YDS) didn’t play more than the game manager role.

Afterwards, it was a similar picture on both sides until the final phase: some acceptable drives that ended sooner or later due to individual mistakes or penalties and thus at best jumped out of field goals. Until Baltimore’s Defense finally put the lid on the game.

Baltimore Ravens (6-5) – Houston Texans (4-7)23:16 (0:7,17:3,0:3,6:3) BOXSCORE

No difficult decision here. Four and a half minutes to go, Terrell Suggs Savage knocked the ball out of hand, and a little later Baltimore expanded his lead via Field Goal to 23:16. Houston had to march down the field so late in the game, and even before the 2-minute warning, Ravens Defense ended the game with Anthony Levine’s interception. Additionally bitter for Houston: Suggs Backup-TackleKendall beat Lamm, who had to represent the injured Chris Clark.

Baltimore dominated the Line of Scrimmage with his front. The Ravens put Tom Savage under pressure in the decisive moments, but above all they allowed an unbelievable four (!) total yards in front of opponent contact with 25 Rushing attempts of the Texans. Lamar Miller finished the game with three yards per run, although he had a 17-yarder.

Had both Ravens bags and forced the decisive fumble of the game. In addition, four tackles and a total of eight strong pressures on 34 pass rush snaps. Suggs is still an essential part of the Ravens front at the age of 35 and was the decisive factor for the victory over Houston.

It’s hard to name someone else here. Frustrating for the Texans: Savage didn’t play as badly as it might be remembered in retrospect. However, the scenes that marked the outcome of this match were the serendipitous opportunities in Third Down and, of course, the catastrophic turnovers late in the game. Savage still has problems reading the middle of the field or adapting to defensive adjustments after the snap.