Tag: texans ravens

Texans far from concerned with standings in AFC playoffs

The only win-loss record that matters for the Texans is the one on the upcoming gameday against their future opponent.

The Houston Texans can only control what’s ahead.

That includes a victory in Week 18 over the Tennessee Titans to secure a 10-win season.

That includes responding in the wild-card round when they host a playoff game against the top-ranked wild-card roster.

Looking back at a 31-2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens won’t do anyone good. Neither is looking back on the previous four losses in six games after starting the year off 6-3.

Houston might have a 9-7 record, but it’s a division winner. That’s all that matters entering the regular season finale.

“The records really don’t concern me,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said Wednesday. “I never go into a game thinking about a team’s record, whether it’s a winning or losing record. Every week it’ll be about how you show up to the game and how you play within those three and a half hours.”

The previous three hours of play will be one Houston hopes to forget. After trailing by 10, the Texans forced a safety on All-Pro running back Derrick Henry. The offense drove once more and landed inside Baltimore’s 5 with a chance to tie the game.

But back-to-back underwhelming play calls led to a turnover on downs at the 1-yard line. Three plays later, Lamar Jackson found Mark Andrews for a 67-yard gain.

Two plays after that, the MVP candidate connected with Isaiah Likely for a 9-yard score and extended the lead to 15.
Ryans, who has Houston in the playoffs, said that regardless of records, it’s about the team that afternoon.

“It just matters are you the best team within that time frame,” Ryans said. “The records really don’t matter and definitely doesn’t matter when you go into the playoffs. Just all about looking internally and playing your best.”

Houston hopes to be the better team next Sunday at Nissan Stadium against the three-win Titans. The plan is for it to carry over into the second week of January.

Ravens-Texans Week 17: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The Houston Texans fell short of securing a 10-win season on Christmas Day against the Baltimore Ravens. Here’s the snap count.

One could argue that the Houston Texans at least made games close.

Not every outing ended in victory, but at least they were four-quarter battles.

Outside of kickoff and the handshakes, that wasn’t the case for Wednesday’s showdown at NRG Stadium.

Behind an MVP-worthy performance from Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens dominated the Texans 31-2 while shoring up their chances of securing the AFC North division title for a second straight season.

Without question, Wednesday’s lulls marked the worst loss of the DeMeco Ryans era. It also marked perhaps the worst game C.J. Stroud played since his time at Ohio State in 2021.

“We didn’t play our best ball, and all of that starts with me. A lack of execution,” Ryans said. “I’ll take the next couple of days here to look at everything — including myself.”

The Texans’ only points came off a safety in the second quarter. Rookie cornerback Kamari Lassiter dove for All-Pro running back Derrick Henry’s legs pinned at the 3-yard line to stuff him in the end zone.
Houston (9-7) came close to the end zone once more on the ensuing drive before getting stuffed on third down. With a touchdown, the Texans could have tied the game at 10-10, so the odds were in DeMeco Ryans’ favor.
The execution was not. Joe Mixon was stuffed at the 1-yard line and Baltimore wasted little time responding. A 67-yard pass to Mark Andrews set the Ravens up at Houston’s 13.
That eventually carried over to a 9-yard score and a 17-2 lead.
Here are the snap counts from both teams.

Offensive Snaps: 56

Defensive Snaps: 63

Special Teams Snaps: 18

The Texans have 10 days to respond before closing out the regular season on the road against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium.

A time for kickoff has yet to be determined as of this time.

Todd Monken needs a good game plan against Texans’ Will Anderson Jr.

It will be interesting to see how Todd Monken utilizes Lamarr Jackson in a way that counteracts Will Anderson Jr. and Danelle Hunter.

Certain individual NFL players are just so dominant that you label them “game-changers.” The Houston Texans’ defensive end, Will Anderson Jr., is a great example.

In college, he won the Nagurski, Bednarik, and Lott awards, which honor the nation’s best overall defensive player. He also won the Lombardi Award, which recognizes the best overall lineman.

The third overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Anderson made the Pro Bowl and won the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award last season. And it feels like he’s only just getting started.

Ravens Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken is obviously prepping on how best to try and slow down Anderson, as well as Danielle Hunter, the Texans’ other Pro Bowl defensive end, who plays opposite him.

In a dozen games (he missed the other three with an ankle injury) this season, Anderson has registered 10.5 sacks, 32 tackles, 14 TFLs, and 15 quarterback hits. While he specializes in getting into opposing backfields, he can also change the game with QB hits, hurries, and knockdowns.

“As a rusher, one thing you love is getting sacks, but it’s so much more than just getting in sacks, you know, affecting the quarterback can come in various ways,” Anderson said exclusively to RG. “We are talking about just pushing the pocket. We want to penetrate.”

Anderson stuffs the stat sheet, whether it be traditional or next-generation stats. Pro Football Focus currently grades him at 85.4, ranking him ninth best out of 205 NFL Edges.

This Christmas, we’ll (as long as you have Netflix or a ticket or media credential to the game) all get the gift of seeing Anderson in pursuit of arguably the most outstanding runner the quarterback position has ever seen.

Jackson, who is as mobile a QB as you will ever see, will become the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards for a quarterback on Wednesday if he rushes for 87 or more yards.

It will be interesting to see how Monken utilizes Jackson to counteract Anderson and Hunter. If used effectively and strategically, rollouts can quickly negate the impact of an aggressive blitz.

Of course, the best way to eliminate edge rushers or dominate the run is for Monken to do a lot with Jackson and Derrick Henry’s zone-read pairing.

While Monken isn’t perfect, his work has received much praise this season, and deservedly so. It may not be long before he is in the main seat somewhere.

You cannot doubt that he’s drawn up something special in this week’s game prep.

 

 

Containing Texans WR Nico Collins a top priority for Ravens defense

It’s going to be interesting to see who draws coverage assignment(s) on Nico Collins, and what approach Zach Orr takes to defending him.

There is good news for the Baltimore Ravens’ pass defense: They are no longer last in the league in yardage allowed (3,823 total/254.9 per game).

Sure, there is only one team worse, the Jacksonville Jaguars (3,945 total/260 per game allowed), but it’s something. They have made a little progress, but a new challenge, with strong potential to halt that progress, awaits- Houston Texans wideout Nico Collins.

He’ll enter the Christmas Day contest 14th in the NFL in yards per reception at 15.1 and 17th in receiving yards with 909. He is truly a force to be reckoned with: ask the man who holds nearly every Texans franchise receiving record, Andre Johnson.

“It makes you smile because it’s like when you see a guy put in the work and do the things he needs to do and the way he plays,” the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame selection said of Collins in an exclusive with RG.org. “Man, I love the way he plays the game.

“To me, he reminds me of myself a little bit.

“I love his physicality. He makes you want to watch the game of football. What he’s doing, man, it’s been a lot of fun to watch, and I just hope he continues it.”

Collins got off to a rip-roaring start. Four games in, he was on a pace that would easily eclipse 2,000 yards receiving for the season. He has since returned to Earth after being slowed by a hamstring injury that forced him to miss five games.

However, he’s still very dangerous. ESPN Analytics projects him to finish with 1,000+ receiving yards again on 68 catches and exactly 100 targets. It will be interesting to see who draws coverage assignment(s) on Collins and what approach Ravens Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr takes to defending him.

Kyle Hamilton, the Ravens’ overall best defender (arguably) and general “Swiss Army Knife,” will be an integral part of the plan. Marlon Humphrey, fresh off his pick-six that had the whole football world talking this weekend, will be confident right now.

Expect him to be involved as well.