MNF: Ravens vs Texans

It's time for Monday Night Football, and what's better than watching a high-powered offense vs a high-powered defense. Tonight's game will feature the 8-4 Baltimore Ravens and 5-7 Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.  Let's not waste any time, and get right on to the preview...



Ravens FS Ed Reed





Ravens MLB Ray Lewis



Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens have had a successful season thus far, coming into tonight's game at 8-4, and are in the 6th spot and last wild-card seed in the playoffs right now. Coach John Harbaugh brings a tenacious defense to Houston, led by future Hall-Of-Famers LB Ray Lewis and FS Ed Reed. Both Reed and Lewis have had illustrious careers. Reed has recorded 50 INT, and hold the record for longest INT return for a TD in history(108 yards) and has been to 6 Pro Bowls. Lewis has had an even more illustrious career than Reed, becoming the 2nd player to record 30 sacks and 30 INT in his career(former Chargers and Patriots SS Rodney Harrison was the first). Lewis has been elected to 11 Pro Bowls. They are also led by a talented group of youth including DE/DT Haloti Ngata, QB Joe Flacco, and RB Ray Rice. Flacco has matured as a QB, and has developed pin-point accuracy, adding to his cannon arm.  He has especially improved through the Ravens' acquisiton of WR Anquan Boldin from Arizona. Boldin is one of the most explosive WRs in the NFL, and has proven so thus far in his first year in Baltimore.

Team Leaders:

Passing: QB Joe Flacco- 2988 passing yards, 19 TD, 8 INT, 62.3 completion %, 92.8 QB rating.

Rushing: RB Ray Rice- 844 rushing yards, 3 TD, 4.0 yards per carry, 49 receptions, 410 receiving yards.
Receiving: WR Anquan Boldin- 56 receptions, 770 receiving yards, 7 TD, 13.8 yards per reception
Defense: MLB Ray Lewis- 108 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT, 4 passes defended, 1 TD
Defense: FS Ed Reed- 18 tackles, 9 passes defended, 4 INT, 1 forced fumble, 1 TD assisst(lateral)
Defense: OLB Terrell Suggs- 55 tackles, 9 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 2 passes defended, 1 forced fumble

Highlight of 2010:
Week 1:  The highlight of the Baltimore Ravens' season was the their week 1 victory over the New York Jets in the Meadowlands. The Ravens won 10-9 and suffocated the Jets' offense, holding them to 176 yards of total offense and only 5 offensive first downs. This game set the tone for the season, and has been a motivator since. The Ravens held Jets QB Mark Sanchez to 60 passing yards on 10 completions. The Ravens forced 14 Jets penalites and many bad decisions by Sanchez.

Texans RB Arian Foster

Texans DE Mario Williams

Houston Texans: The Texans have had a sub-par season, after recording their first ever winning season at 9-7 last year. They stand at 5-7 right now, which is 3rd in the AFC South, behind the 7-6 Indianapolis Colts and 8.5 Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans are led by a very explosive offense, the usual suspects being All-Pro WR Andre Johnson, QB Matt Schaub, and TE Owen Daniels. The Texans' defense had been very good last season, led by defensive rookie of the year OLB Brian Cushing, and former defensive rookie of the year MLB DeMeco Ryans, as well as former #1 draft pick DE Mario Williams. However, the loss of CB Dunta Robinson has seemed to have a lasting effect, as the Texans are last in passing defense, due to an absence of experience in the secondary. The MVP of the Texans so far has been none other than... RB/poet/preacher Arian Foster. Before the season, you would've scratched your head and said who??? Foster, who played his college ball at Tennessee, has been arguably the best offensive player this season, let alone best running back. He has rushed for 1230 yards and 13 TD(both lead the NFL coming into this week), and has been explosive ever since the season began, starting with a 231 yard, 3 TD at home in week 1 vs the Indianapolis Colts.

Team Leaders:

Passing: QB Matt Schaub- 3089 passing yards, 17 TD, 8 INT, 64.0 completion %, 92.3 QB rating.

Rushing: RB Arian Foster- 1230 rushing yards, 13 TD, 5.0 yards per carry, 50 receptions, 479 receiving yards, 2 TD, 9.6 yards per reception
Receiving: WR Andre Johnson- 71 receptions, 1018 yards, 5 TD, 14.3 yards per reception
Defense: DE Mario Williams- 28 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 2 passes defended, 1 forced fumble
Defense: CB Kareem Jackson- 54 tackles, 9 passes defended, 2 INT
Defense: SS Bernard Pollard- 90 tackles, 1 sack, 4 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles

Highlight of 2010:
Week 1: The highlight of the season for the Texans was the breakout performance by Arian Foster in week 1 vs the Colts. Foster had 231 yards and 3 TD on 34 carries. It was a shock, but nonetheless against a sub-par Colts defense. Ever since the performance, Foster has rushed for 999 yards and 10 TD, and has never looked back.

Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs

Keys to Victory:

Ravens: The key to success for Baltimore must be to stop Arian Foster. Foster has been on a tear this season, and coach John Harbaugh must match MLB Ray Lewis on Foster. Lewis is a great enough player to take down even the best of backs. The Ravens must also be able to put pressure on QB Matt Schaub, especially DE Haloti Ngata and OLB Terrell Suggs, their 2 best pass rushers.



Texans WR Andre Johnson



Texans: The key to success for Houston is to control the clock. The Texans must be able to run the ball, and run it often. Because of their lack of defensive presence this season, coach Gary Kubiak must rely on his offense to control the game. Running the ball will eventually open things up for Matt Schaub to hit WR Andre Johnson for several passes. Johnson is arguably the best WR in the NFL presently.

Prediction:
The Foz: Ravens win 23-20
Ocho Cinco: Ravens win 24-13