Houston Texans vs Baltimore Ravens: Why the Ravens Will Lose at Home

Though the Baltimore Ravens have yet to lose a home game this season, that all could change on Sunday, when the team takes on the Houston Texans in the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

The Ravens beat the Texans in Baltimore in Week 6, but this is a very different Houston team they will face this week. Houston is coming off a convincing, 31-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round, clearly displaying they have what it takes to make a deep playoff run.

This contest will come down to which team has the stronger defense, and who team can run the ball better. Both the Ravens and Texans have quarterbacks that cannot be relied upon to deliver a win solely with their passing skills, and Houston proved last week that this formula can work, if applied correctly.

Quarterback T.J. Yates passed for just 159 yards and attempted only 20 passes, relying on running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate to put up the majority of the team's yardage. The two ran for a combined 190 yards and Foster added two touchdowns.

Though Yates had a touchdown pass of his own, it was what Foster and Tate contributed offensively that kept the Texans dominant.

The offense was also aided by a commanding display by their defense, which held the Bengals running game to just 32 total yards, forcing rookie quarterback Andy Dalton to throw the ball, which resulted in three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

If they can effectively shut down Baltimore running back Ray Rice and make the Ravens put the ball in quarterback Joe Flacco's hands, then they can put similar pressure on him and again hope to pull down at least one pick.

The Ravens will be looking to employ a similar strategy against the Texans. In the teams' first meeting, Baltimore was able to hold Houston to just 200 passing and 93 rushing yards, keeping them out of the end zone on all but one drive (the Texans' other touchdown came from an end zone fumble recovery) and managed to score defensive points of their own.

However, their offense didn't score many points either. The Ravens had a touchdown in the first quarter and another in the fourth, but the majority of their scores came from Billy Cundiff field goals.

The Texans defense has only gotten better since that time. They never gave up 29 or more points from that game on and looked every bit as brutal as their Baltimore counterparts against the Bengals last week.

On offense, Houston will need to keep relying on Foster and Tate, which makes them vulnerable to the treatment their team gave the Bengals last week. In concert however, the two backs are more elusive than Baltimore's Rice and will cause more trouble for the Ravens defense than Rice will for Houston's.

The playoffs turn teams into different, better versions of themselves, and that's especially true for the Texans; a team with more to prove than practically any other postseason squad. They've manage to get to—and win in—the playoffs despite a number of serious injuries to key players on both sides of the ball.

With just one game left before the AFC championship, I think the Texans' momentum and their ability to consistently execute their game plan gives them a very real advantage over the Ravens this week.

They've proven themselves to be one of the most balanced teams in the league this year and that should only continue on Sunday when they deliver an upset over the Ravens and hand them their first loss at home this season.