2011 NFL Divisional Playoff Preview: Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens

When Houston travels to Baltimore to play the Ravens this Sunday, it will be the second time in three months the Texans will have played at M&T Bank Stadium.

This time, much more is on the line.

The Ravens beat the Texans 29-14 in Week 6.

In what was a physical, tight game, the Ravens outscored the Texans 20-0 in the first and fourth quarters combined.

Houston's second-ranked running attack, led by Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster and Ben Tate, combined for only 90 yards on 24 carries in that game.

Ravens Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice gained 101 yards rushing by himself.

This time around, the Texans will have a different quarterback leading their offense: rookie T.J. Yates.

Is he good enough to do what Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Schaub, Alex Smith and Andy Dalton couldn't do (beat Baltimore at home in 2011)?

Will he fold under the pressure of playing his first road playoff game against the likes of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and company?

Those are valid questions, to which I think the answers are no and yes, respectively.

The Ravens are the only team (besides the Green Bay Packers) to go undefeated at home and in their division this year.

Yes, the Ravens went 8-0 at home this season, but they didn't just scrape by.

Baltimore won all of its home games by an average of 12.5 points per game.

At home, the Ravens had a +5 turnover margin and recorded 21 more sacks than they allowed.

But this will be far from a gimme for the Ravens.

For the Texans, the silver lining is two-fold:

One, although they don't have former Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Schaub at the helm, they will have two-time first team All-Pro wide receiver Andre Johnson in the lineup (Johnson was inactive in Week 6 against the Ravens).

Two, in that Week 6 game, the Texans were +2 in turnover margin (Baltimore's worst turnover margin of all eight home games this season).

According to BaltimoreRavens.com, when Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph intercepted Joe Flacco in Week 6, it was Joseph's third interception against Flacco in six career games (most interceptions Flacco has thrown to any player).

On the flip side, the Ravens could've made that Week 6 win even bigger.

In their previous game versus the Texans, the Ravens kicked five field goals.

If they had even converted one of those to touchdowns, the margin of victory would've been 19 points (a three-score difference).

Furthermore, in Week 6, Baltimore was without left guard Ben Grubbs, who was inactive due to a toe injury. Grubbs had previously made 62 consecutive starts (postseason included).

Grubbs is not listed on this week's injury report, and will start.

Speaking of injuries, the Ravens are probably the healthiest team in the league right now, and should be firing on all cylinders come Sunday afternoon.

The Texans, however, know all too well about how injuries can be an unwelcome deterrence.

We've heard that both teams have Pro Bowl running backs, strong offensive and defensive lines and excellent pass rushers.

Let's take a closer look at the numbers to quantify how good each team really is.

Below is a chart that displays each team's regular season rank in all the major statistical categories:

Statistical per game average	Ravens	Texans
Total offense (yards)	338.7 (15th)	372.1 (13th)
Total defense (yards)	288.9 (3rd)	285.7 (2nd)
Scoring offense (points)	23.6 (12th)	23.8 (10th)
Scoring defense (points)	16.6 (3rd)	17.4 (4th)
Rushing offense (yards)	124.8 (10th)	153.0 (2nd)
Rush defense (yards)	92.6 (2nd)	96.0 (4th)
Passing offense (yards)	213.9 (19th)	219.1 (18th)
Passing defense (yards)	196.2 (4th)	189.7 (3rd)
Touchdowns scored	41 (N/A)	41 (N/A)
Turnover margin	+2 (12th)	+7 (7th)
Sacks	48.0 (T-3rd)	44.0 (6th)
Sacks allowed	33 (T-12th)	33 (T-12th)
Field goal %	77 (26th)	84 (15th)
Net punt average	38.6 (T-19th)	37.7 (24th)
Head coach winning % (all-time)	68.8 (7th)	49.0 (91st)

*all stats according to nfl.com and pro-football-reference.com

So there you have it.

The Ravens and Texans are statistically similar, with a fraction of a point here and a few yards there separating them.

But considering the entire landscape of the 2011 NFL season, you'll notice that one team has an advantage over the other.

According to vegasinsider.com, the Ravens are an eight point favorite on Sunday.

Until a team besides the Ravens wins at M&T Bank Stadium, how could you not pick Baltimore?

Check out this video to see why the Ravens' home field advantage isn't just another statistic.

Consider this: the Ravens' last playoff game was their heartbreaking 31-24 loss at arch-rival Pittsburgh (after leading 21-7 at halftime) in the divisional round of last year's playoffs.

That loss will be one year to the day of this weekend's game versus the Texans.

I think the Ravens will be focused.