Texans vs. Ravens: Veteran Baltimore Too Experienced for Young Houston

Forget the Houston Texans starting a rookie quarterback.

Forget the Baltimore Ravens playing at home.

The reason the Ravens will beat the Texans in the Divisional Round on Sunday is that they're more experienced.

Let's be frank, it's hard to tell what the Ravens' offense will give us from game to game. They've beaten top teams, but lost to teams like the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. In that sense, the Texans' emerging defense could prove to be a challenge on Sunday.

But the Texans have a young team overall, with players like J.J. Watt, Brooks Reed and quarterback T.J. Yates.

It's not like I expect any of these players to play horribly, especially Watt and Reed, who have been rookie wonders. It's that I think the Ravens will simply play better.

It's one thing to beat the Cincinnati Bengals; it's quite another to beat a 12-4 team with playoff experience like the Ravens.

I'll say this, the Texans defense woke up after that 29-14 thrashing to the Ravens in Week 6. It's also continued to develop as the younger players have emerged. This is why I think it will be a close game.

But last season the Ravens scored a combined 54 points in their two playoff games. This was despite averaging 22.3 points per game in the regular season. Veteran teams like this know how to turn it on in the postseason and playing at home gives them even more of an advantage.

The Texans are an emerging team that figures to be a playoff contender moving forward, but they still need more time before they beat a team like the Ravens in the postseason.