Texans vs. Ravens: Halftime Adjustments for Baltimore

Alright Ravens fan, you've got one of your own today. But for the little bit, we'll throw out the bias and take apart this first half. 

The Ravens obviously didn't want to come out in the playoffs by giving up a 60-yard kickoff return, but the defense showed why they're are the No. 3 unit in the league by only surrendering 19 yards on the drive and stuffing Arian Foster on 3rd-and-1. Yes, they gave up points, but that's a big stop against one of the best running backs in the NFL.

Dropped passes have already hurt Torrey Smith, who missed on a deep ball from Flacco on the first series. It was a great pass and still a tough catch, but in the playoffs is when it matters most. He has to make those catches going forward. With Johnathan Joseph covering Smith it will be interesting to see how much of a factor the speedy wide receiver will end up being today.

With the first half out of the way, let's take a look at a few adjustments that head coach John Harbaugh and the Ravens can make to solidify the first playoff game in Baltimore in quite a while.

Anquan Boldin

After missing the two final regular season games after a minor surgical procedure, Boldin has already come out to make an acrobatic sideline catch and a huge touchdown catch to put Baltimore up by 14 points late in the first quarter. The Texans haven't found a cornerback that can cover Boldin yet. Until they do, Flacco needs to just keep feeding him and Ray Rice the football.

Drops

The defense picked him up with a big interception, but Ed Dickson's drop at midfield was a conversion the Ravens needed. We talked about drops a bit earlier, but Flacco's going to need his receivers to make these catches. 

Arian Foster

At the half, Foster has 95 yards on the ground. The Texans' offensive line and Foster manhandled the Ravens on an 86-yard TD drive to cut the lead to just four. The Ravens either need to keep putting up points so that Foster's rushing skills don't matter as much, or just plain stop him. I imagine the Ravens start stacking eight in the box on the regular, especially with how well Ed Reed has been able to sniff out the deep ball in the first half.