Ravens vs. Texans: Complete Week 16 Preview for Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens are right in the thick of the playoff race, and they'll look to remain there when they take on the Houston Texans this week.
Coming into this week, Baltimore holds the No. 6 seed and final wild-card spot in the AFC playoff picture. That's just one game ahead of the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers for one of the two wild-card spots.
Those three teams are 8-6 entering Week 16, so the 9-5 Ravens can ill afford a slip up at Houston, or else Baltimore could find itself sitting on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
Baltimore also trails the 9-4-1 Cincinnati Bengals by just a half-game for the AFC North lead. The Bengals face the 11-3 Denver Broncos this week, so there's a decent chance they lose, leaving Baltimore with the chance to lead the division by week's end.
For now, though, Baltimore must only focus on the Texans, who come into this game with a new quarterback after Ryan Fitzpatrick broke his leg last week (subscription required).
While the 7-7 Texans are still in the playoff race, they probably don't have the horses to make it to the postseason. Here is my preview of this game for Baltimore.
Week 15 Recap
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The Baltimore Ravens hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars this week with the opportunity to ascend into a playoff spot with a win. They did just that with a 20-12 win that pushed them into a wild-card spot in the playoff standings.
However, it wasn't as easy of a game as most expected it would be, and the Ravens had to sweat this one out right up until the final minute.
The Ravens got off to a fast start after Darian Stewart blocked a Jags punt, and Kamar Aiken returned it for the score to put Baltimore up, 7-0.
From there, Jacksonville scored on three straight possessions, but the Ravens defense did manage to hold the Jags to field goals and not touchdowns.
That left the Jags holding a 9-7 lead midway in the second quarter before Justin Tucker hit a 22-field goal to give Baltimore a 10-9 lead.
However, the Jags would move into scoring range to allow Josh Scobee to hit a 45-yarder to give the Jags a 12-10 lead at halftime.
The Ravens would take control of this game in the second half. They took the lead after Joe Flacco got the offense into the red zone before he hit Owen Daniels for a three-yard score.
That put Baltimore up, 17-12, and both teams wouldn't score again until there was one minute, 11 seconds left after Tucker hit a field goal to give the Ravens a 20-12 win.
The ensuing possession saw safety Jeremy Miles intercept Blake Bortles to seal the win for the Ravens.
News and Notes
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Ravens Lose 2 more Defensive Backs
The Ravens secondary continues to be decimated by injuries, and two more defensive backs were lost to season-ending injuries during their win over Jacksonville.
Cornerback Asa Jackson had a big game last week, notching eight tackles, two pass deflections and one tackle for loss. Unfortunately, he left the game with a knee injury that turned out to be a PCL injury that will sideline him the rest of the year.
Also knocked out of the game was rookie safety Terrence Brooks, and he was sadly lost for the year with a knee injury.
Those two join Jimmy Smith, Danny Gorrer, Aaron Ross and Tramain Jacobs as Ravens defensive backs to go on injured reserve. This has been a season to forget for the Ravens secondary.
That leaves Jeromy Miles and Will Hill as the primary safeties with Lardarius Webb and Rashaan Melvin as the primary cornerbacks.
Lorenzo Taliaferro goes to Injured Reserve
In addition to a those two defensive backs going down for the year, Baltimore placed running back Lorenzo Taliaferro on IR. The rookie fourth-round pick out of Coastal Carolina was having a promising debut season before falling behind Bernard Pierce on the depth chart, who's behind starter Justin Forsett.
Earlier in the year, Taliaferro had a six-game stretch in which he recorded 286 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns. During a Week 14 win over the Miami Dolphins, Taliaferro rushed for 35 yards on seven carries before leaving with a foot injury—the same one that's led him to being placed on IR.
Injury Report
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| Name | Position | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday |
| Canty, Chris | DL | Ankle | DNP | DNP |
| Daniels, Owen | TE | NIR | - | DNP |
| Hill, Will | FS | NIR | DNP | FP |
| Jones, Jacoby | WR/RS | Illness | DNP | FP |
| Levine, Anthony | S | Ankle | LP | LP |
| Osemele, Kelechi | G/T | NIR | DNP | FP |
| Pierce, Bernard | RB | Back | LP | FP |
| Smith, Daryl | LB | NIR | - | DNP |
- DNP: Did not participate in practice
- LP: Limited Participation in Practice; Less than 100 percent of a player's normal repetitions
- FP: Full Participation; 100 percent of a player's normal repetitions
- NIR: Not injury-related
- (-): Not Listed; No practice status available
The Ravens could be without starting defensive lineman Chris Canty this week, as an ankle injury has caused him to miss two days of practice.
Baltimore is also carefully monitoring the status of defensive back Anthony Levine. He is dealing with an ankle injury that's limited him in two practices. He doubles as a safety and cornerback, so losing him would be a tough loss to an already-depleted secondary.
Injury report is courtesy of BaltimoreRavens.com.
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Matchups and X-Factor to Watch
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RB Arian Foster vs. ILBs Daryl Smith and CJ Mosley
Houston's Arian Foster is one of the game's best running backs, and keeping him contained is the key to stopping the Texans offense.
Foster is second in the NFL in rushing yards per game (102.5). He's also third in 20-plus yard runs (eight) and fourth in rushing scores (eight). In four of the Texans' seven losses, Foster either didn't play or rushed for under 100 yards.
The Ravens run defense ranks third in the league (84.3 yards per game), and they're led by inside linebackers CJ Mosley and Daryl Smith.
Those two have combined for 228 tackles, eight tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. They will get a lot of one-on-one opportunities to take down Foster, and it's imperative they often do so to prevent him from ripping off big gains.
RT Derek Newton vs. OLBs Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil
The Ravens have two elite pass-rushers in Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil. The two outside linebackers have terrorized opposing quarterbacks this year, combining for 28 sacks and 82 tackles. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), they've also combined for 55 QB Hurries.
Suggs and Dumervil will rush from both sides throughout a game, but they'll have the most success in this game versus Texans right tackle Derek Newton.
The fourth-year pro has started every games at right tackle this year, but too often he's been a liability in pass protection. Per PFF, Newton has surrendered 34 QB hurries and two sacks.
While Newton is doing a good job of not allowing his man to get the sack, too often he's allowing his man to pressure the QB affect his ability to throw the ball under duress.
Baltimore will look to exploit Newton and keep the heat on whoever the Texans starting QB is.
X-Factor: The Texans Quarterbacks
Speaking of which, the Texans aren't exactly sure who their starting quarterback is going to be versus the Ravens.
Starter Ryan Fitzpatrick broke his leg last week, and after going on injured reserve, coach Bill O'Brien hasn't named the starter for this week, per the Houston Chronicle's Brian T. Smith.
The QB battle should come down to journeymen Case Keenum and Thad Lewis, though, neither is an enticing option for the Texans.
Lewis is 2-4 in his career as a starting QB, while Keenum is 0-8. With such a short week to prepare a new QB, the Texans will have a tough time coming up with a game plan that will lead to a lot of success versus Baltimore's stingy defense.
Prediction
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The Ravens need to win this game to remain in the wild-card standings, while the Texans have to win to avoid being eliminated from contention altogether.
Needless to say, this is shaping up for a nice battle in Houston that the Ravens should be able to win. However, after jumping out to an early lead, Houston storms back to make this a game that the Ravens have to battle for four quarters to win.
The game comes down to Joe Flacco's arm, as he can burn a defense with his rocket arm, and against a poor Texans secondary (ranked 26th in pass defense), Flacco leads the Ravens on a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter with the game tied.
With just under a few minutes left, Baltimore's defense forces a game-clinching turnover to seal the win and get Baltimore's 10th win.
Prediction: Ravens win, 27-20
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