How Ravens will sail to victory at Inner Harbor
This young Houston team proved it’s seeking more than moral just victories when it showed up and beat the doors off of Cleveland 45-14. C.J. Stroud threw for 274 yards and three touch- downs as the Texans almost doubled the Browns in yards per play.
It’s impressive considering Cleveland kept consistent numbers as the NFL’s best-ranked secondary for four months. It all seemed to vanish when Stroud’s arm was enabled; the Texans gained 7.3 more yards per pass than the Browns on 24 fewer attempts.
We all can agree it’s always exciting to see a new coming contender prove its legitimacy, and that’s what has the public majority leaning toward Houston on Saturday.
Here’s what we need to consider, though: Stroud will not have the luxury of slinging the pigskin inside his cozy indoor dome. No, this game will be played in the nearly 20-degree weather with high winds in front of 71,000 raucous fans.
Stroud’s performance through the air on the road has been 79.1 yards fewer than his average at home. Then you have a Ravens defense that is comparable to the Browns, but it’s less banged up and is playing on home turf with extended rest. This is an environment that MVP frontrunner Lamar Jackson has been bred in. Though the Houston secondary cashed in on a couple of ducks thrown by Joe Flacco, the Texans were a bottom-10-ranked group in passing yards allowed.
DeMeco Ryans likes to run the ball on early downs, which hasn’t been successful. If that should continue, the early lead would be there for the Ravens’ taking.
That game script would galvanize Stroud to start slinging, but the mountain could prove too steep considering these conditions against a ruthless Ravens group that ranked No. 3 against the spread (11-6).
The Ravens shouldn’t be laying any eggs on Saturday, but I’ll be laying the points.
THE PLAY: Ravens -9.5.
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL for Action Network.