Overall: 56 plays, 355 yards, 6.3 YPPA

Best:  Ivy 29/129, 4.4 YPPA

Worst:  Many of the starters (who did not get mop-up time) were in the 6.6-7.5 range.

Vs. the Run:  16 carries, 75 yards, 4.7 YPC

Best:  Lewis, Reed, and Bannan were all 4.0 YPC on 11, 11, and 13 carries respectively

Worst:  Again no standouts as 6 starters were between 5.0 and 5.2 YPC.

Vs. the Pass:  40 pass plays, 280 net yards, 7.0 YPP

Best:  Ivy 25/97, 3.9 YPP

Worst:  No one really stands out again.  6 players between 8.0 and 8.5 YPP were the worst.

By number of Pass Rushers:

3 or fewer:  7/70, 10.0 YPP, 1 Sack

4:  27/157, 5.8 YPP, 1 Sack, 4 TO

5:  4/40, 10.0 YPP

6:  2/13, 6.5 YPP

7:  None

By number of Defensive Backs:

3:  3 plays, 2 yards, 0.7 YPPA, 1 TO (3 goal line plays with 3 safeties)

4:  23 plays, 230 yards, 10.4 YPPA, 1 TO

5:  27 plays, 86 yards, 3.2 YPPA, 2 sacks, 2 TO

6:  3 play, 37 yards, 12.7 YPPA

7:  None

Individual Notes:

·         The Ravens extended their streak of games with 58 or fewer defensive snaps to 10 consecutive games.  There are teams with big-play offenses that can win games while consistently getting fewer offensive snaps and playing bend-but-don’t-break defense, but it’s rare and definitely not the way this team needs to win.  The Ravens outsnapped the Texans 67-56 and rolled up a season-high 27 first downs.  The Ravens game record for first downs entering this season was 33 and they have had 29+ just 3 times.  I don’t know how many other times the Ravens have had 27 or 28 exactly, but it’s clear this was one of their highest totals ever.

·         The Ravens 4-man pass rush returned to effectiveness with 4 turnovers and a sack in 27 pass plays.

·         Ngata had a terrific game.  Eagle and Wilcots doted over him just 1 week after saying the AFC has 2 great DT’s wearing number 92, Haynesworth and Rogers.  That was serious disrespect considering E&W were broadcasting the Ravens and Browns.  Ngata made just 1 tackle, but had the acrobatic interception, 2 QH’s, and 3 total PD’s. His pressure caused Rosenfels to float the ball downfield where it was picked off by Lewis.  His second QH was also a PD and made the Texans 3-and-out (Q4, 13:14) when the game was still 27-13.  The fact that the Texans ran the ball just 16 times (1 of those a scramble) is a great compliment to him.  Thank goodness for garbage time.  Ngata was used for 39 of the Ravens first 47 defensive snaps before getting the final 9 snaps off.  Given the use of him on offense as well, he certainly should have been tired, but he had big plays late in the game.

·         Edgar Jones played his first 4 defensive snaps of the year.  Two weeks ago, McClain recorded a sack and safety on his first NFL play.  Jones was credited with half a sack on his 2^nd play of the season.  For the record, he had a full sack (0 yards lost) vs. the Dolphins last season in just 27 total defensive snaps.  Jones was used as a down lineman on all 4 plays and was matched up with Eric Winston who is in his 3^rd season and has started since midway through his first.  Winston was no doubt tired, but Jones made him look bad.  Jones used his arms well and has legitimate edge speed.  I commented last season that he appeared to be learning the playbook and was not simply given pass rush duties when inserted (which I mention only because I would not be able to tell what he knew about the playbook from today’s effort).  He’s a player I hope can at a minimum provide depth, versatility, and some special teams ability for 2 more years.  At the maximum he could prove valuable as a blocking tight end or develop into a situational pass rusher.

·         Jameel McClain got the other half of Jones sack and was used as a pass rusher on the last 6 plays of the game and one earlier play.  During those last 6 plays, he was used as a down lineman and matched up against Duane Brown.  His speed was too much for Brown.  If you review the video from those last 4 plays, you’ll see McClain and Jones both turning the corner on each play, but Rosenfels released 2 balls in time and handed off another.

·         Among others rarely used who saw playing time were Brendan Ayanbadejo (6 plays), Nick Greisen (12 plays), Evan Oglesby (8 plays), and Tom Zbikowski (13 plays).  Zbikowski played a deep centerfield on the final Texans series, so his presence was largely inferred (I could see him on perhaps 3-4 plays).  Fortunately, Reed was on the sideline for the entire last series and Nakamura was also there standing near Rex.

·         Ray Lewis still has a fine nose for the ball over the middle of the field.  He’s shown it this season with some crushing hits and also with the 2 picks Sunday.  Surprisingly, it was the 3rd 2-pick game of Ray’s career with the previous 2 coming against Cincinnati in 1998 and 2001.  Over the last few seasons, when the Ravens play only 1 deep safety, I think the great QB’s have found Ed Reed and thrown to wherever else on the field single coverage exists.  Manning certainly beat the Ravens doing exactly that in week 5.  One additional benefit of playing cover 2 was that it forced opposing QB’s to check down which brings Ray back into the passing game.  Hit a 6-yard slant and expect a crunching hit.  Get the ball tipped at the LoS and one of the greatest LB’s ever with the ball in the air will probably be somewhere close.

·         McKinney ran off the field wondering how he had been called for holding (Q2, 9:09).  Given the legitimate call for holding the previous week and the consistency with which pro athletes deny any in-game wrongdoing, it looked silly.  However, I’ve rewatched that play 8-10 times since and not only was McKinney clean, I can’t figure out who they might have called it on.  The referee had his mike open and you can hear one of the others say it was 60-something.  I think the penalty was probably called incorrectly on the Ravens and that either Pitts (#69) or Brisiel (#65) should have been flagged.  It didn’t look better on the next play when the Texans scored a TD and there was a holding call quite some distance from the receiver.  On replay, that hold is visible, but it would not often be called.  I don’t really believe it was a makeup call, but it didn’t look good.

·         Barnes was inactive.  I did not hear an injury report on him.  The Ravens had 1 more DB than usual dressed, but essentially Edgar Jones took his spot.

·        Anyone notice the Ravens had Stone replace Phillips on the roster?  Other than the celebrity name coincidence I can’t think of any reason why you should have.  Stone saw a little action on special teams, but did not record a tackle.

·         The safety was an interesting play.  Bannan had decent push on Pitts who took a step backward.  Meanwhile Suggs bullrushed Brown, pushing him backwards and down over Pitts leg.  Brown tried to hold Suggs on the way by, but was caught in just the wrong spot.  It was a great play by Suggs, but Bannan deserves an assist for the push he got.  Why doesn’t the NFL count this as a sack for Suggs?

·         With Rolle back and starting, Ryan put a funny nickel on the field with Walker replacing Leonhard.  By primary position, the Ravens had 4 corners and 1 safety on those plays, although you certainly might say Walker was being inserted as a safety.

·         End-of-half clock management again poor.  The underthrown forward pass from Flacco to Smith would have burned some time off the clock and likely resulted in a 1^st down.  Afterwards the Ravens ran Rice for 3 yards and then threw an incomplete to leave 1:01 on the clock after Haushcka’s kick.  On the plus side, I hope he enjoyed a bulkhead seat on the ride home, since he should have gotten to board first as an unaccompanied minor.  When the Texans got the ball back they also failed to call timeout after a 22-yard completion got them to the 40, burning off valuable time.  Houston got in FG range, however, and converted.

·         The Texans came out trying to throw and never really let up.  When Rosenfels beat the coverage, he beat it for big plays, including 1 that was called back).  I am still mystified by Ryan’s unwillingness to play what I’ll call nonmandatory nickel.  Prior to Q4, when the Texans first got the ball down 14, the Ravens played nickel just 3 times when it was not 3^rd down or the last minute of the 1^st half.  The Ravens have been beaten badly (108 run and pass plays for 783 yards, 7.3 YPPA) in 4 DB sets the last 4 weeks by passing offenses that, in aggregate, are average at best.

·         Since he became the DC, Ryan has done extremely well at plugging in another DT, tweener DE/LB, or backup ILB into his front 7 schemes.  As the Ravens secondary was decimated by injuries last season, he was unable (and honestly who the hell could be expected to do so) to simply plug in new cornerbacks.  I don’t think you can make simple substitutions at corner any easier than you can make substitutions at QB, and keep your playbook exactly the same.  Scheme must adjust to personnel.  With what is essentially the abandonment of 7+ man blitzes (2 in the last 4 weeks), it appears Ryan has varied his scheme some to accommodate the current weakness in the secondary.  While that’s a necessary first step, I hope he has something more up his playbook sleeve for the NFC East opponents who have both effective passing games and good O-Lines.

·         The Ravens 3 biggest defensive plays:

o    Ngata’s INT.  It was worth perhaps 6 points when that was still a lot in this game.

o    Suggs’ pressure causes safety hold (Q2, 4:01)

o    Ngata’s QH causes Ray’s INT