Baltimore Beatdown
For this week’s edition of 5 Questions, Battle Red Blog offered their thoughts on how the Texans will match up with the Ravens on Sunday.
1. Houston’s defense has been good under DeMeco Ryans, but they appear to have taken a major leap this year. Is there one key factor in that success, or is it more that an exciting young roster has fully coalesced under a third-year head coach?
I would say it is a combination of a couple of things. I think the players are more comfortable in the system in its third season. However, I think a larger part of it is either healthier pieces or a few key new pieces. Sheldon Rankins came back to help anchor the inside after missing a season. E.J. Speed was added to the linebacking core and he got his first good action this past week. Christian Harris is finally healthy and contributing there as well. This defense has three legit Pro Bowl performers in Daniele Hunter, Will Anderson, and Derek Stingley. Kamari Lasiter also has an outside shot of getting there as well. Ryans actually handed the play calling duties over to DC Matt Burke. Obviously, there are strategic team wide reasons for doing that, but I think it speaks to how comfortable everyone is with how things are running.
2. The Texans hired Nick Caley as their offensive coordinator this offseason, and his unit is off to a rough start this year. Why haven’t things been clicking for Caley so far, and will he turn it around against the Ravens’ bottom-ranked defense?
I think everyone is openly asking whether the Texans blew this hire. My biggest problem with Caley is that he hasn’t found a way to put the best 11 guys on the field consistently. Rookies Woody Marks, Jalen Noel, and Jayden Higgins are clearly more talented than many of the players that have been playing in front of them. Plus, there has been quite a bit of shuffling on the offensive line in the early going. Those guys were getting more time against Tennessee, so the hope is that will continue this week and into the future. In terms of play calling, the hope is that C.J. Stroud continues to trust the system and gets rid of the ball quickly. That also started happening more in this past game and it was by far his best week.
3. Houston also remade their offense line this offseason. How are the early returns, particularly from rookie left Aireontae Ersery, and will they be able to dominate Baltimore’s defensive line as the Lions and Chiefs did?
Like most rookies, Ersery is going to have good plays and bad plays. Consistency is always the biggest hurdle for those guys to jump over. When you think about it, the offensive line might be the cruelest position on the field. You can succeed 90 percent of the time, but that ten percent are the plays that people remember. Like much of the offense,...
