Battle Red Blog
The NFL is always an interesting story that evolves over time. Coming into the season, this was one of those matchups where the Texans could measure themselves against an elite NFL team. Now, there are two 1-3 football teams desperate to keep their playoff hopes alive. A 1-4 record doesn’t completely eliminate either team from playoff contention, but you would be hard pressed to feel good about their chances. So, it becomes a must win for both teams. Nikhil Mehta of Baltimore Beatdown joins Battle Red Blog for five questions about the home team this Sunday.
Battle Red Blog: Expectations for the Ravens (like the Texans) were high coming into the season. What are the biggest reasons for the Ravens coming up short so far?
Nikhil Mehta: Injuries seem like the obvious answer for Baltimore’s disastrous start to the season, but the truth is that the team had clear cracks from the first game against the Bills before the injury list grew to such a preposterous length.
The defense has been by far the biggest issue for the Ravens, as the unit has allowed the most points in the NFL and second-most yards through four games. Losing Nnamdi Madubuike just two games into the season was a massive blow, but Baltimore has invested too much into that side of the ball for the defense to unravel at this degree. Key players such as cornerback Marlon Humphrey and inside linebacker Roquan Smith have struggled heavily this season. The pass rush appears non existent, even when sending blitzes and having the numbers advantage. Now that injuries have completely ravaged the defense, I am not sure how the unit can turn things around quickly enough to avoid a lost season.
Offensively, untimely turnovers and a failure to extend drives and grind out the clock have been an issue to this point. Derrick Henry inexplicably fumbled three times in the first three games, with two coming at the worst possible moments in close contests. Lamar Jackson had two costly turnovers against the Chiefs that helped Kansas City begin to pull away early on. The boom or bust nature of the offense has in turn hurt the defense by putting them back on the field on a quick turnaround. The team has simply failed to play complimentary football so far this season.
BRB: The Ravens came out of the Chiefs game pretty beat up? Who are some of the key players that could be out Sunday?
NM: The Ravens could be without several key players on Sunday against the Texans. The most notable name is Lamar Jackson, obviously, but Baltimore will also likely be without inside linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Marlon Humphrey as both seem to be dealing with multi-week injuries suffered against the Chiefs. The entire starting defensive line was absent in Kansas City and that could be the case again this week if defensive tackle Travis Jones is unable to go with a knee injury while Nnamdi Madubuike and Broderick Washington are...
