Houston Texans: Underdogs Show No Fear Despite Odds

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00:00 Mhm. 4 30 p.m. In the Charm City here in Baltimore, Houston and Baltimore. If

00:07 we line this game up the opening numbers at Fandul minus 8.5 is a

00:11 favorite here towards the Baltimore Ravens. We've seen that number at the

00:14 jump go higher to 9.5 and quite frankly, Mike, it hasn't moved all week

00:18 long. A total which opened up at 45.5 now down to 43.5 here. The weather

00:23 conditions in Baltimore blustery a high of 20 around kickoff with winds around

00:29 10 to 15 miles an hour. Mike, let's start their advantage Baltimore in

00:33 that weather with the dome team or you handicapping this as if that shouldn't

00:37 be an issue. I don't think that weather in particular is a major issue, but

00:43 Baltimore is always going to have a little bit of an edge being outside

00:47 their bigger edge. The fact that they're in their home stadium, but I

00:50 don't think it necessarily put C. J. Stroud or the Texans offense in a bind.

00:55 It'll be the Ravens defense that's doing that when the winds are below 15

00:59 miles an hour. We saw gusts of up to 25 30 miles an hour. Then you and I'd be

01:04 talking about adjusting the way we're handicapping this game, but I don't see

01:08 that being the case right now. I think the Ravens defense is what will make

01:12 this game difficult for the Texans to deal with. Mike, let's take a look at

01:16 two weeks ago, right? How the Texans actually got here. Quite frankly, I

01:20 didn't expect much of them from this season. D'Amico Ryan's has been

01:23 sensational as a head coach. C. J. Stroud has been unbelievably wonderful

01:27 as the number two overall pick. They go in the Indianapolis in a dome and win

01:31 a must win football game where it's a winner go home de facto playoff game.

01:34 They come home last week. They were down 14 to 10 early in that football

01:38 game and hit the gas pedal and blew the doors off a quality Cleveland team. So

01:43 coming into this game, I'm not even gonna call the Houston Texans house

01:46 money, but that edge coming in knowing we just basically went to playoff

01:50 games already talking about the Texans mindset coming in playing the number

01:54 one seed here in Baltimore. And we've seen some other teams to Donnie that

01:58 have had had to play effective playoff, effectively playing playoff games for

02:03 several weeks now that had good performance. And so Texans not alone.

02:06 The Packers have been basically playing playoff games every week and they

02:11 fired off on the Cowboys. We've seen that from the bills effectively

02:14 playing playoff games every single week, and they had a good performance

02:18 against the Steelers. So in this instance, I know it's anecdotal, but in

02:22 this instance, we're seeing those teams that have been playing must win games

02:25 for several weeks show up with good performances, throw the bucks into that

02:29 hat as well. So, uh, you know that C. J. Strauss rookie season is going to

02:36 go down in history is one of the best, if not the greatest quarterback rookie

02:41 season ever. A win here, I think, would cement it, although some people

02:45 probably already consider it set in stone. I would say that what concerns

02:50 me here is that all of the question marks that you and I may have had about

02:54 the Ravens throughout this season have been answered. The offensive line.

03:00 Yes, banged up, but they've been protecting the running game and Lamar

03:05 as best as they can. The defense putting pressure on the quarterback.

03:09 There may not be a standout like we saw in the past with Terrell sugs, but

03:13 Justin Matabee Kuei and the rest of the defensive line have really been able

03:17 to pressure quarterbacks. They're solid tackling team. All of the components

03:21 of a john Harbaugh team have showed up here. And finally, Lamar is healthy.

03:26 Lamar is going to play a playoff home game fully healthy. So all of those

03:31 things together, as well as they've been coached the Texans all throughout.

03:35 I just think they're running into a team that has too many things that are

03:39 better at them than the Texans. All that really comes into play is the

03:44 spread here. How long can the Texans hang in there? And I think you'd be,

03:48 I think I would imagine you and I are aligned that the Texans keep this one

03:52 that close for that long. You're gonna be sweating if you're Ravens fan.

03:58 Mhm. Mhm.

04:00 (upbeat music)

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