Takeaways of Houston Texans disappointing defeat against the Ravens

The Houston Texans looked lost in their blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11.

The Houston Texans were unprepared for Baltimore Ravens’ offense that ranked first in the league averaging 33.3 points before Week 11. Expectations were leading up to this game that Houston would look revitalized after an off week to rest and get some of their injured players back on the field, but that was far from what transpired in M&T Bank Stadium.

The Texans were overmatched in all three phases as the Ravens offense dropped 41 points, and managed to get what they wanted against a defense that is trying to find their identity after losing J.J. Watt to a season-ending pectoral injury. Ravens rushed the football 36 times for 263 yards, averaging 7.3 yards per carry, and one touchdown. Texans defense had not allowed any team to score more than 40 points or have a running back rush for 100 yards all season.

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Any sense of optimism that the Texans could play strong fundamental football without Watt went out the window in a game they needed another pass rusher to pressure Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The Texans secondary continued their struggles allowing Jackson to throw for 222 yards, four touchdowns, and complete 70 percent of his passes. Injuries to Justin Reid, Lonnie Johnson Jr., and Mike Adams didn’t help the Texans stop the bleeding the Ravens offense was inflicting.

The defense played a flawless first quarter against the Ravens offense by limiting them to no points before the onslaught occurred. There are a lot of question marks on where the Texans defense goes from here after such a disappointing performance against one of the better teams in the NFL.

The Texans offense didn’t fare any better after being limited to a season-low 7 points. The offense was overwhelmed against the Ravens defense by surrendering seven sacks and not allowing Deshaun Watson to get comfortable in the pocket.

The Ravens secondary did a great job in coverage despite not being flagged for a few calls that looked, smelled, and tasted like pass interference. The loss can’t be attributed to one play in particular, but one can only imagine how the Texans would have responded by having the offense at the one-yard line after DeAndre Hopkins drew a lot of contact from cornerback Marlon Humphery that prevented him catching the football in the endzone. Texans would have had the golden opportunity to have an early lead in a hostile environment as the visiting team.

The offense looked uncharacteristically bad after a string of excellent performances they have put up this season. Watson regressed as a passer holding onto the football and leading to unnecessary turnovers. The offense struggled as a whole, and it led to an embarrassing performance on the field.

On another note, Texans should hope Will Fuller returns from his hamstring injury soon after Keke Coutee’s poor game following his benching. Texans have an evident lack of depth outside of Hopkins and Kenny Stills at wide receiver.

Texans lost a golden opportunity to hold a potential tiebreaker for a bye week as they continue to push for a spot in the playoff. However, there isn’t much time to digest this loss as the Texans have a short week of rest as they face the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football.

The Colts (6-4) are first in the AFC South division as they have the tiebreaker over Houston (6-4) after their win in Week 7. The Texans will have to flip the page and focus on their task at hand after Indianapolis has taken the win in four of the last five games they have played.