The football gods have smiled down upon the Houston Texans on this first Sunday of October, giving the preseason AFC South favorites a chance to inch closer back to .500 with a showdown versus the Baltimore Ravens at a time when the Ravens may be dealing with more costly injuries than any other team in the league.
By mid-week, it had already been established that Baltimore would likely be without Lamar Jackson, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, and Chidobe Awuzie when hosting the Texans. But on Sunday morning, just 90 minutes before kickoff, two more key names were added to the inactive list that improve Houston's chances of securing their first road win of the season.
Per the Baltimore Ravens, All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton and two-time Pro Bowl tackle Ronnie Stanley will both miss the Week 5 matchup against the Texans as well.
If it weren't clear already, the Ravens may be this year's unlucky "season from hell" team, especially if Lamar Jackson can't come back for a few more weeks. The Ravens are 1-3 already and could be staring down a 1-5 record as they head into their bye week. But for as valuable as Lamar Jackson is, it's not as if he's the only vital piece of the roster that the Ravens will be without today.
Any time you're down a starting tackle, that spells trouble, and that's especially the case when you've got a backup on the field and a ferocious pass rush coming at him. Good luck, Cooper Rush.
But perhaps the biggest problem for the Ravens is how decimated their defense is. Presently, the Ravens are down one of the league's best linebackers and three members of their secondary, and this was a Baltimore defense that was already being torched through the air. And for what it's worth, defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike isn't even on the inactives list because it's expected he'll be out for the season.
After a solid 4th quarter last weekend against the Tennessee Titans, getting to feast on this battered Ravens defense could be exactly what the doctor ordered for the Texans offense to continue to build momentum.
For the Texans, the only inactive of note this week is former Pro Bowl tackle Trent Brown, who was called up from Houston's practice squad earlier in the week.