Photograph: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
What the Texans need to do to win: Head coach DeMeco Ryans has to be aggressive on defense. The Ravens’ last defeat, a 33-31 loss to Cleveland in November, provides the blueprint. Given time, Lamar Jackson will pick teams apart. But the Browns blitzed him 33.3% of the time on passing downs as they knocked him out of his comfort zone. Cleveland forced him into the only game this season in which he has thrown multiple interceptions, and he completed just 56.5% of his passes. Houston need to up their current blitz rate of 15.4%, otherwise Jackson will take everything they give him.
What the Ravens need to do to win: Jackson and Baltimore were No 1 seeds in the 2019 season … and promptly lost to the Tennessee Titans in their first game of the playoffs. They need to be every bit as dominant on both sides of the ball here as they were across the regular season to avoid a similar slip up. The Ravens’ defense is coming off a week’s rest and they generated a league-best 31 turnovers in the regular season. That, combined with the fact that CJ Stroud will be in much colder conditions in Baltimore than he is used to under Houston’s retractable roof, can help keep the demons at bay.
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Key player: Derek Stingley Jr, CB, Texans. Houston gave up the fewest passing touchdowns in the regular season (17), owing to the trust placed in Stingley to track the opposition’s top receiver across the field. Stingley can box Zay Flowers out of the game, leading Jackson to hold on to the ball or to find checkdowns, which in turn create chances for sacks or tackles for a loss. Steven Nelson, who snagged an 82-yard pick-six that broke Cleveland’s back last week, is enjoying his finest year to date at age 30 on the other side of the backfield. That speaks to how Ryans has inspired a roster that is much greater than the sum of its…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-divisional-round-predictions-stroud-090026007.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-01-19 09:00:26
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