Baltimore Ravens bank on defence to beat Houston Texans in first playoff game –NFL Postseason Update
The Baltimore Ravens beat playoff newbies, Houston Texans, with a comprehensive score margin of 20 to 13 points at their home ground, the M&T Bank Stadium, on Sunday, January 15, 2012.
It was for the first time for the both sides to be through to the playoff round and the Ravens had come on the field with a strategy to protect the ball and play as much defence as they possibly could.
The approach worked out for them as they easily tackled the Texans in the end.
"I always say there is a right way to do things, there is a wrong way to do things and there is just the Ravens' way of doing things", linebacker, Terrell Suggs, said. "It wasn't pretty but we're not really a pretty team. We got the W and now it's on to
the AFC championship".
Houston Texans were down at 13 points to the Ravens' 17, in the first half of the game, but then managed to hold off the opposition a number of times.
Arian Foster was the only highlight of the Texans’ attack, who with his 132 yards became the only player to go over 100 yards against the league’s second best defence of the 2011 National Football League (NFL) regular season.
Their rookie quarterback, T.J. Yates, also managed three interceptions, which were equal to the three he had recorded to his credit in all previous games he played at the position of their injured QBs, Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart.
A counter attack was launched then by the Ravens and their rarely used Lee Evans held a one-hand catch to run for 30 yards. On fourth and goal inside, their linebacker, Ray Lewis, increased the score to 23 points.
"That's a huge play", Houston's defensive end, J.J. Watt said.
"Those are the type of plays that win playoffs games. Obviously, we wish it had gone the other way, but those are the type of plays that you remember".
In spite of the loss, Texans were overall content with their performance.
Team owner, Bob McNair, praised coach, Gary Kubiak, and all players to have come so far, despite the fact they could not get it past the first playoff round.
Houston Texans played a competitive game right from the beginning till the end.
The side, which was playing their first playoff contest, did not have an answer to the game-control strategy that their opposition had come up with.
It was the trick of protecting the ball and suffocating the space for the Texans’ young attack that worked well for the Ravens.
They have the second best defence in the NFL and proved too tough for the Texans to break through.
This was the main difference in the game between the two.
It was also the home-ground advantage that favoured the hosts as it did not affect the Texans' chances as such since they had played in similar conditions before.
The win helped the Ravens sustain their home-game record, staying perfect and their overall score has now improved to 13-4 in the league.
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