Baltimore Ravens snatch overtime victory against the Houston Texans
With three weeks to go in the regular season, the Baltimore Ravens are still in the race for the NFC North title after having defeated the Houston Texans in overtime. Houston’s defence put up a determined fight against the Ravens
but ultimately it was the offense that let the game slip through their hands.
The Ravens defence was in complete control of the first quarter. Matt Schaub led the Texans on three drives in the first quarter for a combined 75 yards and on points. Most of those yards came late in the first quarter after a
Ravens’ touchdown. The Ravens defence forced Houston to punt the ball from their 15 yard line. Matt Turk’s 48 yard punt, which stayed in the air for a full 4.1 seconds was returned for 2 yards and put Baltimore on the 48 yard line.
Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco passed 16 yards to running back Ray Rice and 17 yards to fullback Le’Ron McClain. Houston helped the drive, giving up 15 yards in penalties. Running back Willis McGhee rushed the final yard to score
the first touchdown of the game. McGhee rushed straight through the middle and crashed into two of Houston’s defenders at the end zone but still managed to get through for a touchdown.
The Texans tried to fight back when their offense returned to the field. Quarterback Schaub passed 13 to David Anderson and a play later threw a 25 yards pass to tight end Owen Daniels. Running back Arian Foster chipped in with
13 yards in three plays. The drive was dealt a serious blow when the quarterback was sacked for three yards by linebacker Terrell Suggs with just seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Texans continued the drive into the 2nd quarter and attempted
a field goal from the 34 yard line. Neil Rackers attempted the 52 yards field goal but the attempt was no good.
Houston offense met with a similar fate the next time. The Texans started on the four yard line and Schaub found Owen Daniels again for 30 yards. Foster was responsible for 6 yards and then Schaub got sacked for 12 yards. This
time it was Cory Redding who sacked Houston’s quarterback. After the sack, Turk took the punt for the Texans which Baltimore’s Lardarius Webb returned for 22 yards.
Webb’s punt return and Ray Rice’s 17 yards in two plays got the Ravens within field goal range of the end zone. Baltimore though was aiming higher. Quarterback Flacco passed 13 yards to wide receiver T.J. Housmandzadeh to take
the Ravens inside the red zone. Flacco finished off the drive with a 9 yards touchdown pass to wide receiver Derrick Manson. Manson slipped through the defence almost effortlessly and turned around in a flash to receive the ball from Flacco. The quarterback
wasted no time and threw a rocket of a pass at Manson, who caught the ball for a touchdown despite two of Houston’s defenders converging on him. Linebacker Kevin Bentley collided with Manson but he was able to hang on to the ball. This was Manson’s first of
two touchdowns of the game.
Near the end, Schaub threw the first of two very costly interceptions. The pass was intended for Owen Daniels however the Ravens’ cornerback Chris Carr got to it first. Carr intercepted Schaub at the Houston’s 39 yard line and
carried it one yard to 38 before he was pulled down by Duane Brown.
On the first play after the interception, Flacco threw 18 yards to Manson. The drive almost ended when Bernard Pollard sacked Flacco for 12 yards and forced the ball out of his hands. Fortunately for the Ravens, Michael Oher recovered
the ball on the 26 yard line. Flacco then threw a 26 yard pass to Manson for the touchdown.
Before the end of the quarter, Schaub managed to put points on the board for the Texans. Shcaub connected just 3 passes in that drive. He threw a 16 pass to Andre Johnson, an 18 yard pass to Kevin Walter and finished off the drive
with an amazing 46 yards touchdown pass to Johnson.
Houston trailed 14 points behind Baltimore by the end of the first quarter.
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