The Final Frontier- Can the Texans finally win a game in Baltimore?

Ever since the Texans came into the league in 2002, there have been a few places that just felt cursed no matter how good or bad the team was. The “Big 3” have always been Indy, Foxborough, and Baltimore. And honestly, it makes sense—those franchises have mostly been better than us for a long time. But things have started to change. After finally breaking through and getting that first win in Indy, the Texans have actually gone 6–3 there since, which is crazy to think about given how hopeless it used to feel. Last year, we finally checked Foxborough off the list too, taking advantage of a bad Patriots team and grabbing that long-awaited win on their turf. Now it’s down to just one last road block: Baltimore. The Ravens’ house is the only AFC stadium where we’re still chasing that first W.

The Ravens specifically have been a nightmare matchup for the Texans ever since the beginning. In fact, no AFC team has given us more trouble—our worst winning percentage in the conference is against Baltimore, with an ugly 2–11 record all-time including an 0-8 record in Baltimore.

The Good News: This is the weakest Ravens team we'll be facing in years. The Ravens even without the injuries were struggling big time on defense, and the Offensive Line has regressed massively. Even with Lamar Jackson playing well, this has allowed the Lions and Chiefs to come up with excellent gameplans to contain the offense. While the running game as been pretty good, turnovers and deficits have forced the Ravens to throw the ball a lot more. Things have gone from bad to worse for the Ravens, as they're entering Sunday missing Nnmadi Madubuike and Lamar Jackson.

The Bad News: The other team still has Derrick Henry, who is up there with Peyton Manning and TY Hilton as notorious Texans Killers. On top of that, The Texans haven't proven they have the offense capable of taking advantage of the Ravens Defense (The Ravens Defense has faced some of the best Offenses in the NFL). It doesn't help that the Texans tend to get penalized heavily on the road, and despite having a great defense, the run defense has looked shaky at times.

The Bottom Line: This going to be the Texans best chance at a win in Baltimore and beating the Ravens in general. If the Texans wan't to have any hope of returning to the playoffs, they need to take advantage of an opportunity like this, even if its ugly. A loss would put the nail on the coffin of the season, and the organization needs to start looking inwards and make some tough choices. Some of you might feel like the win would be worthless because of the Ravens injuries, but the team needs anything they can get. A 2-3 record heading into the break would mean the Texans can regroup during the Bye, before they face a gauntlet that will make or break their season, weeks 7-14.