The Ravens were outplayed in many ways Sunday against the Texans.
Houston had the tougher running game. The Texans had the better-looking defense and won the line of scrimmage battle.
What Baltimore didn’t have was a young team led by a fifth-round rookie quarterback. They didn’t make big mistakes. And they know that won’t be enough to win next week.
Safety Ed Reed said the Ravens need to play “a lot better” to win in Foxborough before repeating himself. “A lot better than today.”
“That’s probably the best defense I’ve seen all year,” running back Ray Rice said via CSNBaltimore.com.
That’s the thing. The Ravens faced perhaps the best defense in football Sunday. It’s not a shock the Texans could keep it close. Now the Ravens face a Patriots defense that is far more forgiving.
“You win the game no matter what,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “That’s what it really boils down to in a situation like this. This football team won the game no matter what. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but they found a way to win the football game.”
Style points don’t matter. It makes no difference that the Ravens barely won and the Patriots won by 35 against a mediocre Broncos team.
None of that matters now. The Ravens have shown they are capable of winning ugly, and playing their best against the best competition.
