subject: Baltimore visits Houston looking for a win that guarantees their third winning season in a row [print this page] Baltimore visits Houston looking for a win that guarantees their third winning season in a row
Monday Night Football will have the Baltimore Ravens trying to quickly recover from the set back that losing the first place of the division represented on Week 13, while the Houston Texans will try to feed their playoff miracle, as they need to win their last four games and wait for a series of misfortunate results from their rivals.
The Houston Texans receive the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football urged of a victory on Week 14 to start changing things around and abandon that second to last place of the AFC South, in a season that was being regular (4-2) for them before their Bye week, and that has been nothing but a disaster after that (5-1). On the other hand the Ravens will arrive to the Reliant Stadium in a more comfortable position, as they are second in the AFC North, just one win behind the solo leader the Pittsburg Steelers, and three wins away the third positioned Cleveland Browns.
Houston will face the match against Baltimore already aware of the result between their division rivals Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans, which will be played on Thursday. This result is very important for the Texans' interests, because if the Titans are able to put an end to their 5-lost streak, and they are able to defeat Baltimore, the three of them would be tied with a 6-7 record, just two games away from the Jacksonville Jaguars -as long as the Jaguars don't beat the Oakland Riders on Sunday.
The good news for Houston is that two of their last four games are against division rivals: Tennessee on Week 15 and the solo leader Jacksonville on Week 17. Despite this, not all are good news, as being realistic the Texans haven't been able to win more than two games in a row this season, which took place between Week 1 and 2.
They were even considered to be drowned in a sea of losses -which they submerge to on Week 8-, but they emerged to the surface against Tennessee on Week 12 showing signs of life with a 20-0 win. And just when they were breathing again, all the drowsiness that being under water for four weeks produces had its side effects on Week 13, and the Philadelphia Eagles didn't miss their chance to hit them like a wave and submerged them again with a 34-24 defeat.
The Ravens lost 13-10 on Week 13 versus the Steelers, ending with their two win streak, just one game away from their best streak of the season -when they defeated the Browns 24-17 on Week 3, Pittsburg 17-14 on Week 4, and Denver Broncos 31-17 on Week 5-. With that defeat the Ravens lost the tiebreaker for the first place of the AFC North, and are now second with an 8-4 record.
Baltimore needs a win to keep up Pittsburgh's pace (9-3), since the Steelers have an accessible home game against the weakest team in the division, the Cincinnati Bengals, whom they will receive with the boost of their 3 win streak. The Bengals won the second and third game of the season and haven't known victory since then, in what is being a season to forget.
After visiting the Texans, the Ravens will receive the defending champions the New Orleans Saints on Week 15, to then visit division rivals Cleveland right after Christmas -on Sunday 26- and they will be closing the regular season versus Cincinnati, team that is currently 2-10, therefore they shouldn't be considered a threat.
Baltimore comes from a two-winning season streak, and they are just one win away from their third. As for Houston their chances to repeat their winning season from last year are dissipating week after week.
