Game Preview
Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans
sunday, september 14, 2008 - 4:15 pm
*Flacco leads Ravens against Texans*
BALTIMORE (1-0) AT HOUSTON, 8:30 pm EDT
HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Rookie Joe Flacco is looking to build on an impressive debut. The Houston Texans would rather start over.
With Hurricane Ike expected to hit the Houston area, the Texans will have to wait until Monday to erase the memory of a miserable season-opening defeat.
The teams were slated to play Sunday afternoon, but the contest was moved back a day due to the major hurricane.
The Texans (0-1) were never in it against the Pittsburgh Steelers, falling behind, 21-0, and 35-3 in an eventual 38-17 thrashing.
Running back Willie Parker gashed Houston's defense for 138 yards and three touchdowns while Ben Roethlisberger misfired on one pass, finishing 13-of-14 and tossing a pair of scoring passes to Hines Ward.
"We got manhandled," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "They got after us pretty good. I don't have any excuses for you. The first place I look at it, I go look at myself and where I had the football team going into the game. Obviously it wasn't anywhere close to good enough."
The Texans need to get a running game that managed 75 yards rushing on 20 attempts, including 43 by rookie Steve Slaton, untracked against the Ravens.
Among the few bright spots for Houston was wide receiver Andre Johnson, who had 10 receptions for 112 yards. Quarterback Matt Schaub threw a pair of interceptions and did not get the team in the end zone until the fourth quarter.
Defensively, former No. 1 pick Mario Williams registered a pair of sacks - his fifth career multi-sack game - that gave him 20 1/2 in his third season.
Williams will be targeting the 6-6 Flacco, who performed admirably in his NFL debut. Flacco was 15-of-29 for 129 yards and lumbered 38 yards for a touchdown in the Ravens' 17-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
"This was a beginning for Joe," first-year coach John Harbaugh said. "This is going to be a jumping-off point. What he needs to do is get better. He needs to take this week to next week and make the most of it."
Baltimore's defense limited the vaunted Bengals offense to eight first downs and harassed quarterback Carson Palmer into a dismal 10-for-25 effort with one interception.
The Ravens may welcome back starting running back Willis McGahee, who suited up but did not play against Cincinnati while recuperating from arthroscopic knee surgery.
In his absence, Le'Ron McClain rushed for 86 yards and rookie Ray Rice tacked on 64 more as Baltimore held the ball for over 36 minutes.