HOUSTON HAS TO ANTE UP IN A KEY AFC MATCHUP
The skinny: This is the kind of roll-up-your- sleeves game down the stretch the Texans have won in the past. Despite its struggles, Houston is still in the AFC South race, but the Texans have usually come up short when faced with a breakout game.
The Ravens lost a football brawl a week ago to the Steelers and could have a difficult time recovering physically and mentally to go on the road a week later.
The difference will be: Whether Texans running back Arian Foster, the league’s leading rusher (1,230 yards), can crank out the yardage against one of the better defenses in the league. For the most part, Foster has feasted on those that have struggled this season.
Just one of Foster’s six 100-yard rushing games has come against a run defense ranked higher than 15th — against the San Diego Chargers, who are ranked fifth.
To get Foster free, the Texans are going to have to do a far better job dealing with Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata than the Steelers did. The 350-pound Ngata controlled play up front and is as disruptive as any defensive player in the league.
The call: Ravens 24-23
Giants vs. Vikings (at Detroit), 5:20 p.m.
The call: Vikings 24-23
Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post
