As the 5-3 Ravens and 3-5 Texans battle it out in Houston this afternoon, I’ll be blogging live from my sofa in Cockeysville, providing you with updates and commentary. Log on to bthesite.com throughout the game for my two cents and rants and raves from fellow b readers. Feel free to let your voice be heard, too.

——4th Quarter:
4:05: Game over. OK, fine. The game was over a half hour ago. Now it’s official.

3:54: This one is getting ugly. Make that uglier. Ravens 41, Texans 13.

3:48: Troy Smith? Todd Heap? What is this, 2007? Ravens 34, Texans 13.

3:47: Ah, who am I kidding? I throw like a girl.

3:46: Rosefels gets picked again. Game over. That was a terrible pass. I think I could start for the Texans. At least I could hit open guys.

3:37: I’m trying to think of ways that the Ravens can make these fourth quarters more exciting. Running out the clock on the ground just isn’t that much fun. Maybe they could put Ngata under center to hand off. Or they can have everyone on the offensive line switch positions. I say they should just run the option. That would be great. I’m open for suggestions here, though.

3:25: Was I right or what about Todd Heap today? Ravens 27, Texans 13.

——3rd Quarter:
3:18: The Ravens are putting together a nice drive here to answer the Texans’ score. The Texans penalties are helping, too. The Ravens are basically running at will on the Texans, so they should just stick with what works.

3:10: I guess Kevin Walter can beat you after all. Ravens 19, Texans 13.

3:08: No chance on that Stover try. Can we all agree that he shouldn’t be kicking field goals over 40 yards?

3:05: It’s crazy that we’ve gone three-plus games without a turnover by Joe Flacco. His newfound ball security has a lot to do with the Ravens’ success. The Texans are -10 in turnover differential this year and they’re on their way to being 3-6. Coincidence?

3:01: That was a terrible play by Sage Rosenfels. What the hell was he trying to do there? If the Ravens can score here, this one will be over.

3:00: Andre Johnson is pretty good, eh?

2:53: Todd Heap, where have you been? Heap is having a nice game, even though it won’t totally show up on the stat sheet. He helped draw the pass-interference penalty that set up Willis McGahee’s TD run. I’m just going to repeat that factoring Heap into the offense gives the Ravens an added dimension down the stretch, which could make them dangerous. Ravens 19, Texans 6.

2:46: Cool it guys. It’s too early to compare Joe Flacco to Tom Brady. Although, I would be pretty pumped if Flacco started dating Gisele.

2:45: Derrick Mason has returned to the lineup to start the third quarter.

——2nd Quarter:
2:29: And we’ve got a one-score game heading into the locker rooms. Ravens 12, Texans 6.

2:25: I’m also a big fan of QBs pump-faking when they’re well past the line of scrimmage. Kordell Stewart was amazing at it. That’s about it, though.

2:21: Wow. The Ravens’ rookie kicker Steve Hauschka (I can’t believe I spelled that right the first time) nailed a 54-yard field goal to expand Baltimore’s lead. Ravens 12, Texans 3.

2:20: Go for it. Go for it. Go for it.

2:18: Now that was interesting. Gotta love the Suggs package. At least it makes things entertaining.

2:15: Flacco finds Heap again. They’re using a lot of play action to help Heap get open today. He’s already had three catches for 43 yards. Now let’s see if they can find him in the end zone.

2:13: That Heap catch won’t count, but there’s no question Flacco has found Heap on his radar.

2:11: “If you don’t allow people to score, they can’t win.” Since when did John Madden start working for CBS?

2:08: Safety! I think safeties are my favorite play in football. I’m not really sure why. I’m also not really sure why the Texans didn’t just pound the ball a couple of times to give them a little bit of room. The Ravens will gladly take the points, though. Ravens 9, Texans 3.

1:57: The Ravens seem content to sit back and only rush three or four guys and force the mistake-prone Rosenfels to beat them. I’m a big fan of bringing the heat, but I like that strategy today. It could pay off in a couple more interceptions. Ravens 7, Texans 3.

1:54: Or we’ll see Slaton’s impact right now. His TD was overturned, but that play showed that Slaton needs to be in the lineup if the Texans want to pull out the win today.

1:52: I’m surprised by how little we’ve seen of both Steve Slaton and Ray Rice so far. Both teams are trying to run between the tackles, which isn’t the strong suit of the two rookies, but they’re potential game-changers. We’ll probably see more of them in the second half.

1:51: My roommate is blaring his new James Taylor CD right now. Nothing says football like James Taylor, right? Somebody shoot me.

1:42: Only the Ravens would hand off to three different running backs on one series to pick up a first down…

——1st Quarter:
1:37: Mason has a shoulder sprain. His return is questionable.

1:34: Nevermind. Haloti Ngata comes up with a great individual effort to get the Ravens out of the jam. He tipped Rosenfels’ pass at the line and then dove to haul it, an impressive feat for someone the size of a VW Bus. Why didn’t the Texans just run the ball there? As soon as Rosenfels dropped back to pass, I knew something bad would happen. That’s another case of NFL coaches trying to get too cute. The Ravens don’t try to be cute, and it usually works.

1:31: I don’t know who David Anderson is, but that was one heck of a catch. One-handed while getting sandwiched between two Ravens? Wow. And now a pass interference penalty sets the Texans up at the goal line with a great chance to tie the game.

1:23: The Ravens have jumped on top thanks to a 43-yard touchdown strike from Joe Flacco to Yamon Figurs. Sure, Flacco threw a beautiful ball, but what was most impressive was how he looked off the safeties to open up the middle of the field for his receiver before firing it in there. If Figurs can catch it, you know it was a well-thrown ball. Ravens 7, Texans 0.

1:20: Uh-oh. Derrick Mason is down after trying to make an acrobatic catch on a ball thrown about 10 feet over his head. He landed hard on his left shoulder or elbow. That’s one guy the Ravens can’t afford to lose. Mason is invaluable, especially due to his chemistry with Flacco.

1:16: Heap again. We’re only five minutes into the game and this is already his best performance of the season.

1:12: Good work by the Ravens to blanket Andre Johnson with a handful of defenders on that third-down conversion. You can expect to see a lot more of that today. I mean seriously, who else is going to burn them? Kevin Walter? Jacoby Jones?

1:09: The Texans cheerleaders have brought their “A” game today. And thankfully for us, the CBS cameramen have noticed.

1:06: That seemed like a deliberate play to get the ball to Todd Heap on the Ravens’ first offensive play. Maybe they’re finally going to integrate the big tight end back into the offense.

1:05: Rosenfels has happy feet. This should be entertaining to watch. Any chance he’ll go on Dancing With the Stars?

——Pregame:
12:52: Former Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher is a Joe Flacco fan (I’m retiring all “Wacko for Flacco” comments until at least the second half). On CBS’s pregame show, he more or less said that Flacco was the most impressive rookie in the first half. Interesting.

12:45: CB Samari Rolle is expected to return to the starting lineup after missing six games with a neck injury. That’s a big lift for the team’s injury-riddled secondary, which must contain Houston WR Andre Johnson this afternoon. Johnson has been the best receiver in the league over the past month and a half, and he could have a big game this afternoon against the Ravens. Baltimore is still missing CB Chris McAlister and SS Dawan Landry. McAlister is now lost for the year, as he’ll have season-ending knee surgery. The Ravens were apparently interested in DeAngelo Hall, who was released by the Raiders earlier in the week, but Hall signed with the Redskins. Another former Raider must now take McAlister’s place for the long haul: Fabian Washington.

Other Ravens inactives include LB Antwan Barnes, OT Oniel Cousins, WR Marcus Smith, TE Daniel Wilcox, DT Lamar Divens and QB Todd Bouman (emergency QB).

Some key Texans will also miss today’s game, including starting QB Matt Schaub, WR Andre Davis and DT Amobi Okoye. Sage Rosenfels will get the start at QB for Houston, and the team shouldn’t miss a beat with him in the lineup. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

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