BALTIMORE line sitting very tight at - 3

That's probably a very good idea.  As a Ravens homer, you'll remember last year when the Ravens played at home against Cincinnati, blowing a 7-3 halftime lead and a 14-10 lead in the 4th quarter.  They let Carson Palmer beat them with an 80-yard drive culminating in a 20-yard touchdown pass with just 22 seconds left.  The Ravens went on the road the following week after that conservative stinkbomb against the Bengals and wound up in a wild shootout with Favre and the Vikings, ultimately losing 33-31.  The year before that, the Ravens lost at home to the Steelers, blowing a 6-3 halftime lead and a 9-3 lead in the 4th quarter.  In that game, they let Roethlisberger take the Steelers 92 yards in just three minutes, with Pittsburgh scoring the winning touchdown with just 43 seconds to go.  The following week, the Ravens went on the road to Dallas and opened up the playbook, scoring 33 points as they shut down Texas Stadium in a 33-24 win.

And now we have last Sunday night, where the Ravens blew a 7-0 halftime lead and a 10-3 lead in the 4th quarter.  The Ravens played conservatively again in the second half, settling for a 3rd quarter field goal (after having had 1st and goal at the 6) followed by back-to-back three and outs.  They finally cracked when Polamalu forced the fumble by Flacco, leaving the Steelers with just a 9-yard field to beat them.  After yet another close, low-scoring, careful, and ultimately agonizing loss at home to a division rival, it makes sense that the Ravens, for the third year in a row, will respond to this defeat by playing a much more wide open game on the road against a non-divisional opponent.  And what better opponent to provide this evening's entertainment than the Houston Texans, who other than their 20-0 win over Rusty Smith and the reeling Titans, haven't had any of their games stay under 46 points in the last eight weeks.