Houston Falls to Baltimore 34-10 as Ravens Get One Step Closer

By: Anthony Ametrano

With likely MVP winner Lamar Jackson under center, the AFC’s number one seed Baltimore Ravens and their star-studded defense send C.J. Stroud, DeMemeco Ryans, and the Texans home after a phenomenal season.

Lamar Jackson put together another MVP-type performance coming off their well-deserved bye week after finishing the regular season with the AFC’s best record. The Ravens leaned heavily on their run game against the Texan's young defense. Jackson threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns while adding 100 yards on the ground and running into the end zone twice himself en route to the Ravens 34-10 divisional-round victory. The Ravens were able to rush for over 220 yards, with 134 of them coming in the second half.

The story of the run game for the Houston Texans was completely different. Devin Singletary and the Texans were unable to get the run game going the entire game, thanks to the Ravens' suffocating defense. The Ravens, while having the sixth-best defensive unit in terms of total defense (per Fox Sports) were allowing 109 yards on the ground per game during the regular season. With the help of the crowd, and the Texans offensive line getting penalized eight (8!!!) total times on Saturday afternoon, the Texans offense was only able to total 38 yards on the ground averaging 2.7 yards per carry. Texans rookie phenom C.J. Stroud was unable to get the passing game going all afternoon as he finished the game completing 19 of his 33 passes for 175 yards.

Just one year after securing the number two overall pick in the 2023 draft, and moving up to select Will Anderson Jr. with the number three pick, the Houston Texans miracle season comes to an abrupt end. Following a crushing loss from the Super Bowl-hopeful Ravens and likely NFL MVP, Lamar Jackson, Houston fans should be extremely proud of this season, and hopeful for the future. With Head Coach DeMeco Ryans locked in for the next five years, and C.J. Stroud just getting started in this league, the future looks extremely bright for the Houston Texans.

As for the Baltimore Ravens, they advance to the AFC Championship Game against last year's Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. While this year is looking like it could just be “the year” for Jackson and the Ravens, there are several questions the team faces heading into the weekend. In the first half against the Texans this past weekend, the Ravens struggled immensely against the blitz. Heading into halftime, the Ravens were tied 10-10 with the Houston Texans. Much of the reason for this tie was because of the pressure the Texans were able to get on Jackson. The Chiefs' defense blitzed the seventh most during the regular season at a 32.9% rate (per Pro Football Reference). Are these Ravens going to run into a wall against the Chiefs, who have looked as vulnerable as ever this season in the Mahomes/Kelce/Reid era, or can Jackson finally lead the Ravens to their first Super Bowl appearance since 2012?