BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson rolled left, followed a block of Ronnie Stanley, and raced into the end zone and right up the stadium tunnel. Jackson ran as if he were trying to run as far as possible from the narrative that he struggles in the postseason, and from the ghosts of 2019.
That touchdown run by Jackson wrapped up a masterful, historic performance by the presumptive league Most Valuable Player, as Jackson ran for two touchdowns and threw two others in leading the Ravens to a 34-10 win against the Houston Texans in a divisional round game at M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 20.
The win means the Ravens will host the AFC championship game for the first time in franchise history next Sunday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m., against the third-seeded Kansas City Chiefs.
It will be the first conference championship game in Baltimore since the 1970 season, when the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders to reach the Super Bowl.
Coming off a bye in the opening round of the playoffs and playing in windy conditions with a wind-chill of 10 degrees at kickoff, the Ravens’ offense scuffled in a first half that ended in a 10-10 tie. The Texans’ aggressive defense kept Jackson and the Ravens’ offense out of rhythm, most evident when Jackson was buried on back-to-back sacks near the end of the half.
But Jackson operated the Ravens’ offense with clinical precision after halftime. He led the Ravens to touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half, and a suffocating defense held the Texans’ offense without a touchdown. Houston’s only points came on a field goal and a punt return.
The Ravens took a 10-3 lead when Jackson hit Nelson Agholor for a 3-yard touchdown to cap an 11-play, 76-yard drive. But after the Ravens’ next drive ended with a three-and-out, Jordan Stout punted to the Texans’ Steven Sims, who found a seam up the middle, shed a tackle attempt by Stout and outran everyone for a 67-yard touchdown that tied the game at 10.
Head coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens were “a little edgy” in the locker room at halftime, and Jackson said he did a lot of talking that included “a lot of cursing.”
Whatever was said, it worked.
The Ravens dominated the second half on both sides of the ball.
The Ravens opened the second half with a crisp six-play, 55-yard drive featuring a couple of quick throws by Jackson. Then he ran up the middle for a 15-yard score and a 17-10 lead.
When the Ravens got the ball back, Jackson and the running game chewed up the final six minutes of the third quarter, and Jackson capped the drive when he rolled right as if he were going to run, then floated a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely for a 24-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.
It was the sixth touchdown in the past six games for Likely, who again started in place of an injured Mark Andrews.
After a quick three-and-out by Houston, Jackson again took over. Running back Justice Hill, who finished with a career-high 66 yards on 13 carries, sparked the drive, and newly signed Dalvin Cook reeled off a 19-yard gain on his first carry with his new team. Four plays later, Jackson rolled left, ran behind Stanley, into the end zone and right up the stadium tunnel for a 31-10 lead.
Here are five quick impressions of the win, which puts the Ravens in the AFC championship game for the first time since the 2012 season:
1. Lamar Jackson proved he can win in the playoffs with a historic performance.
Jackson admitted that sure, he’s heard about it, and he’s seen it plastered all over the TV. The criticism that he can’t win in the playoffs, that his regular-season success — he’s 58-19 as a starter — has not translated to the postseason.
Jackson came into this game just 1-3 as a postseason starter, and he knew that the only way to bury that narrative would be by winning.
“You know I heard that,” he said of the criticism. “I saw it. Yes, I see it, but it is what it is. I don’t really care about what people say. I’m trying to win day in and day out. Every time I’m on that field, I’m trying to play to the best of my abilities. Those guys just had our team’s number in the past, but it’s a different team.”
Not only did Jackson win this game, but he took the game over. At halftime, he implored his team with a pep talk that he admitted might not be appropriate for family television, and then in the second half, he stayed a step ahead of a Texans defense that had harassed and frustrated him for the first 30 minutes.
By the end of the game, Jackson had done something never accomplished in NFL history, in the regular season or postseason: He ran for 100 yards, passed for 100 yards, had a 100+ passer rating, ran for two touchdowns and threw for two touchdowns.
“Lamar played out of his mind,” head coach John Harbaugh said.
Jackson finished 11-for-100 as a runner, with his final carry his exclamation-point, run-up-the-tunnel touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Earlier, he had found openings in the middle of the field, including on a 15-yard touchdown run that gave the Ravens the lead for good at 17-10.
As a passer, Jackson went 16-for-22 for 152 yards and two scores, which translated to a passer rating of 121.8. He stepped up at times to avoid the aggressive Texans pressure, delivering on target to eight different players.
Maybe most important, he stayed calm and composed, and didn’t let any ill effect of past playoff shortcomings affect him.
2. The ghosts of 2019 are officially buried.
Among all the elation in the Ravens’ victorious locker room, one emotion surely was relief, especially for the nine players and numerous coaches who were with the team in 2019.
That year, like this one, the Ravens rolled to the No. 1 seeding in the AFC and held home-field advantage for the AFC playoffs. That year, like this one, they rested several starters in the regular-season finale and then enjoyed a bye in the opening round of the playoffs. But then the 2019 team came out flat and suffered a shocking 28-12 loss to sixth-seeded Tennessee.
The story of that season has been a talking point pretty much from the moment the Ravens secured the AFC’s top seed. Players had been asked about it in the locker room all week, and talk about the 2019 team — and the rest vs. rust conundrum — had dominated discussions. The team knew that the only way to bury that would be to turn back the Texans.
Surely there were some tense moments at M&T Bank Stadium as the Texans played the top-seeded Ravens to a 10-10 halftime tie.
But against the Texans, Jackson and the Ravens offense and a suffocating Ravens defense made sure there would be no callback to 2019.
“I think we’re just sick of hearing about it,” said fullback Patrick Ricard, who was on that 2019 team. “That was four years ago. We’re a completely different team. The guys who have been here, we understand what it takes to get over that.”
“This time,” he continued, “we’re going to do everything possible so that doesn’t happen again, and just shut everyone up because we’re sick of hearing it. It happened four years ago. A lot has happened since then.”
The Ravens figure to be favored in the AFC championship game at home, but getting past this first postseason game without another stumble was a massive step forward for the organization.
“Narratives are narratives,” Ricard said. “We’ve been hearing it all year. ‘We’re this, we’re that.’ All that matters is how we play.”
3. The second half might have been Todd Monken’s finest hour.
Experts like to say the sign of good coaching is the ability to make adjustments, to quickly assess what worked and what didn’t in the first 30 minutes, and then in the crucible of a frenetic, hurried halftime, make changes accordingly.
The Texans, their first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke seemed to get the better of Monken and Lamar Jackson in the first half, with an ultra-aggressive approach that kept the Ravens out of rhythm.
That was never more apparent than when Jackson was buried on back-to-back sacks in the final minute of the half. Jackson was able to avoid pressure at times and complete throws, but the offense looked stressed and disjointed in a half that ended tied at 10.
In the second half, though, Monken and the Ravens put on a master class. The Ravens’ first three drives after halftime went for 55, 88 and 83 yards, with all of them ending in touchdowns.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Jackson got the ball out quickly to negate any effect of blitzing. He was on target with a quick hitch to Nelson Agholor for 9 yards on the opening play of the half, then hit Isaiah Likely, who used his patented stiff-arm to turn the quick pass into a 19-yard gain. Four plays later, Jackson scampered up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown and a 17-10 lead.
On the Ravens’ next drive, the Ravens mixed the run and the pass effectively, and maybe Monken’s best play call of the game extended that possession. The Ravens kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-1 from the Houston 49-yard line. Patrick Ricard came in motion and turned upfield behind guard Kevin Zeitler, and it appeared the Ravens would power behind Ricard for the yardage. Instead, Jackson faked a handoff and kept the ball, finding open space around the left end for 14 yards.
Then as the fourth quarter began, Jackson rolled right and looked as if he would run before lobbing a touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely.
By then, the Texans’ defense had been on the field for two long drives in a row, and after a quick series that went three-and-out, they were right back on the field again against a Ravens offense that was firing on all cylinders. Hill for 9. Hill for 4. Jackson for 10. Dalvin Cook for 19 on his first Ravens carry.
The Ravens, as they had done to other opponents at M&T Bank Stadium, slowly, methodically broke the Texans.
“In the fourth quarter, we were getting 5, 10 yards, every single play,” Ricard said. “You can feel them getting tired, you can feel them getting worn down, and that’s when you can just run the ball with great backs, great line, great tight ends, receivers that can block. You can definitely feel it.”
Monken’s name has been a popular one in the coaching cycle, and after watching his offense put on a clinic in the second half, it’s easy to see why.
4. The Ravens’ defense lived up to its physical, stingy reputation.
Early in the first half, Ravens linebacker Jadeveon Clowney picked up Texans running back Devin Singletary and body-slammed him to the turf. On another play, Kyle Hamilton pursued Singletary after a catch and hammered him after a short gain. Roquan Smith and Justin Madubuike also got in their shots on other plays.
The Ravens hit hard and hit often, and they made the Texans earn every yard. There weren’t many to be had, either, especially on the ground. Singletary, who finished the season with 898 yards rushing, totaled 22 on nine carries. Houston overall ran 14 times for 38 yards.
With the running game shut down, rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud was left to try to win the game through the air, but the Ravens’ secondary offered no openings.
Head coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens’ secondary, which was playing without Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf), was “plastered” to Texans receivers. Nico Collins finished with a team-best 68 yards on five catches, but defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s group again prevented any big plays.
Marcus Williams and Ronald Darby, who started in place of Humphrey, each had impressive pass break-ups, and Hamilton nearly had an interception that he juggled and couldn’t corral before the ball fell to the ground.
The Texans’ offense failed to score a touchdown against the Ravens’ defense for the second time this season. When the teams met in Week 1, the Ravens won 25-9 and yielded just three field goals. This time, the Texans offense mustered only a first-quarter field goal.
Stroud finished 19-for-33 for 175 yards. The Ravens didn’t register any sacks, but they flushed Stroud from the pocket numerous times and forced him to unload the ball under duress, including one that was deemed intentional grounding.
Led by Smith, the Ravens’ defense has played with a consistent, physical edge all season. And as Singletary painfully found out more than once, they were ready to dish out more punishment.
“That’s how we’re supposed to come out,” said linebacker Patrick Queen, who finished with five tackles. “That’s how you’re supposed to play the game. We don’t shy away from that kind of stuff. There was a lot of jawing back and forth. Some people probably thought we shouldn’t have been playing like that in the game. That’s just what we do.”
5. No one is ready to take any victory laps yet.
The Ravens’ locker room was a victorious place, but once the cheering subsides, the Ravens know that this win only gave them the chance to keep playing, and they are still two games from their goal.
Yes, Lamar Jackson has now advanced further in the postseason than ever in his career, and yes, the team can finally bury talk of 2019. But the Ravens know the work is far from done.
“Next game up. That is our mission,” linebacker Roquan Smith said.
Next week, they are going to face an outstanding, veteran quarterback — either Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes — and a team that has proved to be one of the final four teams still standing.
It’s to their credit that a playoff berth, and even a playoff win, still feels like unfinished business. The team has used the phrase “locked in” throughout the past couple of weeks, and that is sure to be their mentality this week as well, when national media descend on their team facility and the anticipation ramps up around Baltimore for what will be the biggest home game in this city in more than 50 years.
“We danced a little bit, and we had a good time, but we still know we’ve got to win two more,” said rookie receiver Zay Flowers, who finished with a team-best four catches for 41 yards. “And to win two more, you’ve got to go out, practice hard and execute everything you’ve got to.”
Said Lamar Jackson: “We’re not in the dance yet, but I’m looking forward to next week, to be honest with you. I’m not even thinking about the Super Bowl until we handle business.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox