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It’s time for the C.J. Stroud vs. Lamar Jackson showdown.
Pro football is the ultimate team game, but the postseason belongs to the quarterbacks. It’s part of NFL history and it was repeated last week in the wild-card round.
Jordan Love completed 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns as the Green Bay Packers routed the Dallas Cowboys, 48-32. Patrick Mahomes looked like the best quarterback in the league again as he completed 23 of 41 passes for 262 yards to lead the Kansas City Chiefs over the Miami Dolphins, 26-7. Josh Alllen was 21-for-30 for 203 yards and three touchdowns in the Buffalo Bills’ 31-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even Baker Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers crushed the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-9.
That set the stage for Saturday’s divisional round game between the No. 4 seed Houston Texans (11-7) and the No. 1 Ravens (13-4) at M&T Bank Stadium.
In one huddle, we have Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft and former Ohio State star who has already made a name for himself. In the other is Jackson, the presumptive NFL Most Valuable Player who is trying to cement his legacy not only in Baltimore, but throughout the NFL.
The question is, which quarterback will make the most big plays?
The odds are in Jackson’s favor. He is driven by the fact that the Ravens have yet to win more than one playoff game during his time in Baltimore, even though he has missed the end of the previous two seasons with injuries.
But the injuries don’t hide the fact that Jackson hasn’t played well in the postseason. He has struggled to throw accurately downfield and outside the numbers, especially when opposing defenses stacked the line of scrimmage.
The Ravens brought in Todd Monken to replace Greg Roman as the offensive coordinator in February to upgrade the passing game and continue Jackson’s development. It has worked out well. The Ravens also signed free agent wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. (35 catches, 565 yards, three touchdowns) and Nelson Agholor (35 catches, 381 yards, 4 TDs) during the offseason and drafted Boston College receiver Zay Flowers (77 catches, 858 yards, 5 TDs) with their top pick in April.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw for a career-high 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns with only seven interceptions this season. (Jerry Jackson/Staff) Jackson responded by throwing for a career-high 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns with only seven interceptions. He had the fourth-best passer rating (102.7) in the league and a career-best completion rate of 67.2%.
Jackson also led the Ravens in rushing with 821 yards on 148 carries and averaged an NFL-best 5.5 yards per attempt. That’s what makes him special.
Despite the new passing concepts, philosophies and audibles, the team’s best play is still Jackson ad libbing, running around and giving his receivers time to get open.
Jackson is also driven by another factor. If he loses Saturday, he will be lumped into the same category as Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who has a 2-5 postseason record. Jackson is 1-3.
The Ravens signed Jackson to a five-year, $260 million deal last April. He should be focused and ready for the Texans. Houston is certainly ready for Jackson.
“Yeah, obviously at the forefront of what we have to do this week, he is a great athlete,” Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said about Jackson. “He has a great feel in the pocket, he does a great job of escaping, breaking tackles — all those things. It’s going to be sort of like we’ve preached all year, but even at a heightened level of rushing as a unit. We can’t have independent contractors out there.
“It’s definitely going to be about guys staying in their rush areas. If you get out of your area and out of your lane, and kind of where we’re trying to put it all together, if you get out, then he’s going to make you pay. So, I would probably say just from a discipline — a rush discipline level — this is the ultimate [challenge] this week, for sure.”
The 6-foot-3, 218-pound Stroud isn’t as elusive as the 6-2, 212-pound Jackson. No one is, but Stroud is slightly bigger and can rifle a pass. He is mobile enough to escape pressure and, like Jackson, allows his receivers time to get open.
There doesn’t appear to be a game too big for this rookie. He completed 63.9% of his passes for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns during the regular season with only five interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 100.8 and ranked fourth in the NFL with 19 completions of 20-plus yards on third down.
Stroud was better in the fourth quarter, throwing for 1,093 yards with nine touchdowns, which put him in the top six in the league. He did it largely without two of his top receivers in rookie Tank Dell and Noah Brown, who are both on injured reserve.
Nico Collins has emerged as the Texans’ top receiver with 80 catches for 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns. He has great range and his 6-4, 215-pound frame makes him a big target inside the red zone. But the running game, paced by Devin Singletary, is only slightly above average, even though Houston has the best left tackle in the NFL in Laremy Tunsil.
The focus will be on Stroud.
“He can make any throw from any part of the field,” Ravens safety Geno Stone said. “He has that big arm, and he’s playing smart with the ball. He’s not putting the ball in jeopardy, so he’s making plays for his guys and being smart with the ball. That’s my biggest takeaway from [watching] him.”
The Ravens, though, counter with a defense that is ranked No. 6 overall, allowing 301.4 yards per game, including 191.9 through the air. They lead the league in scoring defense (16.5 points per game) and sacks (60) and are tied with the New York Giants for the most takeaways (31).
Houston is ranked No. 14 in total defense, allowing 330.7 yards per game and are ranked No. 23 in pass defense. The Texans have solid pass rushers in defensive ends Jonathan Greenard (12 1/2 sacks) and rookie Will Anderson Jr. (eight). They have two respectable cornerbacks in Derek Stingley Jr. and Steven Nelson, who each have five interceptions, but their safeties can be exploited and Jackson should be able to hit on some deep passes.
That puts the pressure back on Jackson, but it’s Stroud who’s playing in only his second playoff game. He had a good performance last week, completing 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-14 win against Cleveland, but the Ravens aren’t the stumbling, bumbling Browns.
This is a good matchup. It’s Stroud vs. Jackson. Or is it Jackson vs. Stroud?
Either way, it’s on.
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C.J. Stroud played like a rookie — a bold, gifted one to be sure, but the Ravens invaded his personal space early and often on their way to a comfortable season-opening victory over the Houston Texans.
“I feel like the first game we played them, he would sense me or sense another rusher and get rattled, try to throw it out,” Ravens outside linebacker Odafe Oweh recalled.
When Oweh and his teammates watched more recent film of Stroud in preparation for Saturday’s AFC divisional round matchup with the Texans, they saw someone else entirely.
“C.J.’s a whole different quarterback,” Oweh said. “I feel like we woke them up, we matured them, and he’s been balling ever since. But I feel like everyone on that team is a little different.”
“He can make any throw from any part of the field,” safety Geno Stone added. “He’s got that big arm, and he’s being smart with the ball, not putting the ball in jeopardy.”
Stroud has already put together one of the greatest rookie quarterback seasons in NFL history, and he’s only getting better if his performance in Houston’s 45-14 wild-card demolition of the Cleveland Browns is any indication.
Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, a rookie play caller himself, trusted Stroud to throw aggressively on early downs against the Browns’ top-ranked defense, and the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft answered with a near-perfect performance, completing 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns with no sacks and no turnovers.
“He played better than I did in my rookie playoff game,” said Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the favorite to win NFL Most Valuable Player honors.
Steelers Texans Football
David J. Phillip/APTexans wide receiver Nico Collins, left, and quarterback C.J. Stroud celebrate after they connected for a touchdown against the Steelers on Oct. 1. (David J. Phillip/AP)The Texans averaged 3.7 yards per play in their opening loss in Baltimore but bumped that to 5.4 for the season and 8.1 in their dissection of the previously fearsome Browns defense.
“I think we’ve grown in a multitude of areas,” Stroud told the Texans’ website. “I think at that point, we weren’t really identified as who we are now, and we’ve grown in a lot of aspects.”
The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite has seemingly every former quarterback who now works as a television analyst gushing about his poise and accuracy downfield at age 22.
“The respect I have for his season — I can’t describe it enough because of what my rookie season was like,” Peyton Manning said on ESPN’s “This is Football” with Kevin Clark. “I always say, ‘Well, it’s tough being a rookie in the NFL.’ C.J. Stroud is like, ‘It doesn’t look that tough.'”
The Ravens will look to change that by conjuring the same chaos they did in the season opener, when they sacked Stroud five times, hit him six and hurried him 19 times, as charted by Pro Football Focus. The Browns, by contrast, managed just five hurries and one quarterback hit last Saturday.
Pressure makes all the difference against Stroud, who completed 69.1% of his passes and averaged 9.3 yards per attempt from a clean pocket, compared with 53.2% and 6.4 yards per attempt when the heat was on, according to PFF.
Even in that area, Ravens defenders have watched him make strides. In Houston’s Nov. 26 loss to Jacksonville, for example, Stroud completed 26 of 36 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns despite taking four sacks and seven quarterback hits.
“I would say he is just really accurate, really poised in that pocket, even when there is some pressure in there,” Oweh said. “He’s done a better job at that.”
Which helps explain why the Texans, led by Stroud and first-year coach DeMeco Ryans, have greatly exceeded expectations. The Ravens’ 25-9 win in September might have seemed like routine business against an overmatched opponent that went 3-13-1 in 2022. But even then, coach John Harbaugh warned that Houston would be heard from.
“They’re going to win a lot of football games this year,” he said the day after, “Mark it down. You’ll see. That’s a good, young football team.”
Harbaugh nodded back to those remarks Wednesday. Any coach of a 9 1/2-point favorite, which the top-seeded Ravens are, would likely talk up the opponent. But the Texans’ resounding win over a Cleveland team many analysts viewed as a greater threat to the Ravens eliminated any doubts about their legitimacy
“They haven’t surprised me, or they haven’t surprised us,” Harbaugh said. “They are very talented. They play very hard. They execute at a high level. C.J. is just doing a phenomenal job. [Wide receiver] Nico Collins, a Michigan guy, man, he’s a go-to guy for them. A lot of skill players, a good offensive line playing very physical, the defense is all over the field, as you’d expect. They’re just a really good football team.”
As Harbaugh suggested, Houston’s young talent base goes beyond Stroud. Edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. was the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft out of Alabama. Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. was the No. 3 pick in the 2022 draft out of LSU. Both have lived up to expectations this year, Stingley after an injury-riddled rookie year.
Just as Stroud looks more assured on offense, the Texans’ defense turned into one of the league’s stingiest against the run and broke the Browns’ spirit with a pair of pick-sixes against quarterback Joe Flacco.
“It’s the same coaches. [It’s] the same scheme that you’ve seen,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “They seem to be doing it better, and they’re aggressive.”
As they praised the Texans, however, the Ravens hastened to add that they’re a different, better team as well. The squandered leads of the first 10 games became footnotes as they routed the the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins to clinch home-field advantage and a first-round bye.
“I was coming off the couch,” outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney joked, referencing the fact he had signed with the Ravens less than a month before he faced the Texans, the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2014, in the opener. “As [Stroud] got better, I done got better.”
“Their offense is definitely clicking, but we wouldn’t want it any other way,” linebacker Roquan Smith said. “We’re prepared for it. We’re ready to go to war regardless of who it’s against, and they’re the team that’s coming in here.”
AFC divisional round
Texans at Ravens
Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
TV: ABC, ESPN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Ravens by 9 1/2
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The rain had already accumulated, so much so that it cascaded down stairwells and formed puddles on a 37-degree, soggy, downright miserable Saturday that called for couches and hot tea, not prolonged time outdoors. But there Carltrel Washington and his fiancée, Cherinna Hardeman, stood, in the upper deck of M&T Bank Stadium overlooking the soaked field more than an hour before the Ravens hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 6.
For the Ravens, the game lacked meaning: They’d already sealed the No. 1 seed in the AFC and, with it, a first-round bye. There was nothing else for them to gain, nothing more to squeeze out of a dominant regular season. But still, Washington and Herdeman braved the sloppy conditions, eager for a glimpse.
“I need to see everything. I ain’t trying to miss nothing,” Washington said.
It’s been that kind of don’t-miss-a-moment stretch for Baltimore’s pro sports teams as the Orioles and Ravens’ success has snowballed over the past 12 months to reach a rare level. One year ago, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was hurt and his future with the team was cloudy. The Orioles had shown promise, but had still not made the playoffs in years.
But that was then. Now, Baltimore pro sports are thriving. No city in America had two teams win as many MLB and NFL regular-season games as Baltimore’s 114 in 2023, and the city witnessed the Ravens and Orioles both win their division in the same year for the first time. What’s more, each team finished with the best record in their respective league (doing so in the toughest divisions, too), making Baltimore the first city to boast such a distinction since Dallas saw the NFL’s Cowboys and MLB’s Rangers have first-place campaigns in 2016.
“I don’t remember the last time Baltimore has had both teams like this,” said fan Mike Harlan, of Ellicott City. “So it’s awesome.”
For him, he’s been just as happy with some contracts the teams have recently signed as he has with their on-field success. The Ravens inked Jackson to a lucrative, five-year contract last year and the Orioles, last month, committed to at least 15 more seasons in Baltimore by agreeing to a lease with the state, which owns the pro stadiums.
“I think that’s the best part about being a Baltimore fan. You got Lamar signed, you got the lease signed for Camden Yards,” he said.
Kevin Richardson / Baltimore SunRavens quarterback Lamar Jackson talks with the media before throwing the ceremonial first pitch at an Orioles game in July 2019. (Kevin Richardson/Staff)Next up for Baltimore would be playoff success, the almost singular mark of a memorable year. Regular season wins are worthless currency in the postseason — as the Orioles witnessed in a three-game sweep at the hands of the eventual champion Texas Rangers in October — and the Ravens will need to knock off the upstart Houston Texans on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium at 4:30 p.m. to keep their Super Bowl hopes alive.
Jackson has remained laser-focused on such aspirations this year and linebacker Roquan Smith said the regular season is behind them.
“This is a new year right here. Everybody is 0-0 going into each and every game,” he said.
Postseason success has evaded Baltimore recently and not just dating back to last season, when the Jackson-less Ravens came up short in Cincinnati. The city has seen only one playoff victory by either of its pro teams (Ravens over Titans in 2021) since 2015.
But the Ravens, who have looked to be the class of the NFL over the season’s second half, will seek to shake painful memories from 2019 by winning a playoff game Saturday. Then, next month, the young, talented Orioles will report to spring training with an eye on another playoff appearance.
Patrick Queen, who wore an Orioles hoodie and a Ravens beanie in the locker room Thursday, said he often hears words of encouragement from fans in public — they’ll say “so proud of y’all,” or “good luck this week” to him — but in recent days there’s been “way more” support as Baltimore gears up for the postseason.
Queen, however, is one of the reasons why it would behoove the Ravens to have a strong playoff run this year, not hope for one down the road. While the Orioles seem to be in the midst of a yearslong run of success because of their roster makeup, the Ravens could have a different look next season.
Jackson’s future with the team is secure, but more than 20 players are set to become free agents after this season, including Queen, defensive tackle Justin Madubuike and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Plus, several coaches and front office personnel, including both offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, are being wooed by rival franchises.
But those are concerns for another day. For now, the Ravens can do something that neither Baltimore pro team has done since 2013 — win a home playoff game.
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The Ravens will be without three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey after he missed practice each day this week with a calf injury. He’s listed as out on the team’s final injury report Thursday ahead of the Ravens’ playoff opener 4:30 p.m. Saturday against the visiting Houston Texans, which will mark Humphrey’s eighth missed game of the season.
Humphrey has been hurt since the Ravens’ dominant win over the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 31. After a field goal by Miami in the first quarter, Humphrey limped to the sideline and did not return.
Brandon Stephens, who had a serious illness last year and was unable to play in the Ravens’ wild-card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and Ronald Darby will be expected to start at cornerback against the Texans, who have won eight of their past 11 games thanks, in part, to strong play from rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.
On the other side of the ball, it’s unclear whether the Ravens will get a lift at tight end. Mark Andrews, who left the Ravens’ Nov. 16 game against Cincinnati with an ankle injury, practiced this week but is listed as questionable, and coach John Harbaugh said Thursday his status is “still up in the air.”
Devin Duvernay, who suffered a back injury last month, is listed as questionable, but Harbaugh said the two-time Pro Bowl kick returner “looks good. I’d say he’s going to play for sure.”
Wide receiver Tylan Wallace, who missed practice this week with a knee injury, is listed as out, while linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips (shoulder) and safety Ar’Darius Washington (pectoral) are listed as questionable. Rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers (calf), who missed practice last week, and outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (illness), who sat out Wednesday, are both expected to play.
Running back Dalvin Cook is also expected to make his team debut after being signed to the practice squad earlier this month. The four-time Pro Bowl selection was released by the New York Jets after rushing for just 214 yards in 15 games, but he ran for more than 1,000 yards in each of the previous four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He called the decision to sign with the Ravens “a new breath, a new opportunity.”
Cook said Thursday he’s looking to “add a little flavor” to the running back rotation led by Gus Edwards and Justice Hill after digging into the playbook over the past two weeks.
“I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for him and for us,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll be looking forward to seeing how he does. It’s new. We haven’t seen him out there. We’ve seen him in practice. He looks good, and he’s going to be out there like everybody else trying to do whatever he can do to help us win the game.”
For Houston, defensive end Jerry Hughes (ankle) is out, while right tackle George Fant (illness) and fullback Andrew Beck (back) are questionable. Defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Jonathan Greenard, who were limited Tuesday and Thursday with ankle injuries, will play, as will linebackers Blake Cashman (knee), Christian Harris (calf) and Denzel Perryman (ribs), defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (ribs/shoulder) and wide receivers Robert Woods (hip) and John Metchie III (foot).
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“The Bank” will soon be boosted.
The most extensive upgrades since M&T Bank Stadium first opened in 1998 have already begun at the Ravens’ venue, which will host a playoff game against the Houston Texans on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. By August, the stadium will have received the first of a three-part face lift, with other additions expected to be finished ahead of the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The $430 million investment of state money will improve the gameday experience for the average, purple-clad fan — concourses will be expanded, bathrooms will be added, and three plazas will be attached to the stadium featuring bars, restaurants and stores — as well as for the most well-off attendees — with the addition of suites and clubs, including a luxurious locale dubbed “The Blackwing.”
The planned upgrades — as well as the potential that the Orioles will develop land near Oriole Park at Camden Yards — have been met with excitement, but also apprehension. The addition of a 5,000-square foot beer hall next year at the football stadium, for example, could pull some would-be customers away from surrounding businesses on game days. Kim Lane, the executive director of Pigtown Main Street has said more attractions to the stadiums “may harm local neighborhood economies.”
But several business owners welcome the additions — which they don’t necessarily see as a threat — as do many fans, eager for improved amenities.
“Am I worried about it? No,” said Jordan McGraw, co-owner of nearby Wico Street Beer Co. “Rising tides and all that.”
The state’s investment — which will be paid off over at least a decade with lottery proceeds — is the product of a bill passed by the General Assembly and Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in 2022 that promised money for stadium improvements, provided that the pro teams sign long-term leases with the state, which owns the stadiums. The Ravens committed to a lease until 2037 (10 years longer than their lease had been) and the renovations were later approved by the Board of Public Works, chaired by Democrat Gov. Wes Moore.
Publicly funded stadiums are not unique to Baltimore ($1.26 billion of public money is set to fund a new venue for the Tennessee Titans, to name one, scheduled to open in 2027). But some Marylanders have criticized the decision to use state money for Baltimore’s stadiums, which are occupied by privately owned tenants. Others have critiqued the upgrades to M&T Bank Stadium.
Maria Alvarez, a Ravens season-ticket holder since their first game in 1996 who has missed only two home games, wishes the renovations would be more centered upon the average fan, rather than those who “already have a foot up on everybody else,” she said. Specifically, she opposed improvements to exclusive suites and clubs.
“The Ravens need to think more of the little guy,” said Alvarez, of Columbia.
In a news conference last month, the Ravens unveiled their stadium improvement plan, which they have worked on for months with the Maryland Stadium Authority, their landlord. While some of the improvements are targeted to those in premium seating, other upgrades — like the expanded concourses, added bathrooms and plazas — will be available to any attendee.
“We want to make sure with such a significant investment that we really impacted and enhanced the experience for all of our fans,” Ravens president Sashi Brown said in December.
Ravens SVP of Marketing Brad Downs announced Dec. 12 a series of projects that will enhance the gameday fan experience at M&T Bank Stadium beginning in 2024. He was joined by, from left, Ravens president Sashi Brown, Maryland Stadium Authority chairman Craig Thompson, Global Director of Sports; Principal at Gensler Rick Sickman and Ravens SVP of Stadium Operations & Guest Experience Rich Tamayo. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) By signing a lease that is guaranteed to last at least 15 years — and could be more than 30 — the Orioles have also unlocked a share of state funds. The stadium authority estimated that, under the current agreement, they’ll be able to access about $400 million of the roughly $600 million in bonds potentially available, per the 2022 bill, for Oriole Park upgrades. It’s too soon for those funds to be used ahead of the 2024 baseball season, but the stadium authority hopes to have decided upon an architect and a construction company for those projects by the second quarter of this calendar year.
The stadiums, two of Baltimore’s most iconic buildings, are often showcased on national television and house sources of pride for Charm City, especially recently: The Orioles, despite a disappointing postseason, won more games than any American League team in 2023 and the Ravens are the No. 1 seed in the AFC after a dominant campaign. Entering this weekend’s divisional playoffs, they’re among the Super Bowl favorites.
But future bars and restaurants attached to M&T Bank Stadium and the potential of an entertainment district next to Oriole Park down the road — which would come after the Orioles and state come to an agreement to redevelop land, as outlined in their lease — could create an “economic island,” Lane, the Pigtown business leader, wrote last month in a Baltimore Sun commentary.
She noted that although “we are always cheering for our home teams,” she asked, “How will hundreds of millions of state dollars provided to the Ravens’ stadium benefit local businesses and neighborhoods?”
In certain cases, a large entertainment district can hurt established businesses, some economists say. After the Ballpark Village entertainment district, developed by Baltimore-based Cordish Company, opened near the St. Louis Cardinals’ stadium in 2014, one restaurant owner said “what it did is cannibalize all the little guys.”
Patrick Rishe, Director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis, said the topic at hand is one of “displacement,” or the idea that if more money is spent in one place, it could result in less money spent elsewhere. If all of the money spent at hypothetical new bars and restaurants near the Baltimore stadiums would have otherwise been spent at established locations, it would not increase overall economic activity, for example.
However, Rishe said he’s unaware of any data analyzing the impact of the entertainment district in St. Louis and said even when there is some displacement, that doesn’t necessarily mean a net negative. It can only be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, he said.
“In most instances, you’re going to see some displacement,” he said. “It’s just a question of how much and is it going to make it a net neutral endeavor or net positive in terms of sales tax revenue?”
The plazas at M&T Bank Stadium will only be open the 10 or so days a year when the venue is active, limiting their potential effects on surrounding businesses. And several bar and brewery owners see the improvements as being a lift for nearby neighborhoods, like Pigtown and Federal Hill.
“Overall, I think the entire thing is positive,” said Eric Cotton, owner of Pickles Pub, noting the benefits of the pro teams remaining in Baltimore. “That said, I can see how some of the smaller, newer places would be a little bit more nervous at this point to compete.”
Asked if the beer hall opening this coming year would affect Pickett Brewing, co-owner Kate Conway said: “It could hurt us or it could be amazing for us. I tend to go in the hopeful direction.”
Checkerspot Brewing owner Judy Neff added, “Development needs to happen and somebody’s gotta do it.”
By 2026, the experience at M&T Bank Stadium will be substantially different, with three plazas inviting fans to spend more of their time, before and after games, in the Ravens’ footprint. And if the Orioles and the state negotiate a deal to redevelop land around Oriole Park by 2027, a deadline outlined in their lease, there could be more changes coming to the area.
But the gameday experience might also remain similar for many. Some will prefer newer bars and restaurants by the stadiums while others might favor the charm — and prices — of longtime favorites.
“I feel like we’ll still do pretty well,” said Dave Rather, founder of Mother’s Grille in Federal Hill, a storied Ravens hangout.
Others are expected to continue the hearty pastime of tailgating — where the food and drink are plentiful and traditions run strong. Even during the Ravens’ soggy, meaningless game against the Steelers in Week 18, there many fans were, tailgating just the same in the rain. K.C. Schroeder, an Ellicott City resident attending the game (who is a Steelers fan, he admitted), said he’d noticed those tailgaters, smiling despite it all.
He cited Baltimore and Pittsburgh, along with Cleveland, as cities that share a similar grit.
“We’re kind of those working-class cities,” he said. “We’re always going to tailgate.”
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Here’s what you need to know about the AFC divisional round playoff game between the Ravens (13-4) and Houston Texans (11-7).
Time: 4:30 p.m. Saturday
Venue: M&T Bank Stadium
TV: ABC, ESPN (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge); WMAR Ch. 2 (Baltimore), WUSA 9 Ch. 9 (Washington)
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: WBAL (1090 AM, 101.5 FM) and 98 Rock (97.9 FM) (Gerry Sandusky, Rod Woodson); SiriusXM Radio Chs. 82 or 226
Forecast: Times of clouds and sun; windy and very cold with blowing and drifting snow. High near 27 degrees.
Line: Ravens by 9 1/2
Over-under: 43 1/2 points
Pregame reading:
- Ravens vs. Texans scouting report for AFC divisional round: Who has the edge?
- Mike Preston: DeMeco Ryans, leader of youth movement among NFL coaches, has made the Texans a contender | COMMENTARY
- John Harbaugh, with mix of love and old-school rigor, has Ravens set for playoff run
- Happy and healthy, Ravens’ Jadeveon Clowney is thriving
- For Ravens, between impending free agents and interest in coaching staff, the time to win is now
- Ravens roundtable: Answering questions about the Texans and star rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud ahead of playoff game
- Five things to know about the Houston Texans, the Ravens’ divisional round playoff opponent
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The Ravens enjoyed the weekend off they earned by claiming the AFC’s No. 1 seed. The Texans thrashed the Cleveland Browns and Joe Flacco, 45-14. Who will have the edge when these division winners meet in the divisional round of the playoffs Saturday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium?
Ravens passing game vs. Texans pass defense
The last time we saw Lamar Jackson, he played perhaps the best game of his career — 18-for-21, 321 yards, five touchdowns — as the Ravens routed the Miami Dolphins, 56-19, to clinch the first-round bye and home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. Jackson made himself a strong favorite to win his second NFL Most Valuable Player Award with that performance. His next hurdle, and the one he’ll be judged on, is to play his best football in the playoffs, something he could not do the last time he won MVP honors in 2019.
Jackson will throw to a more dynamic set of targets this time, especially if tight end Mark Andrews is healthy enough to return from an ankle injury that cost him six games and if rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers (who led the Ravens with 77 catches and 858 receiving yards) can produce on a sore calf that kept him out of the team’s bye-week practices. Second-year tight end Isaiah Likely stepped up to catch five touchdown passes in the games Andrews missed. The Ravens signed wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to star at this point in the season; he played a major role in the Los Angeles Rams’ run to the Super Bowl two years ago. Jackson’s pass protection faltered at times this season as veteran tackles Ronnie Stanley and Morgan Moses played through knee and shoulder injuries, respectively. But the offensive line kept Jackson clean in the Ravens’ resounding wins over the Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers. Even if the Texans reach him, Jackson was excellent against pressure this season, using his unmatched scrambling to buy time for downfield looks.
He will take on a Houston pass defense that ranked 23rd in Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) during the regular season but contributed four sacks and two pick-sixes in the wild-card victory over the Browns. The Texans have a pair of stellar young talents in cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. (five interceptions, 13 passes defended in 11 games) and edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. (seven sacks, 22 quarterback hits). Defensive end Jonathan Greenard led the team with 12 1/2 sacks and 15 tackles for loss. The Texans blitz on just 21% of dropbacks, so they won’t give Jackson big-strike opportunities by overcommitting, but they were vulnerable to big plays this year, allowing 6.5 yards per attempt, sixth-worst in the league. Flacco completed 15 of 19 passes for 172 yards in the first half last Saturday before unraveling in the third quarter. Despite their vulnerability, the Texans stood firm on crucial downs, ranking fifth in third-down defense and 12th in red-zone defense.
EDGE: Ravens
Texans passing game vs. Ravens pass defense
C.J. Stroud added to one of the finest rookie quarterback seasons in league history with an impeccable playoff debut — 16 of 21, 274 yards, three touchdowns — against the Browns’ top-ranked defense. The No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft is outstanding on intermediate and deep attempts but threw just five interceptions. The key to stopping Stroud is pressure. He completed just 53.2% of his passes and averaged 6.4 yards per attempt against pressure, down from 69.1% and 9.3 yards per attempt from a clean pocket, according to Pro Football Focus. The Browns managed just five hurries and one quarterback hit against an offensive line led by left tackle Laremy Tunsil. The Ravens did much better in their season-opening win over Houston with five sacks and 10 quarterback hits. When Stroud has time to probe, wide receiver Nico Collins (80 catches on 109 targets, 1,297 yards) is by far his favorite target. Tight end Dalton Schultz (35 first downs and five touchdowns on 59 catches) is reliable. The Texans will be without two key playmakers in injured wide receivers Tank Dell and Noah Brown.
Stroud will face a Ravens pass defense that ranked first in DVOA, allowed just 4.7 yards per attempt and led the league in sacks and takeaways. Coordinator Mike Macdonald’s defense achieved that production despite blitzing on just 21.9% of dropbacks, a testament to the talents of defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (13 sacks, 33 quarterback hits) and veteran edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney (9 1/2 sacks, team-high 71 pressures) and Kyle Van Noy (nine sacks on just 328 pass-rush snaps). The Ravens also attack quarterbacks with a deep secondary led by do-it-all All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, who’s expected to return from a knee injury against the Texans. They will hope to have cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who hurt his calf in the Week 17 win over the Dolphins and did not practice Tuesday or Wednesday.
EDGE: Ravens
Ravens running back Gus Edwards, left, averaged a career-low 4.1 yards per carry but did his most efficient work near the goal line, scoring 13 touchdowns. (Jerry Jackson/Staff) Ravens running game vs. Texans run defense
The Ravens led the league in rushing and rush DVOA but lost a big-play element when rookie Keaton Mitchell suffered a season-ending knee injury. Gus Edwards averaged a career-low 4.1 yards per carry but did his most efficient work near the goal line, scoring 13 touchdowns. Justice Hill (4.6 yards per carry, 28 receptions) is the team’s most versatile running back. The Ravens signed four-time Pro Bowl selection Dalvin Cook for the playoffs. Will he contribute after a dismal regular season with the New York Jets? Jackson led all quarterbacks with 821 rushing yards despite carrying just 9.3 times per game, down from 11.7 in his 2019 MVP season. It will be interesting to see if he calls his own number more frequently at crucial moments in the postseason.
The Ravens will face one of the league’s top run defenses, led by linebacker Blake Cashman (106 tackles, nine for loss). The Texans allowed an anomalous 227 rushing yards in clinching a playoff berth against the Indianapolis Colts but gave up 79 yards or fewer in five of their past six games. They held the Browns to 56 yards on 20 attempts.
EDGE: Even
Texans running game vs. Ravens run defense
Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik learned under Kyle Shanahan, so he likes his zone runs, but the Texans averaged just 3.7 yards per attempt, 29th in the league. Their top back, Devin Singletary, played well against the Browns with 66 yards on 13 carries, but he’s not much of a breakaway threat. Stroud ran for just 167 yards on 39 attempts in the regular season.
The Ravens allowed an uncharacteristic 4.5 yards per attempt as Macdonald often went with lighter boxes, sacrificing strength against the run to prevent chunk passing plays. It’s difficult to imagine he’ll switch up this approach against an offense that’s far deadlier through the air than on the ground. That might mean Singletary will have room to work in the first half, even with Pro Bowl linebackers Roquan Smith (158 tackles) and Patrick Queen (133 tackles) patrolling sideline to sideline and nose tackle Michael Pierce plugging the middle. The Ravens held the Texans to 72 yards on 23 carries in Week 1.
EDGE: Ravens
Ravens special teams vs. Texans special teams
After a rough start, the Ravens jumped to No. 3 in special teams DVOA thanks to another solid season from Justin Tucker (32 of 37 on field goal attempts with four of his misses from beyond 50 yards) and excellent work from returners Hill and Tylan Wallace. It will be interesting to see if they use returner Devin Duvernay, who’s ready to return from a back injury.
Houston ranked seventh in special teams DVOA thanks to excellent punt coverage, a 26.7-yard average on kickoff returns and kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn’s accuracy (27 of 28 on field-goal attempts, including five of six from 50 yards or beyond).
EDGE: Ravens
Ravens intangibles vs. Texans intangibles
Houston played its best game of the season against the Browns and will come to Baltimore on a confident high thanks to Stroud’s precocious poise. Coach DeMeco Ryans led the Texans to a seven-game improvement in his first year. They went 4-4 on the road, including stinkers against the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets, but won at Indianapolis with a playoff berth on the line. They could face a disadvantage as a dome team playing in mid-20s temperatures at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens will aim to avoid repeating the flat start that doomed them against the Tennessee Titans the last time they earned a first-round bye in 2019. They were the best team in the league by the end of the regular season, led by the likely MVP in Jackson and one of the league’s most seasoned winners in coach John Harbaugh. They needed the extra week of rest they earned because key players such as Hamilton, Humphrey and Flowers were nursing injuries. For all their success this season, the Ravens have won just one playoff game with Jackson, so home fans will have their guards up as kickoff nears Saturday.
EDGE: Ravens
Prediction
The Ravens will enter as heavy favorites and deservedly so given their dominant finish to the regular season. The Texans established themselves as a dangerous team against the Browns. Stroud is a poised, deadly passer, and Houston has young defensive stars to complement him. But Jackson will come out firing against a vulnerable pass defense, and the Ravens will come up with enough different looks to keep Stroud less comfortable than he was against Cleveland. They will begin their Super Bowl push with a convincing victory. Ravens 31, Texans 20
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When Houston Texans linebacker Christian Harris intercepted a pass from Joe Flacco in the third quarter Saturday and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown in a 45-14 wild-card win against the Cleveland Browns, there was a red blur running with Harris on the sideline.
It was Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, who was almost as emotional as Harris after the play.
That’s part of the reason Houston hired Ryans last January. At age 39, the former Pro Bowl linebacker personifies NFL coaches these days. Team owners want them young, fit and full of energy while being able to navigate social media and develop a winning culture.
What about the X’s and O’s?
That used to be a priority, but it’s not as important anymore. That’s not to undermine Ryans and the job he has done in his first season with a rookie quarterback in C.J. Stroud.
The fourth-seeded Texans (11-7), who play the top-seeded Ravens (13-4) on Saturday in the AFC divisional round, have improved significantly since they lost, 25-9, at Baltimore in the season opener.
If you need proof, just ask Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
“They haven’t surprised me, or they haven’t surprised us,” Harbaugh said. “They’ve done pretty much what I thought they were going to do. They are a very good football team. They are very talented. They play very hard. They execute at a high level. They have a lot of skill players and a good offensive line playing very physical. Their defense is all over the field, as you’d expect, obviously, just a really good football team.”
The man behind the turnaround is Ryans. Before he arrived, Houston had five coaches in four seasons, including interim Romeo Crennel. The Texans went 3-13-1 under Lovie Smith in 2022, 4-13 under former Ravens assistant David Culley in 2021 and 8-25 in the previous two seasons under Bill O’Brien, who finished 52-48 in seven seasons.
Houston had become an NFL wasteland, and then came Ryans.
Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton FerronTexans linebacker DeMeco Ryans breaks through the offensive line to force Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco out of the pocket during a divisional round playoff game Jan. 15, 2012, in Baltimore. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)He fits the trend around the league. The New England Patriots recently hired Jerod Mayo, 37, as their coach. The Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel is 40, and the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan is 44.
Two of the Ravens top assistants being mentioned as head coaching candidates are defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, 36, and assistant head coach Anthony Weaver, 43. Another name being tossed around in that mix is Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, 36.
It’s a young man’s game.
In the case of Weaver and Ryans, they aren’t that far removed from playing in the NFL and can relate to players. They also understand social media (a lot of coaches might spend more time reading Twitter and Facebook than devising game plans). They want to know the pulse of their teams, and that’s where culture comes into play.
A happy locker room is usually a winning locker room. Where there is dysfunction, there is usually chaos. Some players have that sense of entitlement and might be high maintenance, needing coaches to repeatedly tell them how good they are or will become.
It’s one of the reasons why defensive players strut around or celebrate after every big play. An older coach such as former Patriots mentor Bill Belichick, 71, never liked those kinds of celebrations but had to tolerate them in New England.
There is speculation that Pete Carroll, 72, lost that connection with his players, which is why he stopped coaching the Seattle Seahawks.
Ryans’ attitude is contagious. He reportedly had a tough training camp because he wanted to establish a foundation and create a strong work ethic. He is a deeply religious man with three children.
Slowik has free reign on offense, but Ryans is in charge of the defense. On Saturday, he made the call to have cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. shadow Cleveland receiver Amari Cooper all over the field and Cooper had four catches for 59 yards and no touchdowns.
You can’t argue with Ryans’ pedigree. As a Texans linebacker, he was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2006, a second-team All-Pro in 2007 and a two time Pro-Bowl selection in 2007 and 2009. As the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022, he led one of the best units in the league.
Houston enters Saturday having won four of its past five games, but the turning point of its season might have been back-to-back wins against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals to finally earn a winning record at 5-4.
“Right, you talk about drastic improvements — our first game going against Baltimore — man, tough place to play,” Ryans said. “Rookie quarterback, new team, new start, going out to Baltimore. You look up — I remember going into halftime — and man, we were right there. Going against a really tough team, we were right there.
“They kind of took it away in the second half. But, from there to where we are now, we’ve definitely grown. Completely different team. They’re a completely different team and I think they’ve been probably the most consistent defense throughout the entire year.”
The Texans are a team with few stars. Stroud should win Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after passing for 4,108 yards. He’s only 22, but there are few quarterbacks who can deliver a better ball on long to intermediate passes. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil is a stud and wide receiver Nico Collins (80 receptions, 1,297 yards, eight touchdowns) has performed well, even though the team lost two of its top receivers in rookie Tank Dell and Noah Brown.
On defense, the Texans have two good pass rushers in ends Jonathan Greenard (12 1/2 sacks) and rookie Will Anderson Jr. (eight). Stingley and fellow cornerback Steven Nelson each have five interceptions, even though support from the safeties has been questionable.
But the Texans rely on the big plays from Stroud and he keeps them in most games. His matchup against the Ravens’ defense should be a good one.
Regardless, Ryans has taken one of the NFL’s worst franchises near the top.
“You see who guys are, their true character, when things get tough, when everything isn’t going well,” Ryans said. “How do guys respond? We’ve seen that, we’ve seen how everybody responded through those tough times that we had, throughout some tough losses. But everybody continued to stick together, everybody continued to work, and that’s the reason why we’re in the position that we are in now.”
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Anxiety percolated behind the scenes. How could it not? Lamar Jackson, the superstar quarterback around whom the Ravens had shaped their roster and their plans, asked to be traded.
John Harbaugh, entering his 16th season as the team’s coach, faced the prospect of starting over at the most important position in football. He had made the call, back in 2018, to fashion a new vision around Jackson’s unique talents. Now, it was in jeopardy. But he did not feel jeopardized.
“I was in a good place,” Harbaugh said, reflecting on those uncertain days in March and April. “I felt really strongly that God had it, to be honest with you. Whatever direction it was going to go, it was going to be good. I was rooting for Lamar to be back because I knew Lamar, but I knew that if he didn’t come back, there was going to be a reason for it, and I was going to be OK with that.”
Jackson signed an extension with the Ravens in late April, and nine months later, he’s poised to lead them into a playoff matchup with the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium. It will be the team’s 11th postseason run under Harbaugh. Though he still feels “like a young coach,” with Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll at least temporarily out of the trade, he’s the NFL’s second-longest-tenured and second-oldest.
Never in that span has Harbaugh, 61, lost his team’s attention, but Jackson’s contract saga presented a fresh test. In his public statements, he reiterated his admiration for the quarterback and his faith that the team and player would both end up satisfied. His upbeat calm stood in contrast to fan and media roiling over Jackson’s fate.
The man at the center of all that scrutiny heard and appreciated Harbaugh’s tone.
“Being the quarterback of the franchise and knowing the head coach has your back, every quarterback would want that. Every player should want that,” Jackson said recently.
ESPN commentator Domonique Foxworth played for Harbaugh from 2009 to 2011, when the coach was still feeling his way through leading an NFL team. Even then, Foxworth was struck by Harbaugh’s understanding that the interpersonal side of his job was at least as important as the tactical.
“Some coaches are focused on the micro, which he is too, but he also has an awareness of the macro, the relationship side of it,” Foxworth said. “He knows there are buttons there to be pushed also. The benefit of maintaining a good culture is that you will get the best out of your players no matter what the game plan is. I think the head coach can affect that more than anybody else in the organization. It’s one of the few responsibilities you cannot delegate.”
Harbaugh doesn’t have a tidy explanation for why he’s never lost the thread with his players. “Standing up in front of the team, it just always comes to me what to say,” he offered.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh pumps his fist during a win over the Dolphins on Dec. 31 at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens finished with the NFL’s best record in his 16th season as coach. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) But when current Ravens are asked why he has endured, they note the genuine interest he shows in them as athletes and people.
“You know when people care for you,” said wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who’s on his fourth NFL team. “It’s not politics or you’re just … like this is your job to act this way. This is a genuine act that he has. I feel like it kind of reflects throughout this building and definitely reflects on values and things that I stand for — love, all of those things. He’s been everything that I can ask for. He goes on my Mount Rushmore of coaches that I’ve had, for sure.”
The thing is, Harbaugh’s just as apt to converse with a practice squad player as with Beckham.
“He goes out of his way to make sure he has these relationships to every single player on the team,” said fullback Patrick Ricard, who has played for Harbaugh since 2017. “Guys open up to him. I know guys who come here from other places, they tell me, ‘I’ve had head coaches who didn’t even know my name.’ Harbaugh knows where everyone’s from. He knows their families. I think that’s why he stays very connected.”
They don’t hand out NFL Coach of the Year trophies for subtlety, and there’s not much talk about Harbaugh winning that award as he did in 2019, the last time the Ravens claimed the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed. But his delicate hand with Jackson, on top of changes he made to his defensive and offensive staffs the past two seasons, spoke to his gift for adapting. Fans still call for his ouster every time the Ravens blow a lead or mismanage the game clock, but that’s part of the gig. Harbaugh just keeps winning; the Ravens made the AFC championship game in his first season, won the Super Bowl in his fifth, earned their conference’s top seed in his 12th, and finished with the league’s best record in this, his 16th.
This year’s team bears only modest resemblance to the 2019 edition and little at all to Harbaugh’s world champions from 2012. But he endures, wedded to bedrock principles he learned from his father, Jack, and from Bo Schembechler, the great Michigan coach of his youth, but never so wedded that he won’t adopt new systems suited to new generations of talent.
“They are one of the more flexible teams,” Foxworth said. “To be able to go from a [Joe] Flacco-led offense to the original Lamar offense to the new Lamar offense — I do think when the league is constantly changing, having the ability to change along with it is like a Belichick characteristic that Harbaugh has also.”
Harbaugh laughed and nodded recently when it was suggested that his Ravens’ defining trait might be having no defining trait.
“You’ve got to be really versatile as an NFL coach,” he said. “Because circumstances are ever-changing.”
The coordinators he chose — Todd Monken on offense and Mike Macdonald on defense — are shape-shifters, more interested in tailoring their plans to the talent on hand than imposing rigid visions.
Harbaugh saw a future head coach in Macdonald, who’s a candidate for at least five NFL openings, when he was still a fresh-faced staffer, learning the ropes in a cramped office he shared with Chris Horton, who’s now the Ravens’ special teams coordinator.
He did not know Monken well before he hired him away from the University of Georgia, but he liked the way the veteran coach had run everything from the pass-happy “Air Raid” at Oklahoma State to a more balanced attack for the back-to-back national champion Bulldogs.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, left, talks with wide receiver Rashod Bateman after clinching the AFC’s top seed with a win over the Dolphins on Dec. 31 at M&T Bank Stadium. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Harbaugh has football principles — “When you come here, you know you’re going to have good, hard practices, and every situation’s going to be detailed,” Ricard said — that he expects his top assistants to reinforce, but otherwise, he gives them wide tactical latitude while he focuses on the Ravens’ big picture.
“Consistency,” Monken said when asked what he’s learned to appreciate about his boss. “His day-to-day approach, his positive energy, his connection with the team, whether we’ve won or whether we’ve lost — I’ve never been around anybody like that. I think that allows you, when you have a season as long as we do, to sustain for the long haul.”
Whatever serenity Harbaugh felt before Jackson decided to return, he’s still a practical man. He knew the Ravens’ prospects for 2023 soared with their franchise player back in the fold.
“It was like, ‘And now we can launch,'” he recalled.
As soon as the Ravens got to work in the summer, he sensed he was dealing with an unusually mature team, one for which living in the moment was not an empty cliche but a driving belief. These guys liked one another and knew how good the team could become. Jackson was at the forefront, again a lively presence in the locker room and a leading proponent for maintaining moment-to-moment focus.
“I think this is maybe the most connected team, the most tied-together that I’ve seen here,” Harbaugh said. “They’re very evolved that way. You know it when you see it, and I’ve seen it all year. … You’re not having too many awkward conversations with guys, where you’re scratching your head, wondering what a player or a coach might be thinking. Because they’re thinking the right way.”
The Ravens added veterans such as Beckham and Jadeveon Clowney in part because they thought it would be fun to play for Harbaugh, who has developed a reputation for encouraging individual expression within the team’s greater mission.
“I believe guys like that want to run through a wall for him,” Jackson said.
Thirteen wins later, the Ravens have their best chance to reach the Super Bowl since they won it 11 years ago, led by the likes of Flacco, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.
Two nights after they finished their regular season, Harbaugh beamed as confetti rained around him, marking the national championship his younger brother, Jim, had just won for the Michigan program they both grew up worshiping. He listened to his father bellow out the family catchphrase — “Who has it better than us?” — to an eager crowd clad in maize and blue.
And for a moment, Harbaugh violated his credo. He thought ahead, to a Sunday evening in February when the championship confetti might rain again, on him and this Ravens team he has come to appreciate so deeply.
“It sinks in, ‘Like man, I really want to experience this for our team. I want our team to experience this,'” he said. “That’s the big picture, the ultimate goal for the season. And then with that, back to one day at a time, one play at a time.”
AFC divisional round
Texans at Ravens
Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
TV: ABC, ESPN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Ravens by 9 1/2
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It was early August and outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney was looking for work visiting the castle that Steve Biscotti built when he bumped into new Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the halls of the sprawling $220 million Owings Mills facility.
Nearly a decade earlier, in 2014, the two had entered the NFL as part of the same star-studded draft class, Clowney as the first overall pick by the Houston Texans and Beckham as the 12th overall pick by the New York Giants. Now here they were, two aging and outsized if not oft-injured stars in search of one last shot at Super Bowl glory in the twilight of their respective careers. Their paths had actually crossed before, in 2021, when they were briefly teammates on the Browns before Beckham’s controversial departure from Cleveland six games into the year. He went on to win a ring with the Los Angeles Rams later that season, while Clowney would have his own ugly exit from the organization after the following season.
“I know what kind of player he is, what he brings to the table and I knew this place would be perfect,” Beckham recently told The Baltimore Sun of the encounter. “I knew he’d been through XYZ, but knew he could still play.”
Indeed.
Clowney, 30, tied his career-high with 9 1/2 sacks during the regular season, played every game in a season for the first time since 2017 and logged 654 snaps, his second-most since 2018. He was a disruptive presence, too, with 23 quarterback pressures, as well as a valuable edge-setter against the run. Perhaps not coincidentally, he’s also been healthy and happy, meshing well in a locker room replete with large personalities and rising young stars, particularly on defense.
Much of his success, Clowney told The Sun, can be traced to the work he put in during the offseason in Houston with trainer Ben Fairchild, who was recommended to him by former Texans teammates Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson and with whom he has worked at Fairchild’s eponymous performance center in Houston since the weeks leading up to the 2021 season. The alliance paid off then just as it did now, with Clowney playing 14 games that year and registering nine sacks, which led to him re-signing for another year with the Browns.
But things soured in Cleveland late last year when he was quoted by cleveland.com three days before the final game of the regular season as saying the organization was more interested in individual accolades for fellow edge rusher Myles Garrett than winning. Clowney was sent home the next day and made inactive for the game.
“You’re all trying to get [Garrett] into the Hall of Fame instead of winning games,” Clowney was quoted as saying, in part, adding that the situation was “B.S.” and that he didn’t have time for it.
Baltimore Ravens practice for 2023 season
Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun“I was planning on sitting out this season,” outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, right, recently told The Baltimore Sun. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)A free agent in the summer, Clowney, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, also began to eventually wonder if other teams had time for him, or if he did for them. In no hurry to participate in training camp after 10 seasons littered with injuries, surgeries and arduous recoveries, including what he said was an annually aching knee from a torn meniscus he suffered his rookie year, he considered all the options, including not playing.
“I was planning on sitting out this season,” he told The Sun. “I was done with football, and all that training was gonna be for nothing because people were feeling some type of way from what happened in Cleveland. I don’t know, maybe I’d get picked up in midseason.”
He said he also struggled to find a solution to his ailing knee and that he also underwent surgery on his elbow after being diagnosed with pitcher’s elbow, a diagnosis that is caused by overuse and repetitive motion, which results in pain and swelling from the elbow down to the wrist.
Clowney said the injury, along with what he says was a torn triceps, sapped his power last year, and the unrelenting knee issue didn’t help things, either.
“I tried a lot of stuff,” he said of treatments for his knee. “I went to see guys all over, from New York, to Miami, to L.A. Anybody that was hitting me up telling me they could help me with my knee, I was going to see them.”
Eventually, he settled on stem-cell injections in New York on the recommendation of current Dallas Cowboys cornerback Stephon Gilmore and former Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson.
“I didn’t know all of that when I was playing for Cleveland,” Clowney said of the arm injuries. “They were telling me I had a bone spur; they never told me that was torn. I played every game like that and I wasn’t using my power like I needed to.”
He’d also become disenchanted over the experience he had with his previous two teams, the Browns and Tennessee Titans.
But the chance encounter with Beckham, who raved about the culture in Baltimore, helped sway him, and a $2.5 million deal that could be worth up to $6 million with incentives didn’t hurt, either. Clowney said the organization reminded him of the Seattle Seahawks, for whom he played one season in 2019 after being traded from the Texans.
“They respect players, veterans, want you to come in and be a pro,” he said of the Ravens. “The other two places, they were like college to me, it was, ‘do what we say, it’s the system, it’s not about the players.’ I was like, what are they talking about? That [expletive] ain’t gonna work with our players. When I got here, they made it all about the players. It made it easy to play for the staff, to play for somebody who respects you as a football player and somebody who loves the game instead of questioning your love for the game. Just be a grown man, come in and be professional, do your job and go home is the attitude here.
“I love it here. I can just watch guys move around in the building, how they’re interacting. I hadn’t been here for 48 hours and thought I could fit. [Coach John] Harbaugh is also a guy I’ve been a fan of my whole career.”
It helped there was some familiarity among the staff, too. Ravens associate head coach/defensive line coach Anthony Weaver worked with Clowney in Houston and head trainer Adrian Dixon with him in Tennessee.
And even though controversy and questions swirled around Clowney’s exit from Cleveland, it didn’t take long for coaches and teammates to rave about the rejuvenated veteran.
“The guy that I see is a guy that loves playing football,” defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald said. “He loves being around his teammates. He’s a gregarious guy who has a lot of thoughts on a lot of things, which is cool to hear, and he plays the game the right way.”
Said outside linebackers coach Chuck Smith: “There’s nobody in this building, probably except Lamar Jackson, who’s had as much pressure as Jadeveon Clowney [has]. The difference in Jadeveon Clowney in other places, is that he’s developed a skill move. But also, add in, he has the complementary pieces around him that he’s not Jadeveon Clowney, the first-round pick, the No. 1 guy.”
The latter point is one Clowney acknowledges has helped tremendously, calling the linebacker group spearheaded by inside backers Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen the best he’s been around in his career.
Clowney, though, has been pretty good himself.
While there was a three-game stretch in the middle of the season when he had zero sacks and just two pressures, has been fairly consistent in wreaking havoc, particularly when not getting chipped off the edge by a second blocker.
Perhaps his best game came in Week 12 against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium, where was a constant menace to quarterback Justin Herbert and delivered the game’s biggest play with a clutch fourth-quarter strip-sack of Herbert that ended a 21-play drive that had spanned nearly nine minutes. In that game, he recorded a pressure rate of 24%, per Next Gen Stats, and the Ravens won, 20-10.
Ravens Chargers Football
Ryan Sun/APRavens outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney strip-sacks Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Nov. 26. (Ryan Sun/AP)“He’s a real impressive dude in terms of the ways he plays and the way his mentality is in terms of him saying he wants something and then he goes and gets it,” Ravens third-year outside linebacker Odafe Oweh told The Sun. “I knew he was coming back from a controversial career; kudos to him for that; it’s not easy.
“I heard some negative things [but] I was impressed. He’s a genuine dude [and] he just wants to win.”
As Beckham notes, it helps that the Ravens won, too. They finished the regular season with the best record in the NFL, are the top seed in the AFC and have home-field advantage through the conference championship game.
After earning the coveted first-round bye, Baltimore will host the team that drafted Clowney, the Texans, in Saturday’s divisional round.
The Ravens are 9 1/2-point favorites in that game, and they’re the AFC favorite to reach the Super Bowl, which would be the first of Clowney’s career. Pressure and expectations are high after the Ravens flamed out in 2019, when they went 14-2 and secured the top seed but were stunned at home in the divisional round by the Titans.
Clowney’s presence on the field and in the locker room should help, much the way it has all year.
“Sometimes in here you wanna win so much, it’s so tight,” Oweh told The Sun. “He does a good job easing the room. He’s funny as hell.”
Veteran defensive tackle Michael Pierce has noticed it, too.
“Anytime you can get premium guys off the edge, it’s always a good time,” he said. “And he keeps everything light, he laughs a lot, he has fun with football. He plays like the young guy we used to know. It’s been good to see him resurrect his career. He’s a team guy. He’s been awesome.”
And motivated, too, given how the divorce from Cleveland played out, within the organization and in the media, and that he felt like he never got the chance to live up to the hype he built coming out of South Carolina as the top overall pick because of injuries.
“I felt like I left a lot out there and got the short end of the stick because I got hurt early in my career,” he told The Sun. “You ain’t get to see the guy you drafted after I had my knee injury. I was never past 80% or 85%, and I wasn’t the guy I wanted to be, so in the back of my head, I wanted to get back to that point where I could go out and perform.
“[Leaving Cleveland] motivated me the most because people got a perception that I was a bad teammate or out for myself. … But that’s behind me now. I can’t control what people think, what people wrote about what I said or didn’t say. This year, it’s just, put your head down and grind and let the chips fall where they may.”
If Clowney can deliver in the postseason the way he did in the regular season, that just might include a Super Bowl championship.
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Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy works on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (92), works on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Michael Pierce (58), works on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Bravvion Roy works on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens linebackers Roquan Smith (0), and Trenton Simpson (51) move to the next drill during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with wide receiver Rashod Bateman during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Odafe Oweh (99), right, works with outside linebackers coach Chuck Smith on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (92), works on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy works on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (92), works with outside linebackers coach Chuck Smith on pass rushing drills during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews move to the next drill during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) 
Baltimore Ravens seconary coach Chris Hewitt work with the defensive back during practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, Md. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) -
While the status of tight end Mark Andrews, the Ravens’ top pass-catcher in 2021 and 2022, remains day to day, the team’s leading receiver this season — rookie Zay Flowers — is expected to play in Saturday’s playoff opener.
“I feel great,” Flowers said Wednesday. “I’m ready to go.”
Flowers caught nine passes in his NFL debut Sept. 10 against the Houston Texans — the Ravens’ opponent in the AFC divisional round — and has recorded 77 receptions for 858 yards and five touchdowns in 16 games. The first-round draft pick out of Boston College missed the Week 18 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a calf injury and did not practice last week. He was limited in practice Tuesday but was a full participant Wednesday.
Andrews has been out since suffering an ankle injury Nov. 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but there’s a chance he could play Saturday. He was a full participant in practice Wednesday.
“It’s day by day. It’s week by week,” he said, noting that it’s “very promising where I’m at.”
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey again missed practice Wednesday, leaving his status for Saturday up in the air. The Ravens are no stranger to playing without the three-time Pro Bowl selection, who’s missed seven games this season, including Baltimore’s Week 1 win over Houston.
Wide receiver Tylan Wallace (knee), linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips (knee) and outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (illness) also did not practice Wednesday. Outside linebacker Odafe Oweh (ankle) and linebacker Malik Harrison (groin) practiced fully after being limited Tuesday.
One player who could be back is two-time Pro Bowl returner Devin Duvernay, who has been out since Dec. 10 with a back injury but has been a full participant in practice this week. Ravens special teams coordinator Chris Horton said that if Duvernay is healthy, he would resume his kick and punt returning roles over Justice Hill and Wallace, respectively.
The Ravens will be without reserve running back Melvin Gordon III. After rushing for 81 yards and a touchdown in four games this season, he was waived Wednesday, the team announced. The Ravens signed Dalvin Cook, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, earlier this month after he was released by the New York Jets.
Houston, meanwhile, was missing five players at Wednesday’s practice: defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. (ankle), Jonathan Greenard (ankle) and Jerry Hughes (ankle); defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (ribs/shoulder); and fullback Andrew Beck (back). Seven others were limited: linebackers Blake Cashman (knee), Christian Harris (calf) and Denzel Perryman (ribs); wide receivers Robert Woods (hip) and John Metchie III (foot); cornerback Kris Boyd (hamstring); and defensive tackle Maliek Collins (hip).
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Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said he’s still facing a “day-by-day” decision as he prepares for a potential return from ankle surgery in Saturday’s divisional round playoff matchup with the visiting Houston Texans.
“It feels incredible. It’s a blessing,” Andrews, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, said Wednesday in his first public remarks since the injury that seemed to end his season.
Andrews hobbled off after Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson tackled him around the legs early in the Ravens’ Nov. 16 win at M&T Bank Stadium. Though coach John Harbaugh immediately said Andrews’ ankle injury was serious, he left open the possibility for a postseason return after the tight end visited surgeon Robert Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“We ended up talking with the doctors and going through the surgery, and the surgery went incredibly well,” Andrews said. “You just never know. It’s day-by-day, week-by-week. I made a lot of progress every week. It was big, big jumps. I’m feeling good with where I’m at right now. It’s still day-by-day, like everyone is saying. But it’s very promising where I’m at.”
He was listed as a full participant on Wednesday’s injury report after returning to practice last week.
Andrews credited the Ravens’ detailed rehabilitation plan and added that his girlfriend’s family chipped in by lending him a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for recovery. He still had to work to reduce the swelling in his ankle after each hard practice.
He said it was both uplifting and difficult to watch the Ravens (13-4) play some of their best games and clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs without him. His backup, Isaiah Likely, caught five touchdown passes in six games in his absence.
“You see it game-by-game, him getting better and better and making big-time plays,” said Andrews, who led the team in catches and receiving yards in each of the previous four seasons after being drafted in 2018. “That’s a credit to how hard he’s worked. It’s been awesome to see him do that. We’re thankful to have him.”
Wilson’s hip-drop tackle on Andrews reinvigorated debate over a possible rule change prohibiting the practice, but Andrews had no interest in fueling that discussion.
“It’s just kind of an unfortunate event,” he said. “I’m going to let everybody else do their thing. If they want to ban the tackle, fine. But I’m going to go out there and play hard no matter what. I don’t blame the guy. He’s just playing ball.”
Asked what factors will determine his game status Saturday, Andrews said: “I think it’s how I feel at the end of the day. Just knowing how good this team is, how good our players are, how good our tight ends are, if I feel like I’m going to be helpful to the team, I’ll go. If I feel like I’m close but not there, I’ll let these guys go and hopefully get that next weekend.”
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Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was shaking his head and fidgeting before the question was even finished. It wasn’t because he was chilled from the dropping temperature.
“I’m antsy, but I have to stay locked in knowing what’s ahead,” he said. “I’m definitely antsy.”
The 27-year-old $260 million face of the franchise was talking about having an extra week off and waiting to find out Baltimore’s opponent in the divisional round of the playoffs after the Ravens finished the regular season with the best record in the AFC and received the conference’s only first-round bye. They will host the Houston Texans on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium, where the quest for the organization’s third Super Bowl title begins in earnest. And as the Ravens prepare for a rematch of Week 1, reminders of the urgency of the opportunity in front of them percolate all around.
While Jackson’s future is secure after he signed a five-year extension in April that keeps him with the organization through the 2027 season, the same can’t be said for many of the important players surrounding him.
The Ravens have more than 20 players who are set to become free agents after their season ends. Many of them have been key contributors to a historically dominant defense that became the first in NFL history to lead the league in sacks (60), takeaways (31) and points allowed per game (16.5), and are unlikely to be back given the constraints of the salary cap and roster flexibility general manager Eric DeCosta will need to maintain to field a competitive team.
Among the most notable players on defense due to hit the open market are defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, inside linebacker Patrick Queen, outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, safety Geno Stone and cornerback Arthur Maulet.
Madubuike, who is a rare gifted run and pass disruptor for his position and whose 13 sacks in the regular season led all NFL interior defensive linemen, will command a salary of at least $20 million a year, according to a projection by Over The Cap. The Ravens, meanwhile, are projected to have only roughly $10 million in effective cap space.
Though that number is not set in stone and restructuring current deals can help create more room, there’s only so much that can be done. Others, like Queen, who had a career-high 133 tackles this season, will also fetch sizable offers, and with the Ravens already having invested $100 million over five years in fellow inside linebacker Roquan Smith after signing him to an extension last January, spending big for another player at the same position would be prohibitive. Clowney is another player who figures to get a pay raise after matching his career high with 9 1/2 sacks.
“It’s crazy,” Maulet said of the Ravens’ long list of future free agents. “They’re always built to win, too, so it’s not like they’re not going to get the first overall [draft] pick too many times.”
There are questions over who will be back on offense, too, with wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor, running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson, and backup quarterbacks Tyler Huntley and Josh Johnson all slated for free agency as well.
By all measures, Baltimore had one of the best offenses in the league. The Ravens will still have receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, along with tight ends Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar, running back Justice Hill, and, of course, Jackson. But the offensive line could look dramatically different, especially if there’s a change at the team’s two tackle spots with Ronnie Stanley and Morgan Moses having battled injury and age this season.
Given all of the moving pieces, the sense of winning now is palpable, particularly among the team’s veterans.
“This is the best chance I’ve had [to win a Super Bowl] besides when I was with the L.A. Rams,” said Beckham, who is in his first season in Baltimore. “I got to choose where I thought would be the champion. There were 32 teams to choose from.”
And with success, the rest of those teams will undoubtedly plunder the Ravens’ coaching and front office staffs.
Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, shown during practice Dec. 28, is among several Ravens coaches who have interviewed for head coaching jobs around the NFL. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Already, seven coaches and front office personnel have interviewed with other organizations, with second-year defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken among the most sought-after candidates to be head coaches elsewhere. Director of player personnel Joe Hortiz and vice president of football administration Nick Matteo, two key members of DeCosta’s front office, are also in the running for general manager jobs with the Los Angeles Chargers and Carolina Panthers, respectively.
It’s possible some of them could stay, but with a handful of jobs open around the NFL, that’s far from guaranteed. Either way, the Ravens are expected to lose at least some of their staff.
There’s also a sense of capitalizing on what has been perhaps Jackson’s best season to date.
The presumptive NFL Most Valuable Player for a second time, he has produced career highs in passing yards (3,678) and completion percentage (.672) along with a 102.7 passer rating, the second-highest mark of his career and best since his 2019 unanimous MVP season. This is also the best collection of talent he has had around him in his six years in Baltimore, but that group likely won’t be together long.
It’s also difficult to find the kind of chemistry the Ravens have enjoyed this season.
“I believe that this is one of the most connected teams I’ve ever been around,” coach John Harbaugh said. “I think it starts with the fact that I really believe they love one another. I think they have a spiritual connection that runs through the whole team. You can just tell when a group of people like being around one another, like working together, trust one another, believe in one another and want to see everybody succeed — the idea that if one of us succeeds, we all succeed.
“I see that with this group as much or more than any other team that I’ve been around in 40-plus years of coaching.”
In other words, opportunities like this one don’t come around very often.
AFC divisional round
Texans at Ravens
Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
TV: ABC
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Ravens by 8 1/2
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Mark Andrews broke from the line during quarterback drills, sped downfield, quickly cut to the outside and leaped into the air, snagging a pass from Lamar Jackson before getting both feet down in bounds along the left sideline. That was the scene toward the end of Tuesday’s Ravens practice, which was held indoors after several inches of snow fell overnight at the Owings Mills facility.
“I think today was his best showing so far,” coach John Harbaugh said of Baltimore’s star tight end. “He took a big step. That’s encouraging. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Though Andrews, who is two months removed from ankle surgery, was limited, his sight wasn’t the only welcome one for the Ravens. Wide receiver Zay Flowers (calf) and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh (ankle) also returned to practice Tuesday, four days ahead of Baltimore’s divisional-round playoff game against the Houston Texans on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
Flowers, the team’s leading receiver, missed the regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks ago and sat out practice all of last week. Oweh left the Ravens’ Jan. 6 loss to the Steelers with an ankle injury and also did not practice last week.
Both were limited Tuesday, as was linebacker Malik Harrison (groin).
Meanwhile, wide receiver Devin Duvernay (back), who was placed on injured reserve early last month but was designated to return last week, was back and a full participant. But cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf), linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips (shoulder) and wide receiver Tylan Wallace (knee) did not practice.
For the Texans, fullback Andrew Beck (back), guard Dieter Eiselen (illness), defensive end Jerry Hughes (ankle), defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (ribs), tackle Laremy Tunsil (rest) and guard Shaq Mason (rest) did not practice on Tuesday.
Seven others were limited for Houston, including defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (ankle), linebacker Denzel Perryman (ribs), defensive end Jonathan Greenard (ankle), defensive tackle Maliek Collins (hip), linebacker Blake Cashman (knee) and wide receivers John Metchie III (foot) and Robert Woods (hip).
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After having to wait an extra day to find out who their opponent would be in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs, the Ravens now know they’ll play the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium after the Buffalo Bills knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-17, on Monday night in snowy Orchard Park, New York.
The fourth-seeded Texans are the lowest-seeded team remaining in the AFC after crushing the Cleveland Browns, 45-14, Saturday in Houston and thus draw the top-seeded Ravens. They’re also playing at a much higher level than they were in Week 1 of the regular season when Baltimore held them without a touchdown in an easy 25-9 victory on Sept. 10.
Baltimore Sun reporters Brian Wacker and Childs Walker answer the five biggest questions facing the Ravens as they prepare to take on the Texans.
How are the Texans different from when the Ravens beat them in Week 1?
Wacker: The last time these two teams met was so long ago, literally and metaphorically, that it feels like it was in a different season. C.J. Stroud was making his first NFL start and coach DeMeco Ryans his head coaching debut. Stroud threw for 242 yards and zero touchdowns while passing 44 times. He was also sacked five times and Houston averaged just 3.7 yards per play. Against the Browns, Stroud was far more deadly, completing 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards and three scores. He also hasn’t thrown an interception since mid-November, while the Texans’ defense harassed Browns quarterback Joe Flacco into two interceptions that they returned for touchdowns and sacked him four times.
Walker: That was Stroud’s first game as an NFL quarterback, Ryans’ first as an NFL head coach. The Texans’ most talented defensive players, edge rusher Will Anderson and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., were also neophytes. The Ravens rolled up 30 pressures, six quarterback hits and five sacks against Stroud. The Browns’ top-ranked defense managed just five hurries and one quarterback hit against him in Houston’s wild-card round blowout. Stroud made use of that clean pocket to execute a near-perfect postseason debut. As John Harbaugh said Monday, the Texans are 17 games different than they were in the opener, and they’ve made the most of those 17 games.
The Texans dominated the highly rated Cleveland Browns defense in the wild-card round. How will they try to attack the Ravens’ defense?
Wacker: There are a few ways to make life tough on the Ravens: running the ball, controlling the clock and hitting on the occasional deep shot or off-script play. That’s easier said than done, of course, but Devin Singletary is a solid back with speed who has flashed a few times this season. The Texans are also coming off an efficient performance against the Browns in which Stroud was masterful in directing an offense that ranked in the 94th percentile in terms of expected points added, a metric that defines the value of each play by the effect it has on the offense’s likelihood to score.
Walker: Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, a hot name in the coaching rumor mill, called a masterful game in keeping the Browns off-balance. He learned under San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, so he favors zone runs and bootleg pass plays designed to stretch a defense horizontally, with deep shots peppered in. The Ravens just played the 49ers on Christmas, so they’re well-tutored on these concepts. They bottled up the Texans’ so-so running game in Week 1, built a two-score lead in the third quarter and kept Stroud uncomfortable. The Texans will hope to hit on a big play early so the Ravens can’t play from ahead and ratchet up the pressure.
Why should Ravens fans be worried about facing quarterback C.J. Stroud?
Wacker: Stroud is in such a rhythm and seemingly playing better every week he takes the field. Over the Texans’ past six games, excluding their Dec. 10 loss to the lowly Jets, he has completed 71.8% of his passes for an average of 265.8 yards passing per game and an average passer rating of 123.2 while throwing nine touchdowns and no interceptions. Stroud will be the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, though he’ll have to try to find a way to win in the playoffs for a second straight game without two of his top targets, Tank Dell and Noah Brown, both of whom combined for nearly 1,300 receiving yards this season.
Walker: Stroud is coming off one of the most impressive rookie quarterback seasons in history, and he actually raised his game against Cleveland’s fast, aggressive defense. He’s deadly on intermediate and deep throws and makes big-time connections without turning the ball over. A 23-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio is remarkable for a rookie who wasn’t playing conservatively. He’ll have to do it without two of his top targets, Dell and Brown, but he did fine without them against the Browns, in part because his connection with third-year wide receiver Nico Collins is already one of the league’s most fruitful.
How will the Ravens’ defense, which led the NFL in sacks, takeaways and points allowed per game, attack the Texans’ offense?
Wacker: Putting pressure on the rookie, much the way they did in Week 1, will again be paramount. Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has been terrific with his disguises, from simulated pressures to unusual twists and stunts. Baltimore has gone after quarterbacks all year long and with success, and that’s not changing.
Walker: Macdonald is a master of deception, keeping quarterbacks uncomfortable with simulated pressure, stunts at the line of scrimmage and shifting zone coverage. He’ll try to keep changing the picture in front of Stroud and generate pressure without leaning too heavily on blitzes. As poised as Stroud is, his Pro Football Focus passing grade fell from 90.8 out of a clean pocket to 51.9 when he was under pressure. The Browns could not make him throw under duress. The Ravens’ effort to get to Stroud will be as important as any subplot in the game.
Ravens vs Texans
Jerry Jackson/Baltimore SunRavens running back Justice Hill heads for the end zone for a touchdown against the Texans in the season opener on Sept. 10. (Jerry Jackson/Staff)The Texans’ defense has allowed 12 points per game over its past three. How will the Ravens’ offense attack them?
Wacker: We’ve seen Lamar Jackson dial up the passing game and take shots downfield against susceptible defenses and the Texans certainly qualify with one of the poorer secondaries in the league, especially on the outside. Also, watch out for Justice Hill catching passes out of the backfield and for the Ravens to milk things on the ground if they get in front.
Walker: Houston’s defense ranked 23rd in Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) against the pass, allowing 6.5 yards per attempt but stiffening on third down. So don’t be surprised if Lamar Jackson comes out firing on early downs. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken seems to prefer building a lead with his passing game and locking it down with a more run-heavy attack after halftime. Flacco found plenty of success against the Texans before his pair of pick-sixes in the third quarter upended everything. Houston’s secondary covers the middle of the field, where Jackson prefers to work, better than the outside, but is vulnerable to deep shots.
AFC divisional round
Texans at Ravens
Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
TV: ABC
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
Line: Ravens by 8 1/2
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The wait is finally over.
After the AFC wild-card round ended Monday with the Buffalo Bills’ 31-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game postponed a day by a snowstorm, the top-seeded Ravens (13-4) know they’ll host the Houston Texans (11-7) in the divisional round at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
It’s a rematch of the Ravens’ season opener at M&T Bank Stadium on Sept. 10, but much has changed for both teams since then. Here are five things to know about the Texans as they prepare to make a return trip to Baltimore:
They have a record-setting rookie quarterback
In NFL history, only Joe Montana and Tom Brady have ever finished the season first in both passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio. C.J. Stroud did it as a rookie.
The No. 2 overall draft pick threw for 4,108 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions to lead the Texans to a 10-7 regular-season record and their first AFC South title since 2019. Then, at 22 years and 102 days old, the former Ohio State star became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game when he torched the Cleveland Browns’ vaunted defense for 274 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-14 rout.
“C.J. is the reason why we’re in this position,” first-year coach DeMeco Ryans said after Saturday’s victory. “He’s special, a special young man. Special player. Continues to shine no matter how big the moment is.”
Backup quarterback Case Keenum, an 11-year veteran, took it a step further.
“I think he’s gonna be the best of all time,” Keenum told The Athletic. “Like, he truly has the ability to be that way. … I know, it’s very early to say that sort of stuff. But, man, he does some stuff that is just out of this world.”
They’ve made an unprecedented turnaround
After churning through Bill O’Brien, interim Romeo Crennel and former Ravens assistant David Culley, the Texans went 3-13-1 with former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith last season. He, too, was fired.
The Texans then hired Ryans, a former All-Pro linebacker in Houston who had become one of the league’s budding stars as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. In one season, the 39-year-old Ryans rebuilt the franchise into a contender.
One year after allowing 2,894 rushing yards, the sixth-most in NFL history, the Texans allowed the sixth-fewest (1,643) in the league. They rose from 28th in Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) last year to 16th this season, according to FTN Fantasy. They jumped from 31st in defensive grade to 11th, according to Pro Football Focus.
After finishing in last place in the AFC South, Houston is the first team in the Super Bowl era to win its division with a rookie coach and a rookie quarterback.
Ravens vs. Texans
Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore SunRavens linebacker Patrick Queen, top, sacks Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud during the season opener at M&T Bank Stadium on Sept. 10. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)They’re a completely different team from Week 1
The Texans hardly looked like a playoff team in the season opener, as the Ravens rolled to a 25-9 victory at M&T Bank Stadium.
Houston averaged just 3.7 yards per play that day, while Stroud was sacked five times and lost a fumble. Running backs Dameon Pierce and Devin Singletary averaged fewer than 3 yards per carry.
Since that game, Stroud blossomed into an NFL Most Valuable Player candidate, Nico Collins grew into an elite wide receiver and Singletary became one of the league’s most productive running backs. Rookie wideout Tank Dell also flashed his potential with 709 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games before suffering a season-ending leg fracture.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Collins finished top 10 in both receiving yards (1,297) and touchdown catches (eight), while Singletary recorded a career-best 898 rushing yards after supplanting Pierce, who struggled in the team’s new outside zone running scheme. From Week 9 on, only Christian McCaffrey and Najee Harris rushed for more yards than Singletary, who had 66 yards and a touchdown against Cleveland.
The defense is peaking at the right time
The season opener offered a glimpse of what was to come for Houston.
After sacking Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson four times in Week 1, the Texans finished the season with 46 sacks and ranked fifth in the league in pressure rate (25.7%) despite blitzing at one of the lowest rates in the league (21%).
Will Anderson Jr., who Houston traded up to select No. 3 overall, led all rookies with 59 quarterback pressures and recorded seven sacks while grading well against the run. Fellow defensive end Jonathan Greenard also enjoyed a breakout season, ranking 10th in the league with 12 1/2 sacks.
That ability to generate pressure made the difference in Saturday’s win over the Browns, as Joe Flacco was sacked four times and threw a pair of interceptions that were returned for touchdowns on back-to-back drives. The former Ravens quarterback had a passer rating of 31.7 when pressured, according to ESPN.
The Texans also have a budding shutdown corner. After struggling during his rookie season, Derek Stingley Jr. is playing at a Pro Bowl level and is coming off perhaps the best performance of his career. Stingley covered Browns star receiver Amari Cooper on 83.3% of his routes Saturday and allowed just one catch for minus-6 yards just three weeks after Cooper burned Houston’s secondary for a franchise-record 265 yards.
They’ve had some impressive wins … and disappointing losses
While a 23-19 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 18 sealed a playoff berth for the Texans, some head-scratching losses earlier in the season nearly kept them out.
An 0-2 start was followed by dominant wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars (37-17) and Pittsburgh Steelers (30-6), but then Houston allowed Desmond Ridder to throw for 329 yards in a 21-19 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on a last-second field goal.
Two weeks later, the Texans fell, 15-13, to the Carolina Panthers, who finished the season 2-15. Stroud was held to 140 yards and was outplayed by No. 1 pick Bryce Young.
After winning four of its next five games, including a 30-27 victory over Joe Burrow and the Bengals, Houston allowed Zach Wilson to throw for 301 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-6 loss to the reeling New York Jets. Stroud went just 10-for-23 for 90 yards and was sacked four times before exiting late with a concussion, which forced him to miss the next two games.
But Stroud returned in Week 17 to lead a 26-3 win over the Tennessee Titans that kept Houston in playoff contention. After the game, he offered some prescient words of encouragement.
“The time is now,” he said. “It’s not next year. It’s not the year after that. It’s right now.”
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The Ravens will host the Houston Texans and sensational rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN.
They had to wait an extra day to find out their opponent because of ferocious winter weather in Buffalo, but the Bills finished off the Ravens’ other potential foe, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-17, in Monday’s rescheduled AFC wild-card contest.
The Ravens beat the Texans, 25-9, in their season opener, but that was Stroud’s first NFL game, and he has since produced one of the greatest rookie quarterback seasons in league history. He hit a new peak on Saturday, completing 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns as the Texans thrashed the Cleveland Browns and quarterback Joe Flacco, 45-14, in the wild-card round.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh praised the Texans after the opener, saying they would exceed expectations.
“They are 17 games different,” he said Monday when asked how they’ve evolved. “It’s coaching, experience — all the things that a good team does that continues to improve throughout the season. They’ve done a really good job of that. Obviously, they’re very well-coached. They have really good young players, some veteran players as well. They’ve continued to improve throughout [the season].”
The Ravens “dialed in” on preparing for the Texans as soon as they dispatched the Browns, Harbaugh said, but were ready to pivot to the No. 7 seed Steelers if they upset Buffalo.
Ravens fans had spent weeks anticipating a possible bittersweet reunion with their last Super Bowl hero, Flacco, who lifted the Browns to four straight wins and the AFC’s No. 5 seed after spending the first half of the season home with his family.
Instead, it will be Stroud, who completed 28 of 44 passes for 242 yards at M&T Bank Stadium in September, throwing to his top target, wide receiver Nico Collins. The Texans also feature a talented young defense led by rookie edge rusher Will Anderson, second-year cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and linebacker Blake Cashman. Coach DeMeco Ryans led Houston, which drafted Stroud and Anderson with the second and third picks in the 2023 draft, respectively, to a seven-win improvement in his first season.
The Texans clinched their first AFC South title since 2019 by beating the Colts in Indianapolis on the last Sunday of the regular season while the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the host Titans.
The Ravens went 13-4 in the regular season to earn the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.
The No. 2 seed Bills, meanwhile, will host the No. 3 Kansas City Chiefs in the other AFC divisional round game at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. If the Ravens beat the Texans, they’ll host the AFC championship game at M&T Bank Stadium for the first time Sunday, Jan. 28 at 3 p.m.
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While the Ravens wait to find out who their playoff opponent will be in the divisional round, other teams are not. After Baltimore finished the regular season with the best record in the NFL at 13-4, organizations around the league began to target members of its coaching staff and front office to fill their vacancies.
Second-year Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, the mastermind behind the first defense to lead the league in sacks (60), takeaways (31) and points per game allowed (16.5), has already interviewed with multiple teams that have head coach openings. First-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken, whose scheme tapped into the unique talents of quarterback and presumptive NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, has as well.
No in-person interviews with a coach currently employed by another team that is playing in the postseason can take place until after this week’s divisional round, so the interviews were conducted remotely, though interviews for general manager openings can take place in person immediately.
Here’s a look at Ravens coaches and front office staff who have been interviewed so far.
Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald
One of the hottest coaching candidates around the league, Macdonald, 36, has drawn rave reviews for his defensive wizardry, ability to connect with players and sharp mind. Over the past two seasons, the Ravens’ defense has ranked in the top five in scoring, total yards, rushing yards, red-zone touchdown rate and third-down conversion rate. Among the teams he has already interviewed with are the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons. The Washington Commanders also requested an interview, and the Seattle Seahawks are reportedly expected to. Macdonald would become the youngest head coach in the NFL if he were to be hired.
So far, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, whose lone head coaching job was with Southern Mississippi from 2013 to 2015, has interviewed with the Falcons, Chargers and Panthers. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Offensive coordinator Todd Monken
In Monken’s first year in Baltimore after arriving off two straight national championships at Georgia, the Ravens’ offense ranked sixth in the NFL in yards per game (370.4) and Jackson was named first-team All-Pro. At 57, he’s 10 years older than the league’s average age for head coaches, but players have thrived in his scheme. So far, Monken, whose lone head coaching job was with Southern Mississippi from 2013 to 2015, has interviewed with the Falcons, Chargers and Panthers.
Ravens associate head coach/defensive line coach Anthony Weaver has already had interviews with Falcons, Commanders and Panthers. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Associate head coach/defensive line coach Anthony Weaver
The 43-year-old former defensive end was the Houston Texans’ defensive coordinator in 2020 before rejoining Baltimore two years ago and being promoted to associate head coach last year. Another head coach in the making, Weaver has already had interviews with Falcons, Commanders and Panthers.
Ravens passing game coordinator/secondary Chris Hewitt has interviewed with the Jaguars for their open defensive coordinator job. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Passing game coordinator/secondary Chris Hewitt
The Ravens allowed the sixth-fewest passing yards and third-fewest passing touchdowns in the NFL this season, along with recording the third-most interceptions. Second-year safety Kyle Hamilton was also named an All-Pro and cornerback Brandon Stephens blossomed. That, among other things, caught the attention of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who interviewed Hewitt for their open defensive coordinator job. The 49-year-old has been with the Ravens since 2012, joining them as defensive backs coach the same season they went on to win the Super Bowl before being promoted to passing game coordinator/secondary in 2020.
Ravens defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson has interviewed with the Giants for their open defensive coordinator position. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson
Hewitt, of course, isn’t the only one drawing interest. After the New York Giants parted ways with defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, who served the Ravens in the same capacity from 2018 to 2021, they looked to Baltimore again, interviewing the defensive backs coach for the opening. Wilson, 41, is in his first year with the Ravens after coming over from the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chargers have interviewed the Ravens’ director of player personnel Joe Hortiz for their general manager position after firing Tom Telesco along with coach Brandon Staley late in the regular season. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Director of player personnel Joe Hortiz
Hortiz has been with the Ravens since 1998 and in his current position since 2019. Given the success of many of the Ravens’ draft picks and free agent signings, it’s of little surprise that Hortiz would be a hot job candidate, with the 48-year-old helping oversee college and pro scouting and serving as general manager Eric DeCosta’s top personnel evaluator. The Chargers have interviewed him for their general manager position after firing Tom Telesco along with coach Brandon Staley late in the regular season.
Vice president of football administration Nick Matteo
In his fourth season in Baltimore, Matteo oversees all areas of football administration, including day-to-day salary cap management and roster transactions. Before that, he spent nine years with the NFL Management Council, eventually being named the league’s senior director of labor operations. The Panthers, who fired general Scott Fitterer after the regular season, interviewed Matteo for the opening.
This story might be updated.
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While the Ravens have to wait until Monday night to find out who they’ll face in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium has been narrowed down to two possible time slots.
The NFL announced Sunday night its divisional round schedule, including two games each on Saturday, Jan. 20, and Sunday, Jan. 21. The first AFC game will kick off at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and will feature either the No. 4 seed Houston Texans traveling to Kansas City to face the No. 3 Chiefs or Houston heading to Baltimore to take on the No. 1 Ravens. The second AFC matchup kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and will be either Kansas City at the No. 2 Buffalo Bills or the No. 7 Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore.
The AFC matchups are still in limbo after the Bills-Steelers wild-card game was postponed from 1 p.m. Sunday to 4:30 p.m. Monday because of a snowstorm that swept through Buffalo. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday that the game “will not be pushed back again” despite an ongoing travel ban in the area around Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
Essentially, the Ravens’ hosting scenarios next weekend boil down to this:
- If the Bills beat the Steelers on Monday, the Ravens will host the Texans at 4:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN/ABC).
- If the Steelers beat the Bills, the Ravens will host the Steelers at 6:30 p.m. Sunday (CBS).
Buffalo enters Monday’s game as a 10-point favorite over Pittsburgh, which landed in the Buffalo area Sunday afternoon after delaying its travel plans because of the postponement. The Texans, meanwhile, rolled to a 45-14 win over Cleveland Browns and former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco on Saturday behind three touchdown passes from rookie C.J. Stroud.
The Ravens (13-4) received a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs after finishing with the league’s best regular-season record. If the Ravens win their divisional round matchup and advance to the AFC championship game, M&T Bank Stadium would host for the first time. That game is set to kick off Sunday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS.
Super Bowl 58 kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11, at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, and will be televised on CBS.
NFL postseason schedule
Saturday, Jan. 20
AFC: Houston at Baltimore/Kansas City, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN/ABC, ESPN+)
NFC: Green Bay at San Francisco, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Sunday, Jan. 21
AFC: Philadelphia/Tampa Bay at Detroit, 3 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)
AFC: Kansas City at Buffalo or Pittsburgh at Baltimore (CBS, Paramount+)
Sunday, Jan. 28
AFC championship game, 3 p.m. (CBS, Paramount+)
NFC championship game, 6:30 p.m. (Fox)
Sunday, Feb. 11
Super Bowl 58, 6:30 p.m. (CBS)
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By LARRY LAGE (AP Sports Writer)
DETROIT (AP) — Jared Goff threw for a touchdown and completed a game-sealing first down against the team that cast him away, and the Detroit Lions won a playoff game for the first time in 32 years, beating Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 on Sunday night.
The Lions (13-5) ended a nine-game postseason losing streak — the longest in NFL history — that dated to a victory over Dallas on Jan. 5, 1992. They lost a home playoff game two years later and hadn’t hosted one since.
Detroit will have two home playoff games for the first time in franchise history, hosting either Tampa Bay or Philadelphia in the divisional round next Sunday.
The Rams (10-8) had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, but Detroit’s defense held. A holding penalty pushed Los Angeles out of field goal range, and Stafford — the Lions’ longtime quarterback who won a Super Bowl after he was traded to the Rams — threw incomplete on fourth down.
On the first play after the two-minute warning, Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for 11 yards, allowing the Lions to run out the clock — much to the delight of long-suffering fans who witnessed the franchise’s second postseason victory since winning the 1957 NFL title.
Against the franchise he once led to the Super Bowl, Goff was 22 of 27 for 277 yards and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta that put Detroit ahead 21-10 midway through the second quarter. The Lions acquired Goff and a pair of first-round picks for Stafford three years ago.
Stafford, who played most of the game with a bandaged and bloody hand after he slammed it into a defender’s helmet, finished 25 of 36 for 367 yards with two touchdowns. Record-breaking rookie Puka Nacua had nine receptions for 181 yards.
David Montgomery and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs each had a rushing touchdown for the Lions, and St. Brown had seven receptions for 110 yards.
The Lions scored on their first two drives to take a 14-3 lead.
The Rams got within 21-17 at halftime thanks to Stafford’s 50-yard touchdown pass to Nacua and his 38-yarder to Tutu Atwell.
Michael Badgley’s season-long, 54-yard field goal gave the Lions a seven-point lead midway through the third quarter.
The Rams moved the ball at will for much of the game, but had to settle for short field goals by Brett Maher on drives late in the third and midway through the fourth to get within 24-23 with 8:10 remaining.
Stafford has made a career of fourth-quarter comebacks, a fact the fans at Ford Field were well aware of. With a chance to put the Rams ahead for the first time, he led a drive to the Detroit 34, but the Lions’ defense forced him backwards from there.
Detroit took over with 4:07 to go, and Los Angeles had only one timeout left after calling two earlier in the half to cope with a crowd as loud as a blaring siren. That allowed Goff to take a knee after his throw to St. Brown.
The Lions started strong and looked as fired up as their long-suffering fans, with rapper and Motor City native Eminem in the house along with Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson.
The fans showered Stafford with boos when he ran onto the field, where he posed for a pregame photo with his wife and their daughters, and chanted “Jar-ed Goff! Jar-ed Goff” for the Lions’ third-year quarterback.
INJURIES
Rams: Stafford’s right hand was taped up after it was cut in the second quarter and he walked off the field slowly after getting hit by two Lions late in the third. … RB Kyren Williams had a hand injury in the fourth quarter. … TE Tyler Higbee limped off the field, favoring his right leg, after taking a low hit in the fourth. … S Jordan Fuller, the team’s second-leading tackler, was ruled out after being listed as questionable with an ankle injury.
Lions: WR/KR Kalif Raymond, TE James Mitchell and CB Jerry Jacobs were inactive.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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By SCHUYLER DIXON (AP Pro Football Writer)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Aaron Jones grew up idolizing Emmitt Smith and the Dallas Cowboys.
The Green Bay running back found a new, and most painful, way to torment the all-time rushing leader’s former team.
Jones ran for three touchdowns, Jordan Love threw for three more in his postseason debut, Darnell Savage returned an interception 64 yards for a score and the Packers handed the Cowboys their first home loss since the 2022 opener in a 48-32 wild-card stunner Sunday.
“This was my dad’s team,” Jones, who has 488 yards in four career games against the Cowboys, said of his late father. “You always want to be like your father, so that’s how it became my team. Dallas is a special place to me, so it’s a full-circle moment. It feels like home.”
Even against a team that had won 16 consecutive home games.
Green Bay (10-8) will visit top-seeded San Francisco in the divisional round next weekend.
Dak Prescott threw two interceptions before three mostly empty touchdown passes in another playoff flop for him and the No. 2 seed Cowboys (12-6).
The first home loss for the Cowboys since now-retired Tom Brady and Tampa Bay beat them 16 months ago was also the most points the franchise has allowed in a postseason game. The previous high was 38.
The Cowboys, who haven’t reached an NFC championship game since the most recent of their five Super Bowl titles 28 years ago, didn’t trail by more than eight points at AT&T Stadium this season before falling behind 27-0 in the first half.
The loss will raise questions about the future of Dallas coach Mike McCarthy after the Cowboys lost their playoff opener at home for the second time in three postseasons under the former Green Bay coach.
Dallas is the first team to win at least 12 games in three consecutive playoff seasons without making a conference title game.
The Cowboys surged to the NFC East title in the final two weeks and had a chance to be home at least twice this postseason. Instead, they head into a suddenly uncertain offseason.
“Just shocked, honestly,” Prescott said. “From the beginning of the game, we got beat. There’s no which way around it. There’s no way to sugar coat it. Shock.”
Romeo Doubs had a career-high 151 yards receiving a week after being hospitalized with a chest injury as the Packers rolled after finishing the regular season 6-2 to grab the NFC’s final playoff spot.
“We came in here with a mindset of we’re going to dominate,” Love said. “A lot of people were counting us out, and we didn’t care about that.”
The Packers have never lost in six trips to AT&T Stadium — including the Super Bowl over Pittsburgh during the 2010 season. They now have two playoff victories over the Cowboys after Aaron Rodgers led a 34-31 divisional win when Dallas was the NFC’s top seed in 2016, Prescott’s rookie year.
Those Packers let a 21-3 lead slip away. These Packers, with the four-time MVP’s successor, left little doubt with a 48-16 fourth-quarter lead before two late Dallas TDs.
“We knew it would take time,” Jones said. “You would hear me during the season and other players (say), we were right there, we’re right there, we’re right there. We’ve been able to get over that hump.”
Facing the NFL’s fifth-best defense, Green Bay matched its Super Bowl-winning team from 2010 for the most points in a playoff game. That was also on the road, a 48-21 victory at top-seeded Atlanta in the divisional round.
Doubs, who returned to the Green Bay sideline after his hospital trip before the end of last week’s 17-9 home victory over Chicago that secured a playoff spot, had 102 yards at halftime. It was seven more than the second-year player’s previous best.
First-half catches of 22, 26 and 39 yards helped get Love going, and the fourth-year QB finished 16 of 21 for 272 yards as the Packers scored touchdowns on six of their first seven offensive possessions in their highest-scoring game since 2014.
One of them was set up by Prescott’s first interception at the Dallas 19-yard line, from Jaire Alexander after he was questionable coming in when he sprained an ankle during the week.
A 46-yard grab by Doubs early in the second half helped finish off the Cowboys after they had scored 10 points on either side of the break. Doubs, Luke Musgrave and Dontayvion Wicks had TD catches.
Jones rushed for 118 yards, putting him over the century mark in all four career games against the Cowboys with nine touchdowns.
“That was fun,” said Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur, who took over in 2019 after McCarthy was fired during the 2018 season. “To put on a performance like that. Couldn’t be happier for them.”
The crowd under the retractable roof on a frigid day in the Dallas area had already been stone-cold silenced when Prescott tried to throw a slant to top receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Savage, who went without an interception in the regular season for the first time in his five-year career, stepped in front and run untouched for a 27-0 lead with 1:50 left before halftime.
“They were mad at me ‘cause I wasn’t celebrating afterward,” Savage said. “I was like, ‘We gotta keep playing. But it was definitely a momentum swing in the game, I think.”
Prescott finished 41 of 60 for 403 yards, with all three of his touchdowns to tight end Jake Ferguson.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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HOUSTON — Joe Flacco and the Browns’ offense didn’t get the same gift from the Texans that they did on Christmas Eve — a defensive unit that was missing its two starting edge rushers and more starters.
Their coach, DeMeco Ryans, was miffed he gave Flacco all day to throw in that 36-22 Browns victory and wasn’t about to let it happen again.
With edge-rushers Jonathan Greenard (12 1/2 sacks on the season) and Will Anderson Jr. (seven sacks) coming off the edge — and with rookie C.J. Stroud slinging it to the tune of 274 yards and a rookie-record three touchdowns — it was a different ballgame for the Browns, and they got blown out 45-14 in the wild-card round to end their season at 11-7.
It was a crushing end to the Flacco Fairytale that characterized the final five games of the regular season. Unfortunately for him and the Browns, it won’t end with his second trip to Disney World.
“It’s always difficult, man, when you get to this time of the year,” said a subdued Flacco. “Usually the further you go, the more heartbreak there. It’s a lot of fun along the way, but if you do get beat, it’s hard to deal with.
“I don’t want to let everybody in the locker room, but there is part of me that wishes you could see just how much everybody cares and how much everybody cares about each other and just what kind of team that was. It’s definitely a shame the way it went down and hard to deal with at the moment.”
The hard part for Flacco (34 of 46, 307 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 80.6 rating, 4 sacks) is that he threw two pick-sixes in the third quarter that broke open a 38-14 lead for the Texans.
Just before that, Flacco had completed a 16-yard pass to David Bell to the Texans 34, and they were almost in field goal range while trailing 24-14.
But Flacco got hit by Derek Barnett, and his pass down the deep left side was picked off by safety Steve Nelson and returned 82 yards for a touchdown that made it 31-14 with 6:05 left in the third.
“I was trying to throw it away,” Flacco said. “Taking it back, I could see the guy was getting pressure pretty quickly. I wish I would’ve just, I knew where Elijah [Moore] was going to be, so I knew I had a throwaway there. Looking back on it, I wish I threw it at like the lower guy’s feet. Kind of thought of that earlier or just took the sack, to be honest with you. But obviously when you look at things in hindsight.”
Two minutes later, Flacco threw a short pass to the left to tight end Harrison Bryant, and on a fourth-and-2, and Christian Harris swiped it and returned it 36 for a touchdown that made it 38-14. The game was over at that point; the Texans tacked on an insurance score in the fourth quarter, a 19-yard touchdown run by Devin Singletary.
“You never want to throw those,” Flacco said. “I do think you have to look at interceptions as a quarterback and as an offense, as a quarterback group. When you go back and watch the film, you have to look at ‘em for what they are. Are they bad decisions? Are they bad throws? Are they just happening because it was just something wild happened.
“So I think you always have to address those. You don’t want to turn the ball over, but you do have to see some of the ways some of them have happened, it is what it is.
“At the end of the day, you have to be able to live with sacks. And I think in that [first interception] drive, we’ve overcome a second and long from a holding and in the back of your head you just kind of like, ‘OK, we got over that one. Let’s not get back in that position.’ And you almost let your guard down a little bit. And like I said, I think you have to realize that sometimes sacks aren’t bad things.”
The two picks were the ninth and 10th for Flacco in his six starts for the Browns, who gave it away more than any team in this NFL this season. During the year, the Browns were able to overcome the picks with big plays, and excellent defense. But Stroud was too hot for them to get away with interceptions in this instance, and they were dealbreakers in the game.
“I don’t think there’s really much that needs to be said about it,” Flacco said. “When you’re driving down and you’re trying to get back to a one-score game and then all of a sudden it’s a three-score game or whatever it ends up being … The second one’s on fourth down, maybe you can, I thought I’d be able to jam one in there. And that’s just a calculated risk at that point. The first one is the one that, like I said, I was talking about [trying to throw it away].”
Browns quarterback Joe Flacco, getting sacked by Texans outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. in the third quarter, threw two pick-sixes in the second half of Saturday’s 45-14 wild-card round playoff loss in Houston. (Carmen Mandato/Getty) No one would dare more blame the game on Flacco, who got the Browns to the dance in the first place with his 4-1 record after being out of football all season.
As it was, he had the Browns ahead twice in the first half, firing passes of 45 yards to David Njoku and 47 to Harrison Bryant that led to two Kareem Hunt touchdowns.
“It’s hard to reflect on all of it right this minute,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanaski said. “I appreciate how he battled today.”
He acknowledged that the attack-minded Ryans did an excellent job bringing the heat and making it tough on Flacco. They had picked him off twice in the first meeting and were confident they could do it again.
“They did a nice job pressuring,” Stefanski said. “We and I needed to do a better job putting those guys in position.”
It didn’t help that the Browns couldn’t run the ball again against the sixth-ranked run defense and that Amari Cooper (4 of 5 for 59 yards) got banged up early on but fought through it.
“He was battling,” Stefanski said.
Flacco, who resurrected his stagnant career in Cleveland after no one called him in the first 10 weeks, acknowledged he’d be open to being back.
Turning 39 on Tuesday, he will be free to sign with any team when his contract is up in March. The Browns will have Deshaun Watson back as their starter next season, but Flacco would be an excellent option as a backup. He’ll clean out his locker tomorrow, and no one knows if he’ll be back again.
“I love it here and we’re dealing with so much right now, just going through the emotions of this game and being so excited to be in this position and now to come up empty,” he said. “So I think that’s where my head is, is just kind of trying to soak it all in and let this digest a little bit.”
Flacco, who had the Browns up 7-3 and 14-10 in the first half, acknowledged that the experience was completely different than on Christmas Eve, when he wasn’t sacked once. He threw for 368 yards that game, and Cooper set the Browns record with 265 receiving yards.
“Those guys were flying around today,” Flacco said. “It seemed like we were keeping up there a little bit, and it was a decent little fight for a quarter and a half. And really the first half, I mean 24-14, not that you’re asking for things, but that’s playoffs. It’s not going to be easy. You’re going to be in tough games where you have to battle to the end, and obviously we just came out in the second half and weren’t really able to put it together enough.”
He acknowledged that the full-strength Texans defense at least on this day, was more than the Browns could handle.
“They did what they do well,” he said. They seemed a little bit more aggressive. They seemed to be playing a little bit faster. Just basic things. They played with a little bit more confidence, a little bit more speed, a little bit more hunger. They just seemed to have a better day. The game got away from us obviously, and we all know why.”
Flacco, one of 11 rookies in NFL history to win a playoff game, was impressed with Stroud, who has an arm that rivals Flacco’s and plenty of mobility to go with it. He managed to remain pick-free and threw only five in the regular season against 23 touchdowns.
“He got the ball out and I thought he did a good job on a handful of throws that he had to make in those situations,” he said. “There was a couple plays where I did notice him kind of getting hit in the pocket and he was able to stand in there and do what he needed to do on those plays.”
A former Super Bowl MVP, Flacco was the feel-good story of the season until the Texans spoiled the ending. It was supposed to include a storybook trip to Baltimore to try to beat his former team on the way to the Super Bowl.
“I was so fortunate to become a part of this team,” he said. “It’s a special group, and I’m super grateful for it. This is why we love football. This is why we love NFL playoffs. It’s 14 really good football teams, and it’s one game.
“Unfortunately for us, we were the loser, but that’s what we love about this game. You have to learn how to deal with it when you’re not the guy. It was a close group, so you can imagine how they’re taking it, but they’re going to hold their heads high because I know who they are.”
No one who was at the Cleveland Browns Stadium for the playoff-clinching victory over the Jets on “Thursday Night Football” will ever forget the electrically charged atmosphere. For five weeks, Flacco had the Browns and their fans believing they could go all the way.
“When the city embraces you and the team the way they have, you definitely want to do big things, mostly for your teammates because those guys, like I said, have been incredible, but it’s hard not to feel the way the city rallied around the group of guys in that locker room,” he said. “That’s another reason why we love the NFL. It’s the fans. And as crazy as they can be, it’s what makes the game.
“It’s about getting these communities excited about their team. That’s what we like to do here. We love the NFL and we like to get excited about teams. So I can’t thank the organization, my teammates, the city enough. I mean, it stinks the way it ends, but it was a lot of fun and I’m grateful for the time that we had.”
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By DAVE SKRETTA (AP Sports Writer)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It was so cold that Patrick Mahomes’ helmet shattered on a hit. Andy Reid’s mustache froze on the sideline. Fans and players alike huddled for warmth, trying their best to grit their way through the fourth-coldest game in NFL history.
The Kansas City Chiefs managed to handle the adversity well Saturday night.
Handled the Miami Dolphins quite well, too.
Mahomes threw for 262 yards, found Rashee Rice eight times for 130 yards and a touchdown, and made several daring runs for key first downs. Isiah Pacheco pounded over the frozen turf for 89 yards and another score. And the Chiefs shut down a prolific Miami offense in a 26-9 victory in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Harrison Butker added four field goals for the reigning Super Bowl champs, who appear to be warming up for another run.
“Guys came with that attitude, that mentality — we knew it was going to be cold,” Mahomes said. “All week we were preaching, ‘Let’s come in there with that fire and just get after it and see what happens.’”
Meanwhile, the injury-depleted Dolphins (11-7) looked nothing like the same dynamic offense that led the league in yards. Tua Tagovailoa was pressured relentlessly by the NFL’s second-ranked defense, wide receiver Tyreek Hill had a 53-yard TD catch but was otherwise shut down in his return to Kansas City, and the Dolphins finished with 264 yards in all.
They have not won at Arrowhead Stadium since Nov. 6, 2011, nor won a playoff game since Dec. 30, 2000.
“Losing is never fun, and when the stakes are higher — when it’s playoff time — you feel that maybe 10 times more,” said Tagovailoa, who was just 20 of 39 for 199 yards passing with an interception. “We’ve got to live with that loss.”
The Chiefs get to live with another win in their 15th consecutive home playoff game, not counting a trio of Super Bowls that netted them two Lombardi Trophies. But they will head to Buffalo next week if the Bills beat the Steelers on Monday in a game pushed back a day by a blizzard. Otherwise, the Chiefs will host Houston, which beat the Browns earlier Saturday.
“Everybody was out there playing for each other,” Rice said. “We just put the weather to the side and knew that our opponent didn’t want to be out there just as much as we didn’t, and we showed our love for the game.”
It was minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-20 Celsius) at kickoff, easily setting a record for the coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium. But it was wind gusts, whipping through at more than 25 mph and driving the wind chill to a bone-rattling minus-27 degrees, that made the weather truly miserable for just about everyone.
That included pop star Taylor Swift, who once again turned up to see her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
She at least got to watch from an enclosed suite. Most fans bundled up outside in parkas, ski goggles and snow pants, and players huddled around heaters on the sidelines as if they were oases in the cold. The National Weather Service even issued a warning for what it called “dangerously cold” weather that had blanketed the Midwest.
In fact, the cold may have made Mahomes’ helmet brittle enough that a hit in the third quarter knocked a chunk of the plastic shell from it. Once officials saw the fist-sized hole, they made Mahomes get a backup helmet from the bench.
“We have to talk about where we store the backup,” Mahomes said with a smile. “It was like, frozen.”
The weather didn’t seem to bother Hill, who was playing in Kansas City for the first time since his old team traded him to Miami two years ago. The league’s leading receiver warmed up in a short-sleeve shirt, then proceeded to scorch the stout Chiefs defense and All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie for a his long touchdown reception midway through the first half.
“It’s where it all started for me,” Hill said afterward. “Just being back on the field brought back so many memories.”
The Dolphins otherwise struggled on offense, though, just as they did in a 21-14 loss to the Chiefs in November in Germany. They were just 1 for 12 on third down, and they never put together a truly sustained drive until the fourth quarter.
“We knew they were going to put a lot of attention toward our receivers,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “We thought we had the right plan and obviously it wasn’t, and hats off to them for executing their plan in the most important time.”
On offense, the Chiefs scored on four of their six first-half drives. Mahomes capped the first with his TD toss to Rice, and while ensuing drives continually fizzled in the red zone, Butker added a trio of field goals to help Kansas City forge a 16-3 lead.
“Butker was phenomenal,” Reid said. “That was like kicking a block of ice.”
The Chiefs added another field goal in the third quarter, but it was still a two-possession game in the fourth when the Dolphins appeared to force another field goal. But a late flag on Christian Wilkins for roughing the passer on third down gave Kansas City a fresh set of downs, and Pacheco plowed into the end zone moments later to give the Chiefs a 26-7 lead.
The Dolphins never threatened down the stretch in their 11th straight loss when game-time temps are 40 degrees or less.
Far less, in this case.
INJURIES
Miami: S Jevon Holland (knee) and CB Xavien Howard (foot) were inactive. CB DeShon Elliott (calf) left in the fourth quarter.
Kansas City: WR Kadarius Toney (hip) was inactive. DT Derrick Nnadi (elbow) left in the second quarter.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Ravens Insider: Ravens vs. Texans staff picks: Who will win Saturday’s playoff game in Baltimore?
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Here’s how The Baltimore Sun sports staff views the outcome of Saturday’s AFC divisional round playoff game between the Ravens (13-4) and the Houston Texans (11-7) at M&T Bank Stadium.
Brian Wacker, reporter
Ravens 27, Texans 17: Both teams are drastically different from the first time they met in Week 1, so forget just about everything from that game. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is playing at an elite level and Houston’s two tight ends, Dalton Schultz and Brevin Jordan, are capable of destroying defenses on intermediate and deep routes and especially over the middle, an area of the field the Ravens have at times been vulnerable. But don’t read as much into Houston’s blowout of the Cleveland Browns last week, either. Stroud torched the Browns when they blitzed, and the Ravens are only middle of the pack in blitz rate along with boasting one of the league’s best pass rush win rates. Then the game got out of hand when Joe Flacco threw a pair of interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. Houston’s defense, meanwhile, is strong against the run but one of the worst against the pass, particularly down the field. Expect Baltimore to lean on Lamar Jackson to strike early, set up the run, take an early lead then zero in on Stroud. If Houston can force an early turnover or two and control the clock with the running game, things could get uncomfortable for the Ravens. But the more likely scenario is for Baltimore to do what it has done all season: harass Stroud, get out in front and lean on its defense and ground game to close it out.
Mike Preston, columnist
Ravens 28, Texans 21: DeMeco Ryans has done an excellent job during his first season in Houston, especially with a rookie quarterback. Few, if any, picked the Texans to play in the divisional round. Houston has an outstanding prospect in rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receiver Nico Collins will cause the Ravens some problems, but the Ravens will outclass the Texans’ secondary. Houston has two decent cornerbacks in Derek Stingley Jr. and Steven Nelson, but their safeties are suspect and the Ravens should be able to hit a couple of big plays. On the flip side, if the Ravens’ defense can limit big plays, they should win.
Childs Walker, reporter
Ravens 31, Texans 20: The Ravens will enter as heavy favorites and deservedly so given their dominant close to the regular season. The Texans established themselves as a dangerous team against the Browns. Stroud is a poised, accurate passer, and Houston has young defensive stars to complement him. But Jackson will come out firing against a vulnerable pass defense, and the Ravens will come up with enough different looks to keep Stroud less comfortable than he was against Cleveland. They will begin their Super Bowl push with a convincing victory.
C.J. Doon, editor
Ravens 33, Texans 20: Simply put, this Ravens team is better and more mature than the 2019 version that went one-and-done. They did not have veterans like Roquan Smith, Jadeveon Clowney, Kyle Van Noy and Odell Beckham Jr. when they lost to the Titans, and Lamar Jackson was not the leader he is today. The Texans will enter with plenty of confidence and young stars ready to grab the spotlight from the NFL’s best team, but the Ravens have answered every challenge with authority over the past few months behind a dominant defense and the league’s Most Valuable Player. Expect more of the same with their season and reputation on the line.
Tim Schwartz, editor
Ravens 34, Texans 24: There is undoubtedly a lot of pressure on Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to win this game and get that 2019 failure behind them. But Jackson has been about as even-keeled as a quarterback can be this season and has talked consistently about moments such as these, understanding the importance of winning in the playoffs. He must win this game, or the narrative about him not getting it done when it matters will live on and grow louder. Fortunately for Jackson, he’s surrounded by the NFL’s best roster, one that is about as healthy (and fresh) as it can possibly be. That matters this time of year. C.J. Stroud and the Texans are playing with house money but Baltimore’s defense led the league in sacks, takeaways and points per game, and if there’s one way to slow the rookie down, it’s pressure. Expect Stroud to get his numbers but for the Ravens to, in the end, comfortably win a high-scoring game.
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