Important lessons for CJ Stroud, Houston Texans after magical run falls short
TEXANS ON TAP
21 January 2024
TEXANS ON TAP
BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar Jackson had already done plenty of running by the time he reached the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Apparently, he still had quite a bit of energy, leaping past the photographers and disappearing into the tunnel in a celebration that seemed cathartic for the All-Pro quarterback.
Jackson threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores, and the Baltimore Ravens pulled away in the second half for a 34-10 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday to advance to the AFC championship game. It was only the second victory in five playoff games for Jackson, a fact he was well aware of.
“You know I heard that,” he said. “I don't even got to hear it. I see it. But it is what it is. I really don't care about what people say. ... Those guys just had our team's number in the past, but it's a different team.”
Jackson made some more history Saturday, becoming the first quarterback since at least 1948 — in the regular season or playoffs — with at least two touchdown passes, two TD runs, 100 yards rushing and a 100 passer rating in the same game.
“Credit to Lamar,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He made a ton of great plays. That’s why he’s the MVP.”
The Ravens (14-4) dominated the second half after the teams finished the second quarter tied at 10. Jackson said he did most of the talking at halftime.
“A lot of cursing,” he said.
Jackson's 15-yard scoring run put Baltimore ahead to stay. Although C.J. Stroud had a solid, composed first half for Houston, the Texans (11-8) ultimately couldn't turn enough promising drives into points against an impressive Ravens defense.
Now Baltimore will host the AFC title game for the first time since January 1971, when the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders on their way to a Super Bowl championship. The Ravens will play in that semifinal round for the fifth time since their arrival in Baltimore. They'll take on the winner of Sunday's matchup between Buffalo and Kansas City.
“Our fans are going to get a chance to cheer just as loud or louder than they did in this game, and they were amazing,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I thought our fans were incredible. Man, it was deafening out there.”
Harbaugh's brother Jim was on hand for the game, returning the favor after John went to watch Jim coach Michigan to college football's national title earlier this month.
Ravens fans have been haunted by what happened in the playoffs four years ago, when Baltimore went 14-2 in the regular season but dropped its postseason opener to Tennessee. Houston did enough to create some anxiety, especially when Steven Sims returned a punt for a touchdown and Jackson struggled at times with the blitzing Texans defense.
But on the first possession of the second half, Jackson guided Baltimore 55 yards in six plays and scored on a run up the middle. Then, a 15-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely early in the fourth made it 24-10.
Jackson’s final touchdown came on an 8-yard run with 6:20 to play, and the fired up quarterback kept running right into the tunnel in that corner of the field.
Sims’ return was the only TD for the Texans, whose offense never did reach the end zone in 120 minutes against the Ravens this season. Houston lost 25-9 in its season opener at Baltimore.
Jackson rushed for 821 yards during the regular season, which is a big part of the case for his second MVP award. But he surpassed 100 yards on the ground only once. He ran for exactly 100 on Saturday on 11 attempts. A 14-yard bootleg on fourth-and-1 near midfield led to the touchdown by Likely that gave the Ravens some breathing room.
Jackson also passed for 152 yards.
“Lamar is a dog. I’ve been a fan of his since high school," Stroud said. “It’s really an honor to share the field with a player like that."
Stroud threw for 175 yards and didn’t take a sack against a tough Baltimore defensive front, but the Texans dropped to 0-5 in the divisional round of the playoffs. They’re the only current franchise that hasn’t reached a conference championship game.
The Ravens led the NFL in sacks this season, but it was Jackson who was under pressure in the first half, when Houston got to him three times. Two of those sacks came back-to-back in the final minute of the second quarter after a missed field goal gave Baltimore decent field position.
Penalties held the Texans back all day — they ended up with 11 for 70 yards. After Justin Tucker opened the scoring for Baltimore with a 53-yard field goal, Houston appeared headed for points of its own before two false starts and an intentional grounding flag pushed the Texans out of range.
Houston did eventually tie it on a 50-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn, but the Ravens answered with a 76-yard march capped by Jackson’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor.
Down 10-3, the Texans struck back on special teams. Sims, who was signed from the practice squad to the active roster earlier in the week, broke free up the middle for a 67-yard touchdown.
ADJUSTMENTS
According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, Jackson faced a career-high blitz rate of 75% and went 13 of 18 for 120 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz. He got rid of the ball in an average of 2.25 seconds in the second half, compared to 3.51 in the first.
ONE-DIMENSIONAL
The Ravens outrushed Houston 229-38, and eventually the Texans' lack of any real ground attack caught up with them — even though they avoided any sacks and turnovers on the day.
UP NEXT
Texans: Houston's rise this season included an AFC South title and a first-round playoff rout against Cleveland. The future looks bright with Stroud at quarterback.
Ravens: Baltimore is one win away from its first Super Bowl appearance in 11 years. The Ravens did not face the Bills or Chiefs during the regular season.
Junior Caminero hit two of Tampa Bay’s season-high five home runs and Zack Littell threw his first career complete game as the Rays sailed to a 16-3 victory over the Houston Astros Saturday.
Littell (5-5) allowed 10 hits and three runs with six strikeouts. The Rays have won each of Littell’s last seven starts and he’s 5-0 in that stretch.
The 21-year-old Caminero had a career-best four hits and drove in five runs. The performance comes after he set a career high with six RBIs on Thursday in a 13-3 victory.
Yandy Díaz, Jake Mangum and Josh Lowe also homered for the Rays, who had a season-best 18 hits and whose 16 runs tied a season high.
Díaz had a two-run shot in the third and Caminero put the Rays in front 4-3 with his solo homer to the seats in left field to start the fourth.
Tampa Bay led by 2 when Brandon Lowe extended his hitting streak to a career-long 13 games with an RBI double with one out in the sixth. Caminero followed with double to make it 7-3.
Mangum, a rookie who came off the injured list Friday, smacked a ball to the bullpen in right-center for his first career homer to push the lead to 9-3 and a two-run shot by Josh Lowe left Tampa Bay up 11-3.
There were two on with one out in the eighth when Caminero went deep again to make it 14-3 and give him his first career multi-homer game.
La Tormenta strikes early.#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/E497cfEkbO
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 31, 2025
Jeremy Peña homered twice for the Astros, who fell to 1-2 in this four-game series.
HE'S FEELIN' IT!#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/IolXlk8nPw
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 31, 2025
Houston starter Colton Gordon (0-1) allowed five hits and four runs in five innings.
Tampa Bay’s six-run seventh inning made it 11-3.
Tampa Bay allowed four or fewer runs for the 12th straight game, which is the team’s longest streak since a 16-game stretch to end the 2021 season.
Tampa Bay’s Taj Bradley (4-4, 4.38 ERA) opposes RHP Hunter Brown (7-3, 2.00) when the series concludes Sunday.