Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more on Saturday as the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens pulled away from the visiting Houston Texans in the second half for a 34-10 victory in an AFC divisional playoff game.
The Ravens will host either the Bills or Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Buffalo and Kansas City are set to play Sunday in the other AFC semifinal.
Baltimore broke the game open with 24 unanswered points in the second half, finding the end zone on each of its first three possessions following the break.
Jackson snapped a 10-10 tie with a 15-yard scoring run less than three minutes into the third quarter, capping a 55-yard drive. He made it 24-10 on the second play of the fourth quarter, rolling right and flipping a 15-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely to finish a 93-yard drive that lasted 7:03.
Jackson sealed the victory with 6:20 left in the game, running 8 yards for a TD to complete a march that ate up 7:10. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 152 yards while gaining 100 yards on 11 carries for the game.
“We studied those guys like no tomorrow,” Jackson told ESPN following the game. “We had the bye week, but we still stayed locked in and focused. … Started off slow first half, but second half, we dialed up and we started connecting.”
Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud struggled with the Baltimore defense. He hit on 19 of 33 passes for 175 yards and failed to get the Houston offense into the end zone for the second time in as many meetings with the Ravens. Yet the fourth-seeded Texans, who routed the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round, nearly led at halftime.
“This wasn’t our moment right now, this wasn’t our time right now, we didn’t get it done,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said. “But I’m proud of each and every coach and player in the locker room for what we’ve accomplished throughout the entire year, how we grew through the entire year, and I’m proud of our guys.
“That’s what I told all our guys, keep your head up. Like, credit to the Ravens, but man, proud of each and every man.”
Houston answered Jackson’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor with 9:14 left in the second quarter with some special-teams magic. Steven Sims grabbed a line-drive punt at his 33, burst up the middle, broke a weak tackle attempt and sprinted 67 yards for a game-tying score at the 4:17 mark of the second to make it 10-10.
Houston threatened to take the lead late in the quarter, but Ka’imi Fairbairn, who connected on a 50-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the first quarter, pushed a 47-yard attempt wide right with 32 seconds remaining.
Justin Tucker opened the scoring for Baltimore with a 53-yard field goal at the 8:36 mark of the first quarter. He also closed the scoring with a 43-yarder.
“We still got more work to do,” Jackson said.
–Field Level Media
