Ravens Cruise by the Texans Moving on to the AFC Championship
Although this NFL Divisional Round matchup between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens was tied at ten going into halftime, the Ravens' defense shut out the Texans in the second half, cruising by to a 34-10 victory. Baltimore will now appear in its fifth AFC Championship Game since 2000. This Houston Texans team led by DeMeco Ryans has a bright future ahead of them, especially with CJ Stroud at the helm, they just did not have the experience needed to beat this well-rounded Ravens squad. Today, we’ll find out who the Baltimore Ravens opponent will be in the 2023 AFC Championship Game. Let’s look at how the Ravens got this huge win at home.
Houston had the ball during the game's first drive, and they went on a 3 and out in just two minutes. Baltimore on their first possession took nine plays and nearly five minutes for kicker Justin Tucker knocked down a 53-yard field goal. By the end of the first quarter, Houston would tie the game up when kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn ripped a 50-yard field goal. Almost six minutes into the second quarter, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson would throw a three-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Nelson Agholor. With Justin Tucker nailing the extra point, Baltimore now had a 10-3 lead. After Tucker kicked the ball off, Steven Sims Jr. ran the ball 67 yards back for a Texans touchdown. Fairbairn hit the extra point to tie the game up once again, this time at ten. These two teams would walk into the locker room after the first half looking for ways to cruise past the other, and it would be the Ravens who came up big during the final two-quarters of action.
Baltimore started off with the ball in the second half and three minutes in, quarterback Lamar Jackson scrambled 15 yards into the end zone for a touchdown, and with Tucker nailing the extra point the Ravens had a seven-point lead. That would be the only score of the third quarter. In the fourth, Jackson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely. Tucker kicked in the extra point giving Baltimore a 14-point lead. Lamar had his second rushing touchdown of the day after he ran eight yards into the end zone. Tucker knocked in another extra point, and he would kick a 43-yard field goal with two minutes left in the game to give the Ravens a 34-10 lead. Baltimore did their job at home and will now need one more win to advance to the Super Bowl.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson went 16 for 22 with 152 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing as he had 11 carries for 100 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Ravens’ wide receiver Zay Flowers had four receptions for 41 yards. Texans quarterback CJ Stroud went 19 for 33 with 175 passing yards. Houston’s running back Devin Singletary had nine carries for 22 yards, and wide receiver Nico Collins had five catches for 68 yards.
