Beyoncé put on the best show in Houston on Christmas, but the Ravens were a close second.
The Ravens raced out to a 7-0 lead on their opening possession of their game against the Texans and never looked back on their way to a 31-2 win. The victory moves them to 11-5 on the year and they will be the AFC North champions with a win over the Browns at home in Week 18.
As is usually the case for the Ravens, Lamar Jackson was front and center in the win. Jackson ran for 87 yards to pass Michael Vick and become the NFL’s all-time rushing leader among quarterbacks. Those running stats included a 48-yard touchdown and Jackson was also 10-of-15 for 168 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
Jackson now has 3,955 passing yards and 852 rushing yards for the year and another big game in the regular season finale should make for a very interesting choice between him and Josh Allen for MVP voters.
The Ravens also got 148 rushing yards from Derrick Henry as they followed the same formula that they have used to great offensive success all season. The win is their third blowout in a row since their bye week and it seems like they are peaking at the right time with the playoffs right around the corner.
The same cannot be said of the Texans.
Their offense was dreadful on Wednesday as quarterback C.J. Stroud missed open receivers, threw an interception and took five sacks en route to a scoreless outing. There was one moment where they had a chance to make a game of it in the second quarter when they followed a safety with a drive inside the Ravens’ 5-yard-line, but running back Joe Mixon got stuffed short of the end zone on fourth down and Houston never threatened to score again.
Missing pieces due to injury can explain some of the issues, but the offensive issues are not new for Houston and their Christmas effort is one that foreshadows a short stay in the postseason if they can’t figure out a better way to move the ball before the calendar flips to January.
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