Jackson and Ravens pull away to beat Texans, and reach AFC title game
BALTIMORE » Lamar 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.
On one of his most productive rushing days of the season, Jackson helped the Ravens (14-4) take control in the third quarter after the teams entered the half tied at 10.
His 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.
“They motivated us to go put points on the board,” Jackson said. “They’re stopping an opposing team, a very good team, led by a great quarterback. Our defense, sometimes they get us and sometimes we get them, get our momentum going, and it was them tonight.”
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.
“It’s just, you know, the first playoff (game) we got past, finally in the AFC championship,” Jackson said. “So, still got more work to do.”
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 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 TD 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.
Jackson rushed for 821 yards during the regular season. 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 fourthand-1 near midfield led to the TD by Likelyw.
Stroud threw for 175 yards and didn’t take a single sack against a tough Baltimore defensive front, but the Texans dropped to 0-5 in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Falcons interview 2 more
ATLANTA » The Atlanta Falcons interviewed Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Buffalo Bills quarterbacks coach and interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady on Saturday for their head coaching vacancy.
Morris, a former Atlanta assistant, is a familiar addition to the team’s list of candidates.
The virtual interviews with Morris and Brady came one day after former longtime New England coach Bill Belichick completed his second interview with the Falcons.