Baltimore Beatdown staff reacts to the Ravens’ victory over the Houston Texans.
The Baltimore Ravens demolished the Houston Texans on Christmas by a score of 31-2 to move into first place into the AFC North. Below are the reactions from the Beatdown staff.
The Ravens delivered a Christmas beatdown of the Texans in front of a national audience and Lamar Jackson delivered an MVP performance.
Since their bye week, the Ravens have repaired their issues and amplified their strengths, culminating in a three-game win streak with two matchups being playoff teams. The offense is absolutely humming and the defense continues their incredible turnaround. Things are all going the Ravens’ way and it’s a testament to the coaching staff and stars on the roster. It doesn’t end there, though, as depth players are contributing, too.
This game could’ve got ugly. The Texans could’ve crept up on a tired, wore-out Ravens team coming off a physical, challenging Steelers game. Instead, they were pulverized, with the only Texan delivering a highlight was Beyoncé. — Kyle Phoenix
The Ravens needed two things to happen on Christmas: a Steelers loss and Baltimore’s own win over the Texans. The Chiefs took care of business in Pittsburgh, opening the door for the Ravens to take over the AFC North. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry seized the day, running all over the Texans defense in the first half as their own defense harassed C.J. Stroud into an inaccurate, ineffective day. John Harbaugh, Todd Monken, and Zach Orr all deserve a ton of credit for getting their guys ready on a short week, and the entire roster deserves their upcoming R&R with their families before Week 18 vs. the Browns. There was so much to love about this game – Jackson’s 48-yard score, Kyle Hamilton’s interception, and the defense’s five sacks – but the best part might have been the fourth quarter. After three games in 11 days, Jackson and several other key starters were able to watch the last period from the sidelines. — Nikhil Mehta
The Ravens couldn’t have had a merrier Christmas than the one they had today. Before they even took the field, they already had sole possession of first place in the AFC North after the Steelers suffered their third-straight loss in lopsided fashion earlier in the day at the hands of the Chiefs. Not only did they take care of business down in Houston against the Texans, they looked damn good while doing it in all three phases of the game. They played their most complete game of the season, dominating on offense and defense and post-bye Justin Tucker remains perfect on his kicks including drilling a 50-plus yarder down the middle for the second week in a row. The defense technically pitched its first shutout of the season as the Texans’ only points came courtesy of their defense via safety. Derrick Henry was a bulldozer yet again and made franchise history while quarterback Lamar Jackson was Lamarvelous again and made NFL history as both had big days on the ground. — Joshua Reed
Christmas Day. Prime time special. The Ravens perform again. The Ravens blew out the 49ers a year ago today on the road and this time throttled the Texans on the road. Lamar Jackson is officially (as if he wasn’t already) the greatest dual threat quarterback of all time as he passed Michael Vick for the most rushing yards by a quarterback all time. Jackson had three total touchdowns today to pair with Derrick Henry’s touchdown and his 147 rushing yards. Everybody got involved today with eight different receivers catching the ball but the real star was Mark Andrews and his 68 yards and touchdown, the long 67 yarder one of Jackson’s MVP plays of today.
But the true star of today was the defense who quietly pitched a shutout as the only points allowed was the safety. The defense made multiple fourth down stops including a goal line stop with a massive Ar’Darius Washington hit. Kyle Hamilton had a pick and the defense had five sacks from five different players including Kyle Van Noy extending his double digit season and Odafe Oweh who’s now one away from his own. The defense is coming together and looks better every single week since that first Pittsburgh game.
This sure beats Antonio Brown on Christmas, right? — Zach Canter