A dream of a season came to a nightmarish end Saturday evening in Baltimore.
Overwhelmed by the Ravens' pass rush, Texans quarterback CJ Stroud hardly had a chance.
While DeMeco Ryans’ defense threw everything they could at Lamar Jackson in the first half, blitzing him more than they had any quarterback all season and sacking him three times, Jackson and first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken responded with a combination of a lethal quick-pass game and a strong and steady attack on the ground.
Relentless Ravens
Despite not taking a sack in the game, Stroud was pressured by a suffocating Ravens defensive line on seven of his 14 drop backs in the first half alone, compared to just eight pressures in last weekend's 45-14 Wild Card victory over the Browns.
Stroud finished 19-33 for 175 yards and his second-lowest quarterback rating (72.2) of his rookie season.
The Texans offensive line was no match for the Ravens defensive line. The pressure generated on Stroud was overwhelming and very similar to what the Ravens dialed up in their week one 25-9 victory over the Texans.
Jackson unfazed by pressure
The Texans did try and throw everything at Lamar Jackson in the first half, but it simply wasn’t sustainable for 60 minutes.
According to NextGenStats, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson faced a career-high 75% blitz rate. However, Jackson adjusted nicely. Despite throwing for just 52 yards in the first half, Jackson ran for 50 yards, including two runs of at least 15-yards.
For the game, Jackson completed 13 of his 18 passes against the blitz for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Monken dialed up the quick-pass game in the second half as Jackson was able to get rid of the ball extremely quickly. In fact, according to NextGenStats, he got rid of the ball more than a full second quicker against the blitz in the second half (2.25 seconds) compared to the first half (3.51).
The Texans only pressured Jackson once on 11 drop backs in the second half.
The presumptive league MVP finished the game competing 16 of his 22 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson also ran it 11 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
Texans couldn’t get out of their own way
All due credit to the Ravens for a relentless display defensively. But as good as the defense was, the Texans didn’t do themselves any favors.
Fortunate to be tied 10-10 at halftime, after multiple self-inflicted wounds, incurring eight penalties that cost them 50 yards, including four false starts and a delay of game penalty within the first 30 minutes of play, the Texans offense was bailed out by a 50-yard field from Ka’imi Fairbairn and a 67-yard punt return from Steven Sims.
Fairbairn missed a 47-yard field goal attempt that would’ve given the Texans a 13-10 lead with :32 seconds remaining in the half. Losing the game by 24-points, it’s hard to go back and say a mere three points would’ve made much of a difference, but at the time that missed opportunity hurt because it would’ve given the Texans the lead at the break and a little momentum, knowing the Ravens were going to get the ball to start the third quarter.
Second half was a blur
The Texans lost the time of possession battle by a wide margin. The Ravens controlled the ball 37:35 to the Texans 22:25, in large part due to the Texans anemic offense and their inability to dial up the quick pass game or run the ball even remotely as well as they had in recent weeks.
After a 37-yard kick return to begin the half, the Ravens made it look easy, needing just five plays to score a touchdown and take the lead for good. Needing to answer, the Texans couldn’t capitalize on the ensuing drive as a nine-play 32-yard drive that took 5:38 off the clock stalled.
It got real ugly after that.
The Texans next offensive possession was bookended by two more Ravens touchdowns, that took a combined 14:13 off of the game clock. Baltimore scored on every possession in the second half, including three touchdowns and a field goal.
Jackson and the Ravens flexed their muscle and dominated the Texans in the second half. Meanwhile, a Texans team that crashed the party this regular season, winning the AFC South and brought a level of excitement back to the city for the first time in years, at least has some direction and a strong foundation from which to build upon starting this offseason.