“Ravens crush Texans, move closer to AFC North title.”

“Ravens crush Texans, move closer to AFC North title.”

Beyoncé put on the best show at Christmas in Houston, but the Ravens were a close second.

The Ravens jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their first possession against the Texans and never looked back in a 31-2 win. The win moves them to 11-5 on the year and will make them AFC North champions with a home win over the Browns in Week 18.

As is typical for the Ravens, Lamar Jackson was at the center of the win. Jackson ran for 87 yards, passing Michael Vick and becoming 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 on 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 has seen them achieve great offensive success all season. The win is their third straight setback since the bye week and it seems like they are peaking at the right time with the playoffs just around the corner.

The same cannot be said for the Texans.

Their offense was terrible on Wednesday as quarterback CJ Stroud missed open receivers, threw an interception and took five sacks en route to a scoreless outing. There was a moment when they had a chance to tie the game in the second quarter when they followed a safety with a drive inside the Ravens’ 5-yard line, but running back Joe Mixon was stuffed short of the end zone on fourth down down and Houston never threatened to score again.

Missing pieces due to injury may explain some of the issues, but the offensive woes are nothing new for Houston and their Christmas appearance suggests a short stay in the postseason unless they find a better way to move the ball before the calendar turns to January.

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