HOUSTON – The Baltimore Ravens are now just one win away from repeating as AFC North champions.

Thanks to a relentless offensive attack and a dominant defense, the Ravens are in control of their division’s fate after defeating the Houston Texans 31-2 on Christmas Day. It was an embarrassing performance for the Texans, who failed to score a touchdown despite a sluggish offensive performance.

With one week left in the regular season, Baltimore (11-5) has a one-game lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6), who lost 29-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs the previous Wednesday.

The Ravens finish the season next week at home against the last-place Cleveland Browns. Baltimore controlled the game with 251 yards rushing, using the combination of the powerful running of Derrick Henry (147 yards) and the speed of quarterback Lamar Jackson (87 yards).

It was a record-setting day for Jackson, who surpassed Michael Vick as the NFL’s all-time leading rushing quarterback.

The Ravens’ defense pounded Texas quarterback CJ Stroud and produced five sacks and one interception. Baltimore would have recorded its first shutout since October 2018 had Henry not been at safety in the second quarter.

Here are the keys from the game:

Promising trend: The Ravens scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time in 12 weeks. As Henry capped the 75-yard drive, he scored his 16th touchdown on a 2-yard run, setting the Ravens’ single-season record. This also ended a four-game touchdown drought for Henry, the third-longest of his career.

Key game: The Ravens stopped Texas running back Joe Mixon short of the end zone on fourth down in the second quarter. With Baltimore leading 10-2, Baltimore safety Ar’Darius Washington took a hit on Mixon, knocking him to the ground at the Ravens’ 1-yard line and stopping Houston’s momentum. This was the fourth consecutive four-and-goal stop for the Ravens this season. Baltimore then drove 99 yards for a touchdown, which ended with Jackson’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely. Jackson managed to gain 8.4 seconds from the throw, which was his second-longest time to throw for a touchdown this season.

Amazing statistics: Jackson reached a top speed of 21.25 mph on a 48-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. According to Next Gen Stats, this is the highest top speed of Jackson’s seven-year career. It is the second-fastest top speed by a quarterback this season, trailing only Arizona’s Kyler Murray (21.27 mph). — Jamison Hensley

Next game: vs. Browns (January 5, TBD)

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In a test to prove whether they can hang with the AFC’s best, the Texans came up flat against the Ravens and didn’t do anything good. They allowed Henry to rush for 147 yards and a touchdown. They also gave up a 48-yard rushing touchdown and two passing touchdowns to Jackson, who had a 143 passer rating. Houston’s rushing attack was nonexistent with 58 total yards, while Stroud had a subpar performance totaling 185 passing yards with one interception. He recorded five sacks and it was the first time in Stroud’s career that he scored zero points.

The Texans are now 1-5 against winning teams this season heading into the playoffs. Their only win against a winning team came in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills. On the bright side, the Texans will still make the playoffs after beating the AFC South.

Describe the game in two words: No fight. The Texans were physically dominated from the start, allowing the Ravens to rush for 115 yards in the first quarter, the most the Texans have given up in a first quarter this season. Houston couldn’t muster any energy for the rest of the game.

QB breakdown: This was perhaps the most disappointing performance of Stroud’s NFL career. Offensively, star wideouts Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell are missing, but Stroud missed eight shots, his second-most shots this season. He also failed to score any points on offense for the first time in his young career.

Biggest gap in the game plan: Missing two of his best receivers, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik gave Mixon just nine carries while Stroud had 36 dropbacks. In the first half, with the Texans down 10-0 and the game still within reach, Slowik had a 13-play stretch in which he caught 12 pass plays.

Forecast for next week: The Texans starters only play one quarter against the Tennessee Titans. Houston is a No. 4 seed, so there’s little incentive for the Texans to play the starter long in Week 18. It’s not worth risking key players getting hurt, especially when safety Jimmie Ward, nickel safety Jalen Pitre, Diggs and Dell are already out for the season. — DJ Bien Aime

Next game: at Titans (January 5th, TBD)