Knee-Jerk Reactions: Ravens Adjust, Overwhelm Texans 34-10

The Baltimore Ravens won their divisional round playoff game over the visiting Houston Texans, 34-10. They will host the winner of Buffalo/Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game.

Derek Arnold

The Ravens had us nervous as hell in the first half. It looked like another playoff game where they were going to blow it by making stupid mistakes (a punt return TD), and being thoroughly out-coached. For some reason, Todd Monken had no answers for the Houston blitz, and after taking a 10-3 lead, the offense could do absolutely nothing. The punt return was a long time coming from a unit that has been iffy all season.

But.

Whatever happened in that halftime locker room was exactly what the doctor ordered. Unlike Marty Mornhinweg and Greg Roman before him, Todd Monken adjusted beautifully on the fly, and the result was an absolutely dominant second half. Three long touchdown drives where it ended up being Houston who had no answers. Blitz, and Lamar was finding the quick hitters. Sit back, and he had all day to find Rashod Bateman for a huge gain. Dalvin Cook showed some juice.

The defense, though they didn’t force a turnover or record a sack, pressured C.J. Stroud all day, and gave Devin Singletary nowhere to go except for one 16-yard scamper. They allowed only a single field goal (another attempt was missed), so don’t forget that when looking at the final score. Houston’s feared deep shots were nowhere to be found.

Big ups to the crowd at M&T Bank Stadium! The Texans offense was all out of sorts, and the Flock had a lot to do with it.

First AFC Championship Game in Baltimore since 1971. Let’s. Go.

(P.S. Justin Tucker saw the tweets a few months ago.)

Darin McCann

In retrospect, this one makes all the sense in the world.

The Ravens came out looking a little rusty, especially on offense, but a great defense and some splash plays on offense got them to the half tied, despite giving up a punt return for a touchdown. They made adjustments, the offense got its legs back and the better team pulled away for a dominant win to move to the AFC Championship.

Lamar Jackson had easily the best playoff performance of his career, the offensive line took control of things in the second half, and the defense showed, yet again, that it will be a problem for whoever the Ravens face going forward.

Big-time win.

Kevin McNelis

Flock, give yourselves a pat on the back. The Bank was deafening tonight, and it created the most hostile of environments. Pre-snap penalties killed the momentum for the Texans on multiple occasions, and Baltimore’s defense and run game did the rest. What little life Houston had from the punt return TD was snuffed out by a solid performance from LJ8, who went off in the second half.

There was plenty not to like about that first half, including the score going into the locker room and a major flub on special teams, but credit to Todd Monken making major adjustments. In years past, there would’ve been little hope that the offense could rebound from that kind of start, but they BURIED the Texans D coming out of the locker room.

I’ve got to acknowledge the fight from Houston and DeMeco Ryans. That’s going to be a hell of a young team for years to come, and they’ll be a real postseason threat.

Just not this year.

Enjoy this night, Flock, and rest up those vocal cords. You’ll need them for the AFC Championship.

Rob Shields

Lamar has to be feeling good after this one. He played so well.

But the game balls go to Monken and MacDonald. MacDonald put on a clinic today and Monken’s halftime adjustments were huge.

Predictably, the team started off slow but Monken made the needed adjustment of getting the ball out of Lamar’s hands quicker and not having so many long developing plays which was allowing the Texans pass rush to effect the game plan.

It’s so refreshing to have coordinators like this.

Now you get Andrews back in all likelihood, hope that Humphrey can practice and play and get to host an AFC title game for the first time in 53 years.

Chad Racine

First half kept fans on their toes, then the best team in the league showed up. All the ridiculous narratives about Lamar should be squashed away. However, no matter what he does there will still be doubters and haters that refuse to admit they were wrong.

Ravens fans knew how good this defense has been and another stellar performance again tonight. C.J Stroud with zero touchdowns. Even if the offense struggles, this defense is going to keep the Ravens in every game.

Lamar started off slowly but once the second half came around he went into MVP form. The adjustments were made to some quicker passing and everything clicked.  The ball was spread out to different players and the run game was also in full force.

This team is different than the 2019 team, most believers have said that. Now, the Ravens have proven that.

Chris Schisler

The Ravens survived some first half rust and got the job done. The Ravens defense really only gave up a field goal. The Texans lone touchdown came on special teams. The offense found a groove in the second half.

That’s the story of the game. The second half. The Ravens went into the half tied at 10. They completely dominated the second half. They adjusted. They figured it out. Wow. That’s what championship teams do.

Brennan Stewart

A near perfect second half performance from Baltimore to seal the win, with its first three possessions resulting in touchdowns. Such a refreshing sight to see given this team’s experiences with fourth quarter collapses earlier in the year. The defense remained calm, cool and collected despite giving up some serious yardage at the end of the first half, and offensively Baltimore surpassed 200 rushing yards for the third time this season. So much to be satisfied about. My unsung hero nominee is Justin Tucker who had a perfect game with two field goals and four extra points while the wind hit speeds up to 15 mph.

Safe to say the Ravens are much better now than they were in 2019, bringing on confidence for success in a home game against either Kansas City or Buffalo. Baltimore is set to host its first AFC Championship game since 1971, and seeing how the decibel counter worked miracles tonight, it’s a serious advantage.

Jared Pinder

The tale of two halves for this team. It was a disaster for the offense and it looked like another disappointing game. Than the second half happened and an adjustment was made. Monken cooked in the second half and the running game got going.

I have run out of things to say about Mike Mac and his defense; they are sick. They held Stroud down all game and pressured the life out of him.

The real MVP was the fan base today. That stadium was rocking and loud today and affected the Texans’ offensive line.

Now we have to wait to see if the Bills or Chiefs will be coming into Baltimore.

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