'A Lot of Cursing!' Lamar Jackson's Big Moment? Fiery Halftime Speech in Baltimore Ravens Playoff Win
Never mind sticks and stones ... words certainly hurt the Houston Texans on Saturday evening at M&T Bank Stadium.
Lamar Jackson's Saturday statistical showing will already go down in Baltimore Ravens lore, as four touchdowns, two each of the aerial and ground variety, paved the way to a 34-10 victory over the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional playoff. The win placed Baltimore one step closer to Super Bowl LVIII and granted Jackson his first ticket to the AFC Championship Game, which the Ravens will host next Sunday.
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Jackson's impact was on prominent display in a second half that rendered a 10-10 intermission tie mostly forgotten, guiding the Ravens to 236 yards of offense and 24 unanswered points on their four drives over the latter half-hour.
But his finest hour might've come not on M&T Bank Stadium's field, but rather in its locker room: asked for the biggest difference between the halves in the aftermath, Jackson admitted that he engaged in a speech that might've been more appropriate for HBO rather than game broadcaster ESPN.
"It would be inappropriate if I said it right here," Jackson said, per Clifton Brown of the Ravens' official site. "(It had) a lot of cursing."
Jackson was able to laugh about it in the end but there was nothing funny about Baltimore's first-half performance.
The Ravens allowed four sacks of Jackson and let a young Texans group with nothing to lose linger for far too long than was comfortable, as evidenced by the 10-all tie on the scoreboard. Jackson was particularly displeased with the way he and the Baltimore offense left their defenders out to dry, as the latter kept the high-octane deep-ball antics of CJ Stroud and Co. under control.
Houston's sole touchdown came on a punt return runback for Steven Sims, one that no doubt invoked painful memories of trailing the Tennessee Titans at halftime in M&T Bank Stadium's last postseason staging. The Baltimore defense let up only 300 yards in that game but fell by a 28-12 final thanks in part to three Jackson turnovers. Jackson was determined not to let it happen again and reminded his teammates about the game's sizzling stakes.
"Our defense was playing lights out, but we're not responding. So, we just had to dial in at halftime," Jackson recalled, per Powell. "It means a lot for your (offensive coordinator) to trust in you to be out there and putting our team in a great situation. That's all I need, and we're going to go from there."
The faith from offensive overseer Todd Monken was well-rewarded, as Jackson permanently flipped momentum on Baltimore's first drive of the second half.
Set up handsomely at the cusp of midfield thanks to a solid return from Devin Duvernay, Jackson was responsible for all 55 yards of the ensuing drive, earning the last 15 with his legs en route to six points.
With the defense keeping up its solid play - allowing only 58 yards in the second half - the Ravens enjoyed a comfortable victory and now await the winner of Sunday's tilt between Buffalo and Kansas City to join them next weekend.
While Ravens fans certainly hope it's usurped by the time this postseason run is all said and done, Saturday stands as Jackson's signature performance. Teammates, however, couldn't get enough of his verbal showing in the locker room, impressive as his outing on the turf was.
“I hear the message, not the words,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “I know what he’s trying to say. He’s a competitive player, wears his heart on his sleeve. He’ll say a lot of stuff. I know what he’s trying to get at. We know what he wants, and that’s just to win.”
“There’s something in him right now,” Nelson Agholor, a catcher of one of Jackson's two aerial scores, added. "It’s been in him all year, but there’s something really in him right now, and I’m with it. I’m with it.”
