'Dialed It Up!' Lamar, Ravens Overcome 'Slow' First Half to Dominate Houston
The Baltimore Ravens were rusty on Saturday night ... for about two quarters. After that, it was lights out.
The Ravens dominated the visiting Houston Texans to the tune of a 34-10 beating in the Divisional round of the playoffs on Saturday, pulling away from a 10-10 deadlock at the intermission to advance to the AFC championship game for the first time in Lamar Jackson's tenure as the team's quarterback.
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The first half of play on Saturday wasn't elite by Baltimore's standards, but the MVP-favorite Jackson proceeded to light the Texans defense on fire after halftime, finishing the day with over 100 yards both through the air and on the ground, finding the end zone a total of four times.
He admits that the Ravens were rusty in the first half, mainly because of a restful couple of weeks leading up to this game, but the second half was a different story.
"We had the bye week, but we still stayed locked-in, focused," Jackson said postgame on ESPN. "We haven't been in a game atmosphere for a week, it just started off slow in the first half, but the second half, we dialed it up and started connecting."
Maybe the first half wasn't up to the Ravens' standards, but if a 24-point win over a legitimate playoff team like the Texans is defined as "slow," it's clear that Baltimore has its sights set on a championship and executing at an elite level for 60 minutes.
Lamar Jackson will finally get to play in an AFC title game after a rocky start to his postseason career since he was drafted in 2019. What's he most looking forward to next week when the Ravens host either the Chiefs or Bills?
"Playing in it," Jackson said. "Just playing. Just getting out there on that field, and we're going to go from there."
He's certainly waited long enough for this moment. Now, he just wants to capitalize on it, and "rust" and "slow starts" should not be an issue for him next Sunday.
