Baltimore vs. Houston
Jackson Throws 4 Touchdown Passes, Ravens Crush Texans 41-7 for Second-Straight Blowout Win
The battle between young, dynamic quarterbacks leading first-place teams got a lot of publicity leading into this game between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens, but Lamar Jackson lived up to the hype while Deshaun Watson did not. The result of Jackson's four-touchdown performance was a 41-7 Ravens rout of Houston for their sixth-straight victory and second blowout in as many weeks.
Jackson was 17-for-24 from the air for 222 yards, four TDs, and no interceptions to go along with 79 rushing yards in the victory. Gus Edwards ran for 112 yards and a touchdown, Mark Andrews continued his stellar season with 75 receiving yards and a score, and Mark Ingram II caught two touchdowns in the win. Defensively, Houston didn't score until the fourth quarter when it was 34-0 in favor of the Ravens. Josh Bynes intercepted Watson, Jaylon Ferguson recovered a fumble, and the Baltimore defense sacked Watson seven times, including a pair each from Matthew Judon and Tyus Bowser.
Adding it all up, it was the definition of a dominant team victory for the Ravens (8-2), something head coach John Harbaugh says comes with proper execution.
"You kind of think more about how you're going to try to operate from one play to the next and what the process is going to be," Harbaugh told reporters. "So in that sense, it did play out the way we hoped it would in a lot of ways."
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Houston (6-4) came into the game as winners of four out of their last five games and had extra time to prepare coming off their bye week, but after a scoreless first quarter, things didn't work out at all for the Texans.
"We didn't start well offensively, and it gave Jackson time," Texans head coach Bill O'Brien said after the game. "We didn't adjust. Once he got going, he got going."
For Watson, this is one of those games that a quarterback needs to put behind them as quickly as possible.
"They executed; we didn't execute. That's it," Watson said. "Flush it and move it forward."
As Jackson is piling up the accolades on what is becoming a special first full-season in the NFL, he was most impressed by one statistic: he's the first Ravens player in franchise history to have two four-touchdown pass games in a single season, after accomplishing the feat in Week 1 at Miami.
"I like that stat," Jackson said. "I'd rather throw [touchdowns] than run them."
Despite preferring to throw touchdowns, Jackson had another highlight-reel run to add to his sparkling resume (even though it did not result in a score)—a 39-yard run where he weaved through the Texans secondary and broke six tackles. The run reminded many of last week's 47-yard touchdown run as part of last week's 49-13 rout of the Bengals in Cincinnati.
"I haven't seen anything quite like it—since last week," quipped Harbaugh.
Much of Edwards' production came on a 63-yard run for the final score with 4:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the head coach is still impressed with the way that the second-year running back has become a force in the multi-pronged rushing attack the team has developed.
"He has a very big role on our team. He takes it seriously, and he wants to produce too," Harbaugh said. "He wants to make these big runs… He's stepped up to the plate very well every time he's been out there."
Baltimore dominated in total yardage 491-232 and in time of possession 36:19-23:41.
GAME RECAP
The Ravens defense set the tone early when Judon sacked Watson, causing a fumble that was recovered by Ferguson. Baltimore wasn't able to convert this good fortune into points, however, when Justin Tucker's 43-yard field goal attempt hit the upright and bounced away for his first field goal miss of the season.
Both teams then turned the ball over on downs—Houston throwing incomplete on fourth and 2 from the Ravens 33-yard line and then Baltimore then failing to convert on a fake field goal attempt from the Texans' 37.
After a punt, Baltimore began their next drive on their own 10-yard line but was able to drive 90 yards for the first score of the game, punctuated by a Jackson touchdown pass to Seth Roberts for 15 yards to make it 7-0 Ravens.
Jackson threw his second touchdown pass of the half on the next drive when he found Andrews for an 18-yard completion for his sixth TD catch of the season to put the score at 14-0 at halftime.
The Ravens wasted no time adding to the lead in the second half, as Baltimore took the opening kickoff and only needed seven plays to go 78 yards to the end zone, with the last 25 coming on a Jackson pass to Ingram to make it 21-0.
Tucker hit field goals of 34 and 46 yards on the following two Baltimore drives to make it 27-0 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Texans turned it over on downs once again, handing it to Jackson, who engineered another scoring drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ingram to make it 34-0 in favor of the hosts at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Texans finally broke through on the next drive, as Carlos Hyde broke free for a 41-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 34-7. Robert Griffin III then entered the game for Jackson, and Edwards was able to one-up Hyde's run on the following drive with his 63-yard score to put the tally to the 41-7 final.
UP NEXT
The Ravens head to the west coast for the second time in five weeks when they visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. The defending NFC champions are 6-4 after a win today over the Chicago Bears.
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