Takeaways from Ravens-Texans playoff game: Lamar Jackson has his big playoff performance

The Baltimore Ravens are moving on to the AFC Championship game after a dominant 34-10 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday afternoon. 

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson delivered an MVP-worthy performance on offense, while the Ravens defense completely shut down rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Texans offense.

Here are three takeaways from the Ravens' big win.  

1. Lamar Jackson has a signature playoff performance

The big narrative coming into Saturday's game for the Ravens was the fact they were only 1-3 in the playoffs with Lamar Jackson as their starting quarterback while his passer rating had dropped 30 points from his career regular season performance (from 98 in the regular season down to 68 in the playoffs).

Well, Jackson and the Ravens put all of that to rest on Saturday.

Jackson was not perfect, but it was by far the best playoff game he has played in his career finishing the day by going 16-for-22 with 152 yards, two touchdown passes, 100 yards rushing, two rushing touchdowns and most importantly, zero turnovers. 

Not only did Jackson have very pedestrian numbers in his playoff career overall, he had thrown more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (three) in his postseason career going into Saturday. He needed a game like this, and he delivered in a big way. Now he has the Ravens back in the AFC Championship game for the first time since the 2012 season and is just one win away from reaching his first Super Bowl. 

The Ravens will host the winner of Sunday's Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs game next Sunday.

2. Texans made huge mistake before game even began

Houston did not do much right on Saturday, and its mistakes began before the opening kickoff. 

The Texans won the toss, and instead of deferring their decision to the second half they decided to take the football and try to send a message with their offense.

Instead, they went three-and-out, gave the ball to Baltimore and allowed the Ravens to march down the field for a 53-yard Justin Tucker field goal to open the scoring. That decision would loom large in the second half. The Texans had managed to wrestle all of the momentum away from Baltimore in the second quarter and went into the half with a 10-10 game. But because of their decision to take the opening kickoff, Baltimore got the football to start the third quarter. That was when the game completely flipped in Baltimore's favor. A big kickoff return out toward mid-field gave the Ravens prime field position and resulted in a go-ahead touchdown on a Jackson run just a few plays later.

Baltimore never let up after that and took complete control of the game.

Would the game have gone differently if Houston started the second half with the ball? Maybe not. But there is no denying what it did for the Ravens. 

3. Ravens defense is dominant

As impressive as the Ravens offense was on Saturday, the defense was the real story. They were dominant in every sense of the word, completely shutting down the Texans' running game and constantly pressuring Stroud. They did not sack him, but he was never comfortable in the pocket and constantly trying to scramble to make plays on the run. It did not work.

The Ravens finished the regular season with the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL and they looked the part on Saturday.

The only points Houston managed came on a 51-yard field goal and a 76-yard punt return by Steven Sims. Other than that, the Texans offense was non-existent. 

Even more impressive for Baltimore is it did that without the services of one of its top cornerbacks, Marlon Humphrey.

With that defense the Ravens are going to be a really difficult team to knock out this postseason if Jackson plays the way he did on Saturday.