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The Houston Texans will continue their improbable run this season as they travel to Baltimore to take on the AFC's #1 seed Baltimore Ravens. The two teams met in week one with the Ravens coming away with a 25-9 victory but a lot has changed in 18 weeks. The Texans opened the playoffs with a resounding 45-14 win over the favored Cleveland Browns and now set their sights on a Ravens team that earned a bye over Wildcard Weekend. The opening kick for this divisional-round matchup is set for 4:30 PM EST on Saturday.
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Head Coach Demeco Ryans, rookie quarterback CJ Stroud, and the Houston Texans as a team were not supposed to be here. Ryans, in his first year as a head coach, wasn't supposed to be able to turn things around this quickly for a Texans team that won just three games last season. Stroud, the rookie quarterback who was the second quarterback picked in the draft, wasn't supposed to be so poised in the pocket and play at an elite level so soon. The Texans weren't supposed to gel this quickly and go from three wins to an AFC South Division title. Heading into last week's wildcard matchup with the Browns, the Texans were once again overlooked, coming in as a home dog to the Browns. CJ Stroud and the Texans' defense had other ideas, however. Stroud became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game while throwing for three touchdowns and the Texans returned two interceptions for touchdowns to blow out the Browns 45-14 last Sa turday.
“C.J. is the reason why we’re in this position,” coach Ryans said. “He’s special, a special young man. Special player. Continues to shine no matter how big the moment is. Our whole team is leaning on him and he has the shoulders to carry that weight.”
RUN IT BACK 4??8?? pic.twitter.com/eIDxP7luCH
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 18, 2024
The Texans and Stroud are a different team than the one that faced the Ravens in week one. Still, even in his first NFL start in that game, Stroud didn't throw a pick and had the Texans in the game until the third quarter against the AFC's #1 seed. They won the turnover battle in the game 2-1 and the yards per play between the two teams was close with the Ravens averaging 5.9 yards per play and the Texans checking in with 5.5 yards per play.
Thus far on the season, the Texans are 11th in the NFL in scoring offense. They are just 29th in rushing but keep in mind that RB Devin Singletary is averaging 4.5 yards per carry over the last several weeks and missed the first matchup. The Texans are sixth in passing this season behind Stroud. In perhaps the most important statistic, the Texans are first in the NFL in giveaways per game. Stroud has not made big mistakes this season and the offense rarely hurts itself. They won the turnover battle against the Browns last week as well.
Defensively, the Texans have taken to the teachings of Ryans very well. They are second in the NFL against the run, after finishing near the bottom last season. The Texans are 24th against the pass although they are have allowed less passing yards per game on the road than at home this season and are sixth in the NFL against the pass over the last month of the season. The Texans have been middle-of-the-road in terms of takeaways this season, ranked 14th in the NFL.
Key Injuries: WR J.Metchie III (foot), DT M.Collins (hip), LB B.Cashman (knee), DE J.Greenard (ankle), DE W.Anderson Jr. (ankle), DT S.Rankins (ribs), FB A.Beck (back), WR R.Woods (hip), OT L.Tunsil (leg), DE J.Hughes (ankle) are all questionable.
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