The Texans have never been past the divisional round. To go to their first, they’ll have to get past the heavily favored Ravens in their home stadium.
BALTIMORE — The Houston Texans were among the biggest longshots to make the Super Bowl going into the season. Now they’re two wins away from getting there. Behind rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans, rookie quarterback CJ Stroud and rookie defensive star WIll Anderson Jr., the the franchise has seen a worst-to-first turnaround in the AFC South and won their first playoff game since the 2019 season.
Now, they’re in position to make it to the AFC championship game for the first time in franchise history. To get there, the’ll have to get past the No. 1 seed Ravens in Baltimore in a rematch of the season opener. In that first game, Baltimore beat Houston, 25-9. The Ravens are also an 8.5-point favorite today according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Baltimore had a bye last week and gets a red-hot Texans team coming off three straight wins, including last weekend’s 45-14 rout of the Cleveland Browns.
Getting to the AFC championship game would be a milestone for whichever team wins today. Baltimore (13-4) and Houston (11-7) are the two youngest franchises in the league, although their cities had other teams previously, according to the Associated Press. The Ravens have won two Super Bowls, but Baltimore hasn’t hosted an AFC title game since January of 1971, when the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders.
The Texans have never been to an AFC championship game. The’ve made it to the divisional round four times, losing all four, including a loss to Baltimore in January of 2012. The city’s been there before, but not for a while. The old Houston Oilers played in the conference championship 44 years ago, losing to the PIttsburgh Steelers.
KHOU 11’s Zack Tawatari has the keys to the game.
During the game, we’ll keep updates and post highlights on this page.
First half highlights and updates
Houston went three-and-out on their opening drive. Baltimore drove the first time they got the ball, taking an early 3-0 lead on a Justin Tucker 53-yard field goal.
On the next drive, Stroud had the Texans moving, including this Stroud to Singletary play on third and eight.
Houston tied it up at 3 on a Ka’imi Fairbairn 50-yard field goal.
The Ravens found paydirt shortly after the start of the second quarter. Lamar Jackson found Nelson Agholor.
Houston tied it up on this punt return by Steven Sims!
Houston had a chance to take the lead, but Fairbairn was off-target on a 47-yard field goal attempt.
Second half highlights and updates
Baltimore took the lead back with this Lamar Jackson touchdown run on the first drive of the second half.
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