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Lamar Jackson gets all the attention, and he should. He’s about to be a two-time NFL MVP.
He’s also not the only reason the Baltimore Ravens are a win away from the Super Bowl. Ask the Houston Texans’ offense.
The best thing the Ravens could do to take pressure off of Jackson, who has yet to break through with a long postseason run, was to make sure he didn’t need to do it all. Jackson had a big second half on Saturday. The Ravens defense wasn’t going to let the Texans win anyway.
Houston struggled to get any run game going, star rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud didn’t hit many big plays and the Texans offense was held out of the end zone in a 34-10 Ravens win. Baltimore, the No. 1 seed in the AFC, moves on to the conference championship game. They’ll host the winner of Sunday’s Kansas City Chiefs-Buffalo Bills game. The Ravens aren’t unbeatable, but they looked like the best team in football on Saturday.
Much of the narrative surrounding the Ravens’ great season has been Jackson, and that started to shift from his stellar regular season to old criticisms about his postseason resume. Jackson played well on Saturday, particularly in the second half. But the Ravens’ defense was the real star. That’s what transforms the Ravens from a team with an incredible quarterback to one that could win a Super Bowl.
Ravens defense has a big day
The Ravens are used to having great defenses. This defense is a bit different than ones from the Ed Reed/Ray Lewis era.
There are some very good players on the Ravens’ defense but not many obvious superstars. What sums up the Ravens’ defense is they don’t have one elite pass rusher like a Myles Garrett or T.J. Watt, yet led the NFL with 60 sacks.
The Ravens are very good at linebacker — a trade for inside linebacker Roquan Smith during last season transformed their defense — and safety Kyle Hamilton’s versatility allows the defense to do a lot of different things. Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald had an excellent season. That’s a reason…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lamar-jackson-shines-but-dont-ignore-ravens-defensive-brilliance-in-win-over-texans-003741483.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-01-21 00:37:41
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