2024 NFL Playoffs Divisional Round: Ravens Dominate Texans – Mahomes vs. Allen Rivalry

2024-01-21 00:50:00

NFL Playoffs, Divisional Round: Baltimore Ravens dominate Houston Texans – Mahomes vs. Allen goes into the next round

By Stefan Petri

Sunday, January 21, 2024 | 01:50 am

The Baltimore Ravens impressively confirmed their position as favorites with a clear win over the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. In Detroit the fairy tale will continue for one of the two outsiders. And then there’s the biggest rivalry in the league right now between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

This is what the 2024 NFL Playoffs schedule looks like

• Wildcard Round: January 13th to 16th, 2024
• Divisional Round: January 20 and 21, 2024
• Championship Sunday: 28. Januar 2023
• Super Bowl LVII: February 11, 2023

NFL Playoffs: Divisional Round

Saturday, January 20, 10:30 p.m

Baltimore Ravens – Houston Texans 34:10 (3:3, 7:7, 7:0, 17:0) (BOXSCORE)

• The Ravens struggled for one half, then dominated – and sent an exclamation mark to the competition! Led by a powerful pass rush and a tireless running game (229 yards!), Baltimore clearly prevailed in front of its own audience. Of course, quarterback Lamar Jackson was once again the guarantee for the victory. He not only threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns, but also contributed eleven runs for 100 yards and another two touchdowns in the running game.
• Houston had hope for a sensation until the break: rookie quarterback CJ Stroud made no mistakes and caught the non-existent running game with 131 yards (14 yards in the first half), and Jackson was sacked three times in the first half. A punt return touchdown by Steven Sims over 67 yards provided the touchdown – and so it was only 10:10.
• In the dressing room, Ravens coach John Harbaugh apparently found the right words – and definitely the right tactics. “We got into the game slowly after the week off, but we picked it up in the second half,” explained Jackson. He almost threw an interception in the opposing end zone on the first drive after the break, but ran over the line for a touchdown one play later. The Texans still had virtually no running game, and Stroud had to run away from the pass rush on almost every dropback. Conversely, Jackson now relied on quick passes himself and was unable to be caught even by the many blitzes from the Texans defense.
• With two monster drives lasting over seven minutes each, the Ravens finally gave the visitors a run for their money. By now it was almost all running, but the Texans defense was getting more and more tired and didn’t take advantage of the few opportunities that presented themselves. With his second touchdown run to make it 31:10, Jackson made the final decision with 6:20 minutes left.
• The Ravens will also have home advantage in the AFC Championship Game. The opponent will be determined between the Bills and the Chiefs.

Sunday, January 21st, 2:15 a.m

San Francisco 49ers – Green Bay Packers (BOXSCORE)

• Brock Purdy of the 49ers is the only one of the eight remaining starting quarterbacks who was not drafted in the first round – his story as “Mr. Irrelevant” – the last pick of his draft year – has long been legendary. Although he put up arguably the best stats of any QB this season, many experts doubt how good he really is. On the other hand, with a healthy Purdy, the Niners have yet to lose a playoff game (he was injured in the championship game against the Eagles last year).
• On the other hand, Jordan Love is increasingly reminiscent of his predecessor Aaron Rodgers in his best times. The 48:32 win at the Dallas Cowboys was his first masterpiece – can another one follow? The Packers offense has been humming recently, but the 49ers should be a different caliber.

• Running back Christian McCaffrey was able to practice fully during the week after his calf injury from Week 17. If he manages at least 75 yards, his team will have a 10-1 record this season.
• X factors: The Packers defense is one of the worse against the run; conversely, the Niners managed 74 runs to gain at least ten yards of space in the regular season (1st place). The two head coaches know each other well: Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur worked together in the past at the Falcons, Commanders and Texans. Who will manage to surprise the other with their game plan?
• Prediction: 30:17 49ers

Sunday, January 21st, 9 p.m

Detroit Lions – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (BOXSCORE)

• For one of the two teams, the Cinderella story continues: The Lions won their first playoff game since the 90s last weekend, and nobody gave a damn about the Buccaneers before the season. They already faced each other once in the regular season. The Lions won 20-6 in Tampa in October.
• There could be Amon-Ra St. Brown’s next big game. In the first duel he caught twelve passes for 124 yards. One option for the guests: Cornerback Carlton Davis III in man coverage, with safety help behind him. But it would be more important not to allow passes on St. Brown in the first place.
• Wide receiver Chris Godwin was able to practice on a limited basis during the week but should be there. Together with Mike Evans he will make things difficult for the Lions. Their defense has allowed at least 300 passing yards in each of the last four games.
• X-Factor: Against the Eagles, the Bucs defense blitzed like crazy, with quarterback Jalen Hurts making nearly 54 percent of all dropbacks. Will this continue? Lions QB Jared Goff has his weaknesses against the Lightning: According to Next Gen Stats, no passer rating drops as much against the Lightning as his…
• Prediction: 20:17 Buccaneers

Monday, January 22nd, 12:30 a.m

Buffalo Bills – Kansas City Chiefs (BOXSCORE)

• “Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen” – the new “Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning”? The NFL is definitely promoting the rivalry as much as it can. The two quarterbacks have met six times so far. It’s 3-3, but Mahomes was able to win the two playoff duels with his Chiefs. The difference this time: For the first time, Allen has home advantage in the postseason.
• What will the weather be like in Buffalo on Sunday evening local time? Against the Steelers, fans were asked to shovel snow in the stadium – and the same call was made this week. However, at least on Sunday it shouldn’t snow, with cozy temperatures around freezing point.

• After moving the Steelers game to Monday, the Bills had two days less time to prepare for the game – or recover from the exertions. The Bills’ cornerbacks in particular have been struggling recently. Conversely, this time the Chiefs have running back Isiah Pacheco. He was missing in the Week 14 loss to Buffalo (17:20), but looked really good against the Dolphins with 89 yards and a touchdown.
• X-Factor: Who will win the turnover battle? The Bills defense caused 30 turnovers in the regular season; only two teams had more (Chiefs: 17). Conversely, Josh Allen had 21 turnovers (18 interceptions, 3 lost fumbles) in the regular season alone, seven more than Mahomes.
• Prediction: 27:24 Chiefs after overtime

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