The Baltimore Ravens are in the AFC Championship Game for the first time in eleven years. In the Divisional Playoffs, John Harbaugh’s team defeats the Houston Texans thanks to a strong second half

The Baltimore Ravens have reached the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 2012 with a win against the Houston Texans.

Lamar Jackson was the celebrated hero with a total of four touchdowns in the 34-10 (10-10) win in the Divisional Playoffs.

Driven by 70,000 frenzied fans at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the Ravens defense dominated the game at first.

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud – who had 274 yards, three touchdowns and an almost perfect passer rating of 157.2 in the Wild Card Round against the Cleveland Browns – did not complete a pass of more than ten yards until 14 minutes into the game. The rookie ended up with 165 yards and a 56 percent pass rate.

The running game was even worse: Devin Singletary and Co. only managed 14 yards on the ground in the first half.

The Ravens also had their problems offensively at first. But in the second quarter, the best team of the regular season (13-4) got rolling. Gus Edwards, who had 13 touchdowns in the regular season, ran for important first downs. Nelson Agholor caught a pinpoint Jackson pass for the first touchdown of the game – 10-3.

Texans carry Ravens punt for touchdown

Then the bang: Steven Sims carried a Ravens punt 67 yards back into the end zone.

A play that visibly shocked the Ravens: The offense had to go down three times in a row after three plays, the defense let the Texans into field goal range shortly before the break. But Ka’imi Fairbairn missed from 47 yards – the score was 10:10 going into the break.

The Ravens got off to the perfect start in the second half: Jackson led his team 55 yards down the field on the first drive and finished it off with a 23-yard touchdown run – 17:10.

Baltimore then took more and more control of the game. The defense stifled Stroud, while the offensive running game became more and more effective through Edwards, Justice Hill and especially Jackson: The quarterback ended up with exactly 100 rushing yards, the Ravens a total of 229.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Jackson found tight end Isaiah Likely with a beautiful lob pass in the end zone after a 93-yard drive – touchdown, 24:10.

With just over six minutes remaining, the quarterback reached the end zone on foot for the second time – 31:10. Justin Tucker added a field goal to make the final score 34:10.

Ravens in AFC final against Bills or Chiefs

The Ravens will host the winner of the Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills game in the AFC final next Sunday (at 0:30 in the live ticker) – the first AFC Championship Game in Baltimore since 1971.

But the eliminated Texans also have a bright future with Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate Stroud