Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are going to the AFC Championship Game.
Baltimore fans have longed to hear those words, and they finally did on Saturday after the Ravens defeated the Houston Texans 34-10 in the AFC divisional round.
The Ravens return to the AFC title game for the first time since 2012. They'll host the game for the first time in franchise history, facing the winner of the No. 2 Buffalo Bills and No. 3 Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. It's the first AFC Championship Game in the city of Baltimore since the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders in January 1971.
Here are some of the winners and losers from the Ravens' win over the Texans.
Winner: Lamar Jackson
The two-time All-Pro quarterback and former MVP is finally headed to the NFL's Final Four, at least temporarily silencing those who have been critical of his postseason resume.
Entering Saturday, Lamar Jackson had a 1-3 record as a playoff starter, had never advanced beyond the divisional round, and had more career postseason turnovers with seven (five interceptions and two fumbles) than career postseason touchdowns with four (three passing and one rushing).
NFL
As a rookie, Jackson and the Ravens lost his postseason debut at home 23-17 to the Los Angeles Chargers. In his MVP sophomore season, Jackson guided the Ravens to a 14-2 record before turning the ball over three times in a 28-12 divisional round loss to the Tennessee Titans. When he last played in the postseason in 2021, Jackson earned his first career playoff win with a victory over the Titans but then threw a critical pick-6 in a 17-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
After missing the Ravens' wild-card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last season, the 27-year-old Jackson returned to postseason on Saturday and ran for two touchdowns and threw for another.
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The Ravens scored more than 20 points in a postseason game for the first time in his career - including the first first-quarter playoff points of his career.
Jackson's first touchdown pass of the day was a three-yard pass to Nelson Agholor for a 10-3 Ravens lead in the second quarter. Jackson later gave the Ravens the lead for good when he capped a six-play, 55-yard drive with a 15-yard rushing touchdown for a 17-10 advantage with 12:04 left in the third quarter. He connected with Isaiah Likely for a 15-yard touchdown pass to increase the lead to 24-10 early in the fourth.
He then sealed the victory with an eight-yard touchdown run that officially punched his ticket to the AFC Championship Game.
Jackson completed 16 of 22 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
Jackson became the fifth player in NFL history with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a playoff game.
Loser: The Houston Texans' divisional round record
The Houston Texans simply cannot be considered losers after the season they had.
One season after going 3-13-1, the Texans became the first team in NFL history to win the division with a rookie quarterback and rookie head coach. They then became the fourth team to ever win a playoff game with that rookie duo.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud and coach DeMarco Ryans were unable to take the Texans to the franchise's first AFC Championship Game, as the team fell to 0-5 all-time in the divisional round, but the team is positioned for many more opportunities in the near future.
Winner: The Ravens defense
The Ravens top-ranked defense not only kept the Texans out of the end zone, they kept them out of the red zone.
The Texans did not get a single snap in the red zone as they were limited offensively to just a first-quarter field goal.
The Ravens allowed 213 total yards, limiting Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud to 175 passing yards and holding Houston to just 38 rushing yards.
Winner: Steve Sims
From the practice squad to the end zone.
Just days after the Houston Texans signed Steve Sims off the practice squad, he rewarded them by returning a punt 67 yards for a touchdown to tie Saturday's game at 10-10 with 4:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Sims, a wide receiver in his fifth season, played in three games for the Texans this season, making three catches for 25 yards and returning four punts and three kickoffs with a long of 29 yards. It was Sims first touchdown since 2020. It was also the first punt return for a touchdown during the NFL playoffs in 11 years.
Winner: The Harbaugh family
Not a bad month for the Harbaughs.
On Jan. 8, Jim Harbaugh led Michigan to a national championship with his brother John Harbaugh in attendance. On Saturday, John led the Ravens to the AFC Championship Game with his brother Jim in attendance.
John Harbaugh is now one win away from returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012 when his Ravens defeated Jim Harbaugh's San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII, which was the first time two brothers coached against one another in the big game.
Jim could soon be coming for revenge after recently interviewing for the head coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers and Atlanta Falcons.
Loser: Buffalo snow shovelers
The AFC Championship game will be in Baltimore.
That means the Buffalo Bills' matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday will be the final game of the season at Highmark Stadium.
And that means the team won't be offering $20 per hour to those who shovel snow at the stadium next week.
