'Houston vs. the World!' Texans to Face Ravens in AFC Divisional Round of Playoffs
HOUSTON — With the Buffalo Bills defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday afternoon in a 31-17 Wild Card victory, the Houston Texans now know who they will face to continue their postseason run.
They will travel to M&T Bank Stadium Saturday afternoon to face the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens during the AFC Divisional Round of the 2023 playoffs. Kick-off is slated for 3:30 pm CDT.
The Ravens finished the regular season with the league's best record at 13-4, behind quarterback Lamar Jackson — the projected MVP winner for the regular season.
Houston is entering its divisional round as heavy underdogs. But the Texans will continue to rely upon their "why not us" mentality in hopes of reaching their first AFC Championship game in franchise history.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) attempts a pass against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium.
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"I think everybody counted us out — like I told you all before, people are going to talk," C.J. Stroud said. "That's all they can do, just talk and watch. We're the ones out there making plays. It's cool just to see. At Ohio State, we used to call it ‘Woody versus the world.’ Here, I think we should call it ‘NRG versus the world’ or ‘Houston versus the world.’"
A divisional round match against the Ravens will give the Texans a chance to revenge a 25-9 Week 1 loss on Sept. 10.
It was the first of a 0-2 start for the Texans. However, Houston has made "drastic improvements" since their season-opening defeat in Baltimore. They are riding a three-game streak following their postseason win over the Browns.
"From there to where we are now, we’ve definitely grown," coach DeMeco Ryans said. "[We are a] completely different team. They’re a completely different team. They’re trying to figure out who they would be offensive with the new [offensive coordinator] [Greg Roman], but they’ve done an outstanding job – Baltimore – with their defense.
"I think they’ve been probably the most consistent defense throughout the entire year. We’ve grown, and their offense has grown. They’ve done a really great job. If it’s Baltimore, it’ll be a tough matchup, but we’ll see what happens here later today."
During their Week 1 defeat against the Ravens, Stroud threw for 236 yards while completing 63.1 percent of his passes. Four months since his NFL debut, Stroud is the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year amid one of the greatest first seasons by a quarter.
Stroud had a record-breaking performance against Cleveland, finishing with 274 yards while completing 16 out of 21 pass attempts. He added three touchdowns without throwing an interception while becoming the youngest quarterback in league history to record a postseason victory.
"It's cool just to be able to be playing at a high level right now," Stroud said. "It's not about what people say. In the playoffs, it's 0-0. Everybody has a clean slate. They are the No. 1 defense. They're really good. They have a great pass rush, linebackers flying around. Their DBs are really good. I think that showed what we are too.”
