Ravens visit Texans on Christmas Day, needing win to keep AFC North title hopes alive

Baltimore (10-5) at Houston (9-6)

Wednesday, 4:30 p.m., EST, Netflix.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Ravens by 5 1/2.

Against the spread: Ravens 8-6-1; Texans 6-7-2.

Series record: Ravens lead 12-2.

Last meeting: Ravens beat Texans 34-10 in the divisional round of the playoffs on Jan. 20 in Baltimore.

Last week: Texans lost to Chiefs 27-19; Ravens beat Steelers 34-17.

Ravens offense: overall (1), rush (2), pass (5), scoring (3).

Ravens defense: overall (16), rush (1), pass (31), scoring (T19).

Texans offense: overall (20), rush (18), pass (18), scoring (13).

Texans defense: overall (4), rush (11), pass (6), scoring (9).

Turnover differential: Ravens plus-3; Texans plus-11.

Ravens player to watch

QB Lamar Jackson has thrown at least two touchdown passes and has had a 100-plus quarterback rating in four straight games. He ranks second in the NFL with a career-high and franchise-record 37 touchdown passes this season and needs 87 yards rushing to eclipse Michael Vick (6,109) for most yards rushing by a quarterback in NFL history. Jackson is 4-0 with seven touchdown passes and two scoring runs in four starts against the Texans, including the playoffs.

Texans player to watch

WR Nico Collins, who leads the team with 909 yards receiving, will be even more important this week after Tank Dell sustained a season-ending knee injury Saturday. Collins leads a thin receiving group that was already without star receiver Stefon Diggs, who tore an ACL in Week 8. Collins has been great at home this season with 473 yards and all six of his touchdowns coming in Houston.

Key matchup

Baltimore RB Derrick Henry vs. Houston’s run defense. Henry, who ranks second in the NFL with 1,636 yards rushing, has had some of his greatest success against the Texans. Four of the 30-year-old’s six career 200-yard rushing games have been against Houston, including a career-high 250 in the season finale in the 2020 season to surpass 2,000 yards. He’s had 100 yards rushing in two of his past four games this season, capped by 162 last week.

Key injuries

Ravens WR Nelson Agholor (concussion), CB Jalyn Armour-Davis (hamstring), G Daniel Faalele (knee), WR Zay Flowers (shoulder), RB Justice Hill (concussion) and CB Tre’Davious White (shoulder) missed practice time this week. C Tyler Linderbaum (back) was limited. … Houston S Jimmie Ward had season-ending foot surgery this week after being injured Saturday. … G Shaq Mason is likely to miss the game after injuring his knee against the Chiefs. … WR John Metchie is expected to return after sitting out last week with a shoulder injury.

Series notes

The Ravens have won the past five games in this series. … Houston’s most recent win was a 25-13 victory in 2014. … These teams first met in Houston’s first season in 2002 when Baltimore got a 23-19 win.

Stats and stuff

The Ravens have clinched a playoff berth for the third straight season and sixth time in seven years. They need two wins and one loss by the Steelers to win the AFC North title. … The Ravens play on Christmas for a second straight year. They won 33-19 at San Francisco last season. … Baltimore has outrushed its opponents by an average of 98.1 yards per game. The Ravens have won the rushing battle every game this season. Baltimore’s 15 straight games outrushing the opponent is a single-season NFL record. … Henry’s 15 total touchdowns are tied with Ray Rice and Mark Ingram II for the most in a season in Ravens history. … The Ravens need 167 net yards to break the single-season franchise record set in 2019. … Jackson leads the NFL in passer rating (120.6), touchdown-to-interception differential (33) and yards passing plus rushing (4,552). … Baltimore has scored TDs on a league-best 72.9% of its red zone trips. … Flowers led the Ravens with five receptions for 100 yards last week for his fifth 100-yard game this season. … WR Rashod Bateman had a touchdown reception last week and has had one in three of his past four games. … TE Mark Andrews has a TD catch in four straight games. He leads NFL tight ends with nine touchdown receptions this season. … TE Isaiah Likely had his fifth touchdown catch last week. … LB Roquan Smith led the team with 10 tackles last week and has at least 10 tackles in four of the past five games. … LB Kyle Van Noy had 1½ sacks and his first fumble recovery of the season last week. … CB Marlon Humphrey had his first interception return for a touchdown against the Steelers. He leads the AFC with six interceptions. … The Texans are AFC South champions for a second straight season. … Their 46 sacks tie a franchise record set last season. … QB C.J. Stroud has had two touchdown passes in three of his past four games. He hasn’t thrown an interception in two games against the Ravens. He needs 8 yards passing Wednesday to become the ninth player in NFL history with at least 3,500 yards passing in each of his first two seasons. … RB Joe Mixon needs 33 yards rushing for his fifth career 1000-yard season. He had at least 95 yards of offense in both meetings with Baltimore last season while playing for the Bengals. … Collins needs 91 yards receiving to reach 1,000 yards for a second straight season. … TE Dalton Schultz had a touchdown reception last week and needs two catches to reach 50 for a fifth straight season. … DE Danielle Hunter is tied for second in the NFL with 12 sacks. It’s his fifth career season with at least 12 sacks, which is tied for most among active players. … DE Will Anderson Jr. has had a sack in three straight home games and has 10½ overall this season. He has a tackle for loss in both career games against the Ravens. … LB Henry To’oTo’o had 10 tackles, including one for loss last week. … LB Christian Harris had his first sack of the season against Kansas City. … CB Derek Stingley ranks second in the NFL with a career-high 18 passes defensed this season.

Fantasy tip

Henry always plays the Texans tough and would be a good option this week.

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