Sports
Lamar Jackson challenges teammates at halftime, then carries Ravens to AFC Championship
BALTIMORE — They told anyone who would listen that this was a different team, that they had learned from past playoff failures, that they were “locked in” on making a Super Bowl. Then, over the first 30 minutes of football Saturday on a frigid late afternoon in Baltimore, they looked like the playoff Ravens of the recent past.
Their offense was confused and overwhelmed by the blitz. Their presumptive MVP quarterback, Lamar Jackson, looked frustrated. Their special teams gave up a game-changing punt return touchdown. The Houston Texans might as well have been the 2018 Los Angeles Chargers, 2019 Tennessee Titans or 2020 Buffalo Bills. It was the same movie, just a different antagonist.
But the biggest difference between these Ravens and previous versions revealed itself behind closed doors in an “edgy” locker room. That’s where a fed-up Jackson, who teammates say has matured and grown as Baltimore’s leading man, told the room enough was enough. They weren’t going down like this.
“There’s something in him right now,” said Ravens wide receiver Nelson Agholor, who caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. “It’s been in him all year, but there’s something really in him right now, and I’m with it. I’m with it.”
Lamar to Agholor! @Ravens take a 10-3 lead.
📺: #HOUvsBAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/mOqD2jfu4M pic.twitter.com/LzW5RFrW24— NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2024
Nobody seemed to want to reveal what Jackson said at halftime with the score tied and the offense coming off three consecutive three-and-outs. A few of the offensive linemen said it wasn’t anything new. They were already acutely aware of Jackson’s passion for winning. But Jackson conceded he was the one who did the crux of the halftime talking, which isn’t typical.
“A lot of cursing at halftime,” Jackson acknowledged.
The Ravens came out in the second half and ran the Texans off the field as a capacity crowd of 71,018 morphed from antsy to jubilant. Dominating on offense and defense, the Ravens reeled off the game’s final 24 points to win 34-10, securing a spot in the AFC championship and solidifying M&T Bank Stadium as the site on Jan. 28.
GO DEEPER
Lamar Jackson, Ravens run away from Texans in second half
The Ravens will play the winner of Sunday night’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Bills. It will be the first time the Ravens will host an AFC Championship Game in team history and the first AFC title game in Baltimore since the Colts hosted the Raiders in January 1971.
“This is the first step,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh, whose team hasn’t played for a conference title since it won Super Bowl XLVII following the 2012 regular season. “The next step is in front of us.”
Harbaugh and some of his assistant coaches broke out the dance moves in the locker room after the game. It was a far different vibe than it was at halftime when Jackson turned up the heat on the offense he leads.
“I was (edgy),” Jackson said. “We had no other choice — the offense as a unit. We just weren’t putting points up. Well, we scored once. Our defense was playing lights out, but we’re not responding. So, we just had to dial in at halftime. Like Coach said, ‘Get the ball out quick and let the defense play us honest,’ and that’s what we did.”
The coaches got moves 😂😭💀 pic.twitter.com/LDDU9OftJx
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 21, 2024
In the second half, Jackson led three consecutive scoring drives, sandwiching a 15-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely between 15- and 8-yard touchdown runs by the quarterback. It was vintage Jackson, making quick decisions, forcing the Texans to honor every part of Baltimore’s offensive arsenal — including his legs — and not forcing anything.
After his last touchdown, which gave the Ravens a three-touchdown lead with 6:20 to play, Jackson ran straight up the tunnel. The show was mercifully over for the Texans, who gave up 229 rushing yards, 134 of which came in the second half.
Jackson became the first player in NFL history to have 100-plus passing yards, 100-plus rushing yards, a 100-plus passer rating and two passing touchdowns and two rushing scores in the same game.
“Credit to Lamar,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He made a ton of great plays. That’s why he’s the MVP.”
The Ravens’ first second-half touchdown drive covered 55 yards on six plays and lasted just under three minutes. The second was a 12-play, 93-yard drive that lasted just over seven minutes. The third consisted of 11 plays, traveling 78 yards and eating up another seven minutes.
It was the Ravens at their 2023 best, with the offense controlling the ball and the line of scrimmage while giving Jackson myriad options in the run and pass games. It was Mike Macdonald’s defense not giving Texans rookie phenom quarterback C.J. Stroud anything easy.
Stroud, who took apart the Cleveland Browns’ vaunted defense in the wild-card round, completed just 19 of 33 passes for 175 yards and no touchdowns. Houston had just 213 total yards and didn’t score any offensive points — Steven Sims’ 67-yard punt return was its only touchdown — after a late first-quarter field goal. In two games against the Ravens this season, the Texans, with a quarterback who will likely win Offensive Rookie of the Year and an offensive coordinator (Bobby Slowik) who is garnering head-coaching interviews, didn’t score an offensive touchdown.
Perhaps, the most impressive thing about Baltimore’s defensive effort was it dominated the game without getting a single takeaway or sack.
“The defense was as good as it could be,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh and the Ravens coaching staff badly needed this win. Squandering another top seed would have been brutal. Another divisional-round defeat as a significant home favorite would also have resuscitated all of the past criticism about Harbaugh and the team’s recent performances in the playoffs, like the home loss to the Titans after the 2019 regular season. Harbaugh’s decision to sit some key players, like Jackson, in Week 18 with the team already having clinched the top seed would have been second-guessed ad nauseam.
The Ravens were a little off to start the game, at least offensively. But in the second half, they looked like the fresher and more primed team. Halftime adjustments by offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who watched his quarterback get blitzed over and over again in the first half, were a major difference in the game.
Monken was much more aggressive on early downs at the start of the third quarter. He gave Jackson more options in the quick passing game and worried less about creating chunk plays. In the second half, Baltimore had the answer to Houston’s blitz. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Jackson was 13-of-18 against an extra rusher for 120 yards and two touchdowns. The 75 percent blitz rate he faced was a career high.
“They were having success in the first half with blitzing us, soft blitz and zero,” Jackson said. “They were doing their thing, but we watched a lot of film. We were prepared; we just made little mistakes protecting the blitz and getting the ball out on time. By the second half, I felt like we were doing what we were supposed to do.”
Jackson badly needed this win, too. The prominent storyline entering the game was about how he had a 1-3 playoff record as a starter and seven turnovers in those four games. Could you imagine the reaction had Jackson been outplayed by Stroud? It certainly would have made all the talk over the past few weeks about Jackson’s growth and his “locked in” mantra sound like lip service.
Instead, the opposite happened. Jackson said his piece at halftime and challenged his teammates.
“I hear the message, not the words,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “I know what he’s trying to say. He’s a competitive player, wears his heart on his sleeve. He’ll say a lot of stuff. I know what he’s trying to get at. We know what he wants, and that’s just to win.”
Then, Jackson took over in the second half. On one of the decisive plays of the game, the Ravens had a fourth-and-1 at the Texans’ 49. They led 17-10 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Jackson faked a handoff to Gus Edwards and ran a bootleg for 14 yards. Five plays later, he connected with Likely for the touchdown.
Lamar hit ’em with the full stop 😳
📺: #HOUvsBAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/mOqD2jfu4M pic.twitter.com/kiLwTF4Mez— NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2024
“His personality — he is the Baltimore Ravens,” Agholor said. “He leads the right way: by example. But also, when it’s time to talk, it’s said. And then he executes. … He doesn’t just talk, talk, talk and go out there and not do nothing. He says what needs to be said and then goes out there and executes.”
When it was over, Jackson was already ready to move on. And the Ravens, as they are apt to do, were following his lead.
“We have to finish,” Jackson said. “It’s still the playoffs. We’re not in the dance yet, but I’m looking forward to next week, to be honest with you. I’m not even thinking about the Super Bowl until we handle business.”
(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
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LAS VEGAS – Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.
As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.
The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.
Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.
JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.
The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.
Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.
As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.
Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.
Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.
DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.
Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.
Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.
Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.
“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.
Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.
“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”
And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?
It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.
Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.
“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”
He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.
The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.
Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.
The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.
The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.
The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.
Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.
“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”
If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.
“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’
“I used it as fire to keep working.”
That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.
In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).
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LAS VEGAS – Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.
While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.
The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”
Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.
WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”
Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.
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