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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The New England Patriots defended home turf in the Wild Card Round, dominating the Los Angeles Chargers in a 16-3 victory to move on in the NFL Playoffs.
New England, winning its first playoff game since their 2018 Super Bowl-winning campaign, will await the victor of the No. 4 Houston Texans and No. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card game on Monday night to see who they face in the Divisional Round next week.
This game saw its first touchdown in the fourth quarter, but that was because of how suffocating both defenses were in this contest. But it was clear the Patriots had every answer for Justin Herbert and the Chargers’ offense.
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Drake Maye of the New England Patriots celebrates after a touchdown in the third quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on January 04, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Mike Vrabel’s squad shouldn’t have given up only three points, especially after Drake Maye was picked off on the Patriots’ second drive at his own 10-yard line. However, the Patriots’ defense was relentless all night, and the Chargers couldn’t adjust.
They stopped the Chargers on four plays to turn them over on downs, and ultimately got on the board first thanks to a 93-yard drive that resulted in a field goal.
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Los Angeles was knocking at the door again with a third-and-2 from New England’s three-yard line, but Kimani Vidal was stuffed. Cameron Dicker added a field goal to tie the game, and only another Patriots field goal was added to the score before halftime, a 6-3 lead for New England.
While the Chargers couldn’t get anything going on offense, their defense kept them in this game, at least for the first three quarters. Maye was strip-sacked by Odafe Oweh while in Chargers territory to keep it a three-point game in the third quarter.
But after another failed drive, a third Patriots field goal split the uprights to make it 9-3.
Stefon Diggs of the New England Patriots talks to teammates in a huddle prior to an AFC wild card playoff football game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 11, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
The dagger for the Patriots came after yet another Chargers punt, when Maye placed his pass perfectly for tight end Hunter Henry, the ex-Chargers star, for a 28-yard touchdown. The first six-pointer for either team seemingly ended all hopes for Los Angeles.
On the ensuing drive, Herbert was crushed by K’Lavon Chaisson, resulting in a fumble recovered by Christian Elliss, as the Gillette Stadium crowd went ballistic.
The Chargers tried to get some playoff heroics going, as they dinked and dunked their way down the field into Patriots territory. But on fourth-and-9 from New England’s 34-yard line, Milton Williams ended all hope when he delivered the Patriots’ sixth sack on Herbert to turn them over on downs again.
In the box score, Maye went 17-of-29 through the air for 268 yards, with running back Rhamondre Stevenson being his top receiver with 75 yards on three catches. Kayshon Boutte also added 66 yards on four grabs, while Henry finished with 64 yards.
Drake Maye of the New England Patriots looks to pass prior to an NFL wild card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 11, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
And Maye was also the Patriots’ leading rusher with 67 yards on the ground on nine carries, as he continuously picked his spots to gash the Chargers’ defense.
For Los Angeles, Herbert’s playoff woes continue, as he’s now 0-3 after this performance. He had just 159 yards passing and 57 yards rushing.
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The MVP chants for the second-year quarterback of the New England Patriots rang throughout Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.
The Chargers, meanwhile, were haunted by their own echoes.
Another playoff game. Another one-and-done exit.
The gutty season of quarterback Justin Herbert again ended with a whimper, a 16-3 loss on a night when the Chargers defense provided ample opportunities.
“We have to do better than three points,” Herbert said. “As an offense, that’s not good enough. The quarterback play wasn’t good enough, and we let the defense down today.”
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is sacked by New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings in the fourth quarter Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Three years ago was the nuclear meltdown at Jacksonville, when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to lose, 31-30.
Last year, the first under coach Jim Harbaugh, Herbert was picked off four times at Houston after making it through the regular season with just three interceptions.
Now, the Chargers have all offseason to ponder the fiasco at Foxborough, when they generated one field goal, 207 yards and converted one of 10 third downs.
The cover-your-eyes postseason scorecard under Harbaugh: Two games, 15 points on three field goals, one touchdown and a failed conversion.
Asked after the New England loss if the impending offseason changes could include changing out offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Harbaugh was notably noncommittal.
“Right now I don’t have the answers,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to look at that.”
The juxtaposition between the Chargers and Patriots is stark. The Chargers are precisely where they were a year ago, groping for answers about how to win a postseason game.
The Patriots won just four games last season but bumped that to 14 this year — one of three teams in NFL history to improve by at least 10 games in 12 months — and now advance to play host to Monday night’s winner between Houston and Pittsburgh.
As good as Herbert was all season — particularly playing behind a patchwork offensive line and with a broken left hand — he seemed lost in space Sunday, unable to connect with his receivers or establish anything close to an offensive rhythm.
Former Chargers tight end Hunter Henry catches a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the Patriots. It was the game’s only touchdown.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
He threw for 120 yards and oversaw an offense whose possessions ended thusly: punt, turnover on downs, field goal, punt, end of half, punt, punt, punt, fumble, turnover on downs.
It’s not as if the Patriots were much better. The Chargers largely shut them down on offense, but New England was able to cobble together three field goals and a touchdown by tight end Hunter Henry, who, in a tormenting twist, began his career with the Chargers.
But Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was more calm and in command than Herbert despite two fumbles (one lost) and an interception on a pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage.
“Credit to Drake Maye,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Every time we got to him, he got back up. Every time his team needed a play today, he used his legs.”
In fact, the quarterbacks were the leading rushers, with Maye running for 66 yards and Herbert 57. The Patriots got 53 more from Rhamondre Stevenson, whereas the Chargers couldn’t mount anything of a true running game.
When teams win, they spend the offseason trying to keep their rosters together. When they lose, it’s back to the drawing board. The Chargers are in the latter category.
In a locker room so quiet you could hear a dream drop, linebacker Daiyan Henley said Harbaugh thanked his players after the game.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is slow to get up after being sacked in the fourth quarter against the Patriots on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“There was a lot of confidence going into this game,” Henley said. “I think the feeling and vibe you’re getting in this locker room right now is that it’s over and that this team is going to change. Everybody is aware that our defense is going to surely change.
“When you have a core group of guys like this, everybody holds a lot of pride in what we do. So to know that we lost and the season is over and this locker room is going to change — and upstairs may change — it hurts more.”
Henley said Harbaugh thanked his players after the game, especially for the way they fought all season despite the various hurdles in their path.
“It sucks because this is how the season ends, so when you talk about processing a loss like this, the process lasts longer,” Henley said.
“You go out on a loss, I’ll be thinking about it until I can go out and get my next win.”
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The Green Bay Packers’ playoff exit on Saturday immediately put added focus on what the organization will do with head coach Matt LaFleur.
The NFL coaching cycle has been the wildest in recent memory, with veteran coaches like John Harbaugh and Pete Carroll being shown the door. Packers fans seemingly put LaFleur on the hot seat following their crushing defeat to the Chicago Bears.
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur reacts during the wild-card playoff game against the Bears Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Sunday that the Packers will have a major decision to make.
“The Green Bay Packers and their new president, Ed Policy, have a significant decision to make here in the coming days – and that is whether to extend Matt LaFleur’s contract. He’s currently got one year remaining, or to move on from him,” Schefter said. “If they moved on from him, he would automatically go near the top of coaches available and shakeup this current head-coaching cycle yet again.”
Schefter added that Harbaugh could be one of the names that would interest the Packers’ organization.
BEARS’ BEN JOHNSON GIVES FIERY MESSAGE TO TEAM AFTER PLAYOFF WIN: ‘F— THE PACKERS!’
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur talks after the playoff game, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
“Notice how we said this belongs to the Packers’ president, Ed Policy. Well, the Packers’ former president from the back in the day was a man by the name of Bob Harlan,” Schefter explained. “Bob Harlan’s son, Brian Harlan, represents John Harbaugh. John Harbaugh is a Midwestern guy, who has a home in the Upper Peninsula, and a lot of people around the league have been wondering if the Packers decide to go in a different direction, if all of a sudden the Green Bay Packers might fall to the top of John Harbaugh’s list as the top available choice for him.
“This has been a wild, crazy coaching cycle, and we may be just scratching the surface.”
Green Bay Packers’ Matthew Golden celebrates his touchdown against the Bears Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
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Green Bay finished 9-7-1 this season. LaFleur is 76-40-1 as the Packers’ head coach with a 3-6 record in the playoffs.
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