Texans get visit from longtime foe Derrick Henry when the Ravens visit on Christmas Day

Published Dec. 24, 2024 3:38 p.m. ET

Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans didn’t need to see what Baltimore’s Derrick Henry is doing this season to be reminded of just how dangerous he can be.

He ran all over the Texans for years while playing in the AFC South for the Tennessee Titans.

Henry and the Ravens (10-5) visit AFC South champion Houston (9-6) on Wednesday, looking for a win to keep their AFC North title chances alive. Baltimore has clinched a playoff berth for a third straight season but needs wins in its last two games and one loss by the Steelers to capture the division.

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.

“You talk about fast, explosive, physical — he’s looking probably the best he’s looked in his career,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He’s found that fountain of youth … he’s a great player. It’s fun to see guys rebound and bounce back the way that he’s done this year.”

Dealing with Henry along with all the challenges that quarterback Lamar Jackson presents makes the top-ranked Ravens one of Houston’s more difficult matchups.

“You talk about MVP, (Jackson’s) definitely the MVP in my mind just for what he’s doing not only in the run game but also throwing the football,” Ryans said. “The accuracy, the decision-making, like, he’s playing unbelievable ball right now, so it’s going to be a really tough challenge for us this week.”

Another challenge for the Texans is moving on after Tank Dell sustained a season-ending knee injury in Saturday’s loss to Kansas City. His injury is another blow to a receiving group that already was without star Stefon Diggs, who tore his ACL in Week 8.

“The position we’re in, it’s not a lot of times where you can sulk in your feelings for very long,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “You’ve got to just keep rolling. I think that’s a testament to just life in general. Everybody has stuff on their plate. Everybody is going through something. And just because we’re in this position, doesn’t mean you get to feel sorry for yourself.”

Houston will rely on Stroud to keep the passing game rolling despite the loss of Dell, who ranks second on the team with 667 yards receiving. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh has been impressed with Stroud’s growth in Year 2 and knows that dealing with him will be difficult for his team, which ranks 31st in the NFL by allowing 254.9 yards passing a game.

“He’s just a supertalented guy… he’s surrounded with some good weapons, and he gets the ball out quick,” Harbaugh said. “He handles pressure well, he can move, he’s athletic, scrambles and makes plays.”

Missing out

Jackson is a big fan of Beyoncé, though he didn’t know the title of his favorite song of hers, saying it was “To the left,” which is just the first lines of her hit “Irreplaceable.”

And he doesn’t think playing in Wednesday’s game should stop him from seeing her halftime show on Christmas.

“I’m going to go out there and watch,” he said. “First time seeing Beyoncé perform, and it’s at our game — that’s dope. I’m going to go out and watch. Sorry Harbaugh, sorry fellas."

He later clarified that he was kidding about sneaking out at halftime to get a glimpse of Queen Bey.

“I was just thinking about just seeing Beyoncé for the first time,” he said. “Not saying it like that; no disrespect, because I know how people can take things. Next question.”

Metchie’s moment

Houston receiver John Metchie could have a chance for a big game with Dell out. Metchie is playing in his second NFL season after missing his entire rookie year while undergoing cancer treatment.

He has just 182 yards receiving this season, with his best game coming against Detroit, when he had a career-high 72 yards receiving and his only NFL TD. Stroud is looking for Metchie and fellow reserve Xavier Hutchinson to help make up for Dell’s absence against the Ravens.

“Those guys have another opportunity to show who they are and I know that they can do it,” Stroud said. “I see them in practice do it every week. So, I’m excited for them and it’s a good opportunity for them to step up.”

Record watch

Jackson is up to 6,023 yards rushing for his career. The NFL record for a quarterback is 6,109 by Michael Vick, so Jackson could break it with a big game on Wednesday.

Jackson also leads the NFL in passer rating and is in the conversation for his third MVP. Although it sounds like that’s a discussion he’d rather not get involved in.

“No other choice but to hear it,” Jackson said. “They (are) tagging me in it. You don’t (have) to tag me. You can talk about it all you want, but you want to tag me to get like clickbait because you know sometimes I (will) say something back like, ‘That was stupid.’ It is what it is. I don’t care, though. I really don’t care about the talk.”

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AP Sports Writer Noah Trister in Owings Mills, Maryland, contributed to this report.

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