The Ravens will get another crack at the Tennessee Titans.
For the second straight year, the Ravens will open the playoffs against the Titans, who clinched the AFC South title Sunday with a wild 41-38 victory over the Houston Texans.
The fifth-seeded Ravens will meet the fourth-seeded Titans at Nissan Stadium Sunday at 1 p.m. on ABC/ESPN.
The Ravens' recent history against the Titans has been painful. Baltimore was ousted from the playoffs last season, 28-12, in a divisional playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore had won 12 straight games coming into the playoffs and entered the postseason as the AFC's No. 1 seed, and with a first-round bye. However, Titans running back Derrick Henry rushed for 195 yards and was the catalyst for the upset.
When the two teams played most recently on Nov. 22 at M&T Bank Stadium, the Titans prevailed again, 30-24, in overtime as Henry ended the game with a 29-yard touchdown run. After being held to 37 yards in the first half, Henry broke loose late in the game and finished with 133 yards on 28 carries.
There will be plenty of storylines this week about the Ravens wanting revenge against Tennessee, but Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said facing the Titans again wouldn't change his preparation for the game.
"It's not about them," Jackson said. "It's about us. It didn't really matter who we played. We're going to go in there with the same mentality, just focus on our assignment, and try to come out with a W."
The Ravens know that containing Henry is priority No. 1 for the defense, and he became just the eighth player Sunday to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. Henry rumbled for 250 yards in the Titans' regular-season finale.
However, Pro Bowl outside linebacker Matthew Judon said the Ravens were not obsessed with their past history against Tennessee, and he chided a reporter Sunday night for referring to Henry by his nickname of "King Henry."
"Man, you're older than that man – you can't call that dude 'King Henry,'" Judon said prior to knowing Baltimore's opponent. "But it is what it is, you feel me? If we have to go to Tennessee, [or] if we have to go to upstate New York, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. We just have to win.
"We're not worried about last year. If we could get last year back, we would go back to last year. I don't know why you all want to continue to talk about it – we're in 2021. Last year is last year, and right now is right now. Whoever we get, and whenever the timeslot we get them, we have to be ready to play them."
