The Ravens finally know their divisional playoff opponent.
Following the Steelers' loss to the Bills in the wild-card round, the No. 4-seeded Texans will come to M&T Bank Stadium to face the top-seeded Ravens.
The game will kick off Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and be broadcast on ESPN/ABC.
It's a rematch of a Week 1 contest, also in Baltimore, that the Ravens won, 25-9.
Head Coach John Harbaugh knew the Texans were a good young team then, and they've improved significantly since. Houston is riding a three-game winning streak and routed the Browns, 45-14, in the wild-card round.
Ravens coaches had already been locked in on preparing for the Texans since their victory Saturday evening.
"They are 17 games different. I'd say [it's] coaching [and] experience – all the things that a good team does that continues to improve throughout the season. They've done a really good job of that," Harbaugh said Monday.
"Obviously, they're very well-coached. They have really good young players [and] some veteran players as well. They've continued to improve throughout."
The Ravens have grown since Week 1 too and are coming off a first-round bye that's helped them get healthier. Baltimore will begin a normal week of practice beginning tomorrow since they're playing on Saturday.
Harbaugh said there wasn't any frustration about not knowing the Ravens' opponent until Monday due to the Bills-Steelers game being postponed by a day due to extreme snow and wind.
"It's the way it goes. It's OK," Harbaugh said. "We're excited to be in this situation, [and] we're fired up to have an opportunity to play in the Divisional round of the playoffs – that's deep in the playoffs, as we see it. We're hoping to do the best we can, put our best foot forward [and] play our best football game of the season. Really, that's all that's on our minds."
