There's a lot to like on film from a 31-2 win. Here's a look at what stood out from the Ravens' Christmas win in Houston:
Ravens' run game concepts are hitting, and it's a thing of beauty.
Baltimore's rushing attack has been ranked atop the league for pretty much the entire season, but Derrick Henry and the run game concepts are getting stronger down the stretch.
The Ravens' rushing attack had an immediate launch in Houston, as Henry rolled for 86 yards on 10 carries in the first half.
Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken varied the Ravens' concepts, but it featured heavy usage of trap blocks, which were well illustrated by Coach Dan Casey. It was a trap game.
The blocking on Henry's 20-yard gain on the first play of the Ravens' second offensive drive was maybe the most beautiful run of the season from a blocking perspective.
Henry is running the ball at an extremely efficient rate and has done much of his damage over the last two games on runs between the tackles.
Henry has 572 rushing yards before contact this season, the third-most in the NFL. Lamar Jackson has the second-most with 588 and the Eagles' Saquon Barkley has the most with 753.
The stats behind Lamar Jackson's latest highlight-reel touchdown.
Jackson was superb once again.
While his 48-yard rushing touchdown, in which he hit a career-high 21.25 mph, will be remembered on a day in which he broke Michael Vick's all-time quarterback rushing record, Jackson's touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely was even more spectacular.
Jackson bought time by eluding star Texans pass rusher Danielle Hunter. He had the ball for a whopping 8.4 seconds from time of snap to throw, per Next Gen Stats. The throw had only a 59% completion probability.
In the game, Jackson recorded his third-longest average time to throw of his career (3.67 seconds). While Jackson also had a season-high 13.5 scramble yards per dropback, he continues to make opponents pay when he buys time to throw.
Shades of Ed Reed in Kyle Hamilton's interception?
It was clear watching the game that Kyle Hamilton's diving interception at the start of the second half was a spectacular play.
But a look at the film shows just how far Hamilton went to pick off that pass and how tough of a play it was to make.
Hamilton lined up near the line of scrimmage essentially as a dime linebacker and ranged 36 yards back and across the field. At one point, he had his back to Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud before wheeling around and diving to make the catch.
Bill Belichick once raved about Ed Reed disguising his intentions on a play against Peyton Manning and the Colts, then turning his back on the play and ranging far to make an interception. Belichick called it "one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen in the NFL."
Not saying Hamilton's play was that great because the way Reed baited Manning based off his film study was special. But it had some Reed-like similarities.
Some draft analysts questioned whether Hamilton was fast and rangy enough to play deep safety. He has certainly shown otherwise.
Overall, the Ravens' pass coverage smothered the Texans. Stroud had his 2nd-fewest EPA per dropback (-0.57) in a game of his young career, per Nex Gen Stats.
Ar'Darius Washington is a heck of a hitter.
Before Hamilton's interception, the Ravens' other starting safety made a game-defining play as Ar'Darius Washington came up and drilled Texans running back Joe Mixon to keep him out of the end zone on fourth down.
As a reminder, Washington measures in at 5-foot-8, 180 pounds. Mixon is 6-foot-1, 220 pounds.
Big hits are nothing new for Washington, as he's laid a few of them since stepping into the starting lineup in Week 11.
The Ravens' pass rush is coming together at the right time.
There's a new league leader in sacks, at least for now. The Ravens are atop the league with 52 sacks, one ahead of the Denver Broncos, who have played one fewer game.
Baltimore's pass rush is coming together at the right time, as the Ravens sacked Stroud five times with five different players. The Ravens had 11 sacks over the three games in 11 days.
Veteran Kyle Van Noy is going on another one of his runs, as he has a sack in each of the past four games (4.5 total). Earlier this season, he had two sacks in three straight contests. Van Noy is up to a career-high 11.5 sacks this season.
The Ravens are also getting great push inside with Travis Jones healthier following the bye. He was playing with an injured ankle for weeks, but he's back to dominating again and led the Ravens with five quarterback pressures versus the Texans.
