Lamar Jackson shines, Deshaun Watson flails in Ravens' rout of Texans

BALTIMORE — It was billed as a potential shootout between two of the NFL's most exciting young quarterbacks.

Instead, it was once again all about Lamar.

Lamar Jackson shined, Deshaun Watson sputtered and the Baltimore Ravens pushed their winning streak to six games with a 41-7 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Ravens (8-2) further solidified their control of the AFC North ahead of a meeting next Monday night with the Los Angeles Rams, while the Texans are now 6-4 and facing a short week of preparation before the Indianapolis Colts come to town Thursday.

Here are three things we learned from Sunday's game.

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1. Welcome back to the Lamar Jackson show: It usually airs on Sundays. This week's episode started off slow, but it picked up in a hurry. Jackson, Baltimore's 22-year-old MVP candidate, completed just one of his first six passes to start the game before hitting 13 in a row, with three touchdowns — including a strike to tight end Mark Andrews midway through the first half.

Then, early in the second half, Jackson had another one of those oh-my-gosh moments that have become increasingly frequent this season, slicing through the Texans' defense and breaking a few tackles en route to a 39-yard gain. Upon being replaced by Robert Griffin III midway through the fourth quarter, he finished with 222 passing yards and 86 yards on the ground, and four scores through the air.

2. Don't overlook the Ravens' defense, though. Facing an MVP candidate in Deshaun Watson and one of the league's best wideouts in DeAndre Hopkins, Baltimore's defense put on a clinic — especially in the first half. Entering this week, the Texans had allowed seven sacks in their past five games. The Ravens, led by Matthew Judon, racked up five in the first half Sunday alone.

Baltimore's defense has gotten a bit overshadowed amid all the well-deserved Jackson hype, but it shouldn't. After losing a host of key contributors from last year's team, including Terrell Suggs, Eric Weddle and C.J. Mosley, the Ravens brought in Earl Thomas and Marcus Peters and are playing out of their minds. They've been stout against the run and explosive in the turnover department, and they deserve a ton of credit for this win — and Baltimore's 8-2 record.

3. What's the point of new PI rule? The Texans' offense was pretty dreadful Sunday, but they didn't get any help in the first quarter on what might've been a touchdown. Marlon Humphrey tugged at Hopkins' jersey and wrapped his arm around Hopkins' torso before the ball arrived. There was no flag, so Texans coach Bill O'Brien challenged the play. It was not overturned.

The NFL rule allowing pass interference challenges got a lot of buzz in the preseason, but it's been proven a complete afterthought. Even missed calls that appear obvious on replay are rarely overturned. And while this sequence didn't decide Sunday's game, it definitely hurt the Texans — preventing them from possibly seizing the first lead of the day.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

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