Ravens Begin Preparing to Face Texans, Will Pivot if Needed

The work begins immediately for the Ravens’ coaches, as they set course to face the Houston Texans in the divisional playoffs.

The Texans’ 45-14 win over the Cleveland Browns, paired with the Miami Dolphins’ 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, means the No. 4-seeded Texans are in line to come to M&T Bank Stadium next weekend.

That would only change if the No. 7-seeded Steelers upset the No. 2-seeded Buffalo Bills. That game was postponed from Sunday to Monday at 4:30 p.m. because of a snowstorm in upper New York.

Thus, the Ravens won’t know for sure who they will face in the divisional round until Monday night. That won’t stop them from getting a jump-start on Texans preparations, however.

“I think what we’ll do is we’ll look at the Saturday [Browns vs. Texans] game, and we’ll assume that’s our opponent,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said Friday. “We’ll snap into action after that, and we’ll start working on that team. Then, if it changes, then we’ll re-snap into action for the new opponent.”

If the Steelers win Monday night, one benefit is that the Ravens just faced them a week ago and know them especially well considering they’re division rivals. The Texans, given how much they’ve changed since Week 1, are a different story.

Before the Ravens knew their opponent, Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald and Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken continued doing interviews for openings around the league.