3 underrated Baltimore Ravens performances from the Divisional Round win over Houston Texans

1. The Baltimore Ravens are calling on Travis Jones at the right time

The Baltimore Ravens had been starting to increase the snaps of Travis Jones in the weeks leading up to the playoffs. Some of that is because he was playing well, but the thought was a lof of that playing time was just a smart way to conserve the snaps of Michael Pierce, who is over 30, has an injury history, and has played a career-high in snaps this year. 

However, despite getting PIerce to the playoffs healthy, the team decided to play Travis Jones over PIerce. Some of that is because Jones is better at rushing the passer, and the Texans had to abandon the run late. However, Jones also played early and was stuffing the run in the first half. It was clear that the Baltimore Ravens simply preferred to play Jones over Pierce in this game.

They were rewarded. As noted, Jones not only plugged the run, he had a few key pressures, and got his hand on a CJ Stroud pass, disrupting its path to the receiver. The Baltimore Ravens do not win this game if they do not give Jones this type of role and if he does not succeed in the way that he did on Saturday.